Meet Smarter

8-1/2" x 11", softcover, 82 pages, BoardSource, $32.00. Table of Contents Read the Introduction Order Now

Meet Smarter provides the information you need to ensure that your downtown organization’s board meetings are productive, legal and orderly.

Without quality time spent in the boardroom, the downtown organization’s board of directors cannot possibly govern effectively. Yet many organizations are not fully versed in the best practices for running effective board meetings

Meet Smarter provides the information you need. In six detailed chapters plus a wealth of sample documents, the book:

• Clarifies the legal framework of board meetings
• Discusses the ins and outs of how to plan an effective board meeting
• Presents options for achieving agreement and consensus
• Addresses the importance of documenting the board’s decisions
• Provides tips on how to keep board members fully engaged, and more.

Meet Smarter also includes helpful tips on how to bring absent board members back to meetings, ground rules for a laid-back meeting that is still legal and orderly, balancing the business and social aspects of meetings, managing conflicts of interest, staying focused on the right issues, and more.

A valuable resource for board members, chief executives, and senior staff who are new to downtown leadership, as well as a quick reference for experienced board members who need a fresh look at how to make their meetings more meaningful.

Table of Contents

Importance and Function of Board Meetings

1. Legal Framework of Meetings

• The legal authority over board meetings
• Running meetings under Sunshine Laws
• What should the bylaws say about board meetings?

2. Planning a Meeting

• What is the purpose of this meeting?
• How often should a board meet?
• The when, where, and how of planning a meeting
• Timing: When should the meeting happen?
• How long should the meeting last?
• Place: Where should the board meet?
• Adopting a travel reimbursement policy
• How should the room be set up?
• Feeding the board
• How much will it cost?
• Holding electronic board meetings

3. Meeting Documentation and Board Communications

• Creating meeting agendas
• Consent agendas: What are they for?
• Preparing board packets
• Keeping board meeting minutes
• Why keep minutes?
• Is there a “best” way to take and keep minutes?
• Tape recording meetings
• Generating board reports
• Communicating electronically between meetings

4. Meeting Structure, Decision Making, and Voting

• Business vs. social: Creating a fine balance
• Board structure and the role of Parliamentary Order
• Using deliberation in decision making
• Reaching a unanimous decision
• Seeking consensus
• Electing a devil’s advocate
• How do boards vote?
• Deciding by majority rule
• Voting by proxy
• Managing split votes
• Choosing not to vote

5. Meeting Participation

• Meeting attendance requirements
• What is a quorum?
• The absentee board member
• The board chair
• Staying focused on the right issues
• Should the chair vote?
• The chief executive
• Staff
• Outsiders and guests
• Organizational members
• Board member candidates
• Keeping civility in the boardroom
• Managing conflicts of interest
• Bringing private agendas into the boardroom

6. Other Kinds of Meetings, Special Situations

• First meeting of the founding board
• What is the purpose of an annual meeting?
• Special or emergency meetings: Taking care of the unforeseen
• Committee meetings: The board’s workshop
• Executive committee meetings: Acting on behalf of the board
• Making use of executive sessions
• Convening an organization’s membership
• Retreats: Helping to go forward

Boardroom Q&As

• How can we bring absent board members back to the meetings?
• Is there an ideal frequency for board meetings?
• Is there a compromise between getting everything done and ultimate burnout?
• What are our options for meeting expense reimbursement for board members?
• Our board meeting discussions seem disorderly. How can we learn to stay focused?
• How can we build more cohesion and agreement into our decision making and avoid split votes?
• How can we facilitate effective communication for our board members between meetings?
• How should we handle conflicts of interest during our meeting?
• We want to include a short “Governance Moment” (a time during a meeting that focuses the board on a specific governance issue) on a timely or controversial topic or a tricky issue. What are some ideas for these discussions?
• What are the basic ground rules that we need to observe in order to run a laid-back meeting that is still legal and orderly?

Sample Documents

• Meeting Agendas
• Ballots
• Resolutions
• Proxy
• Committee Report Template
• Minutes Templates
• Meeting Evaluation Forms
• Contents of a Board Packet
• Outline for an Orientation Retreat

References on Parliamentary Order

Glossary of Terms

Your Guarantee of Satisfaction

Meet Smarter is guaranteed. If you are not 100% satisfied, you may return it within 30 days for a full refund.

About the Author

Author Outi Flynn is on the editorial staff of BoardSource, an organization dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations by strengthening their boards of directors. Ms. Flynn’s areas of expertise include dilemmas that concern nonprofit leaders on a daily basis, and structural and procedural challenges that affect board productivity.

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