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If your board consists of elected members, or is a non-profit or similar public organization, there may be laws in place that require open meetings. These laws, also referred to as Sunshine Laws or Open Meetings Acts are a requirement that board meetings be conducted in a public setting. They also grant non-members the right to attend and, in some cases they are allowed to comment.

The member who presided over the previous meeting will “call the meeting to order” when the board is prepared. This is usually done by saying “I call this meeting to order” or something similar with a strong voice. In the majority of cases the next step is two taps on the givel to signal that the meeting has officially started.

Before the meeting gets underway be sure to have a an agenda clearly laid out. The agenda should be concise and clearly lay out the key topics that the board will need to discuss, as well as the decisions they need to make. Do not put too many items on the agenda or repeating an agenda from a previous meeting.

Being distracted by new topics for discussion can eat up your time and divert your board from the items on your agenda. Consider adding a parking area at the end of your agenda. This is where you can include items that aren’t of high priority. You can promise to revisit them later or add them to the following meeting.

Get feedback from your board members on how the meetings have been going and what you can do to improve the quality of your meetings. This will make your board members feel more involved and interested in the outcome of the meeting.