A board of directors is an excellent way to ensure that your company is run well and that decisions are made in an open fair and honest way. But for the board to be effective, it’s essential that all members are engaged and attending every meeting. A lack of attendance at meetings causes an inefficiency and results in the loss of effective leadership. Here are some tips to improve the quality of your board meetings.

Plan ahead: Ensure that the board members have received relevant information, such as financial statements, reports and other background information prior to the date of the meeting. This will allow them to be prepared with well-thought-out questions. The early delivery of information gives board members time to check their schedules and confirm they’re available to attend.

Start your meeting on time. Call the meeting to start and my company confirm quorum. This will demonstrate to the board that it values everyone’s time.

Establish a clear process to make decisions: A clearly defined process for making decisions helps to keep the discussion on track, and prevents diverting or causing disruption to the discussion.

Encourage active participation: Creating a space where all members feel comfortable sharing their insights and perspectives isn’t easy. The chairperson has a big role to play in this and can help encourage participation by inviting input from all sides and facilitating discussion that is balanced and constructive. They can also set the ground guidelines for discussion to ensure that the discussion is concise and has equal time for all participants.