Board meetings— a necessary component of a well-run organization or company. These meetings are often where innovative ideas come to fruition. It’s also where some of the most important discussions regarding your organization and its governance take place.

Unfortunately, these meetings also come with a long list of mundane tasks that can quickly lead members to burn-out, and distract from the most important thing— your mission.

Without the use of a board portal, preparing for board meetings can look a little like this:

1 month before meeting:

The Board Chair emails the other members a copy of  the previous meeting’s minutes along with options for the next meeting date. After a few days, many board members have replied to the email, but some still haven’t. Relying on email to schedule a meeting has its own unique challenges as well. An emailed meeting invitation can easily get lost in inboxes or, for various reasons, could fail to be delivered at all.   At this point, the Chair might need to send separate emails to members to inquire about their availability. Once the majority of members have responded, a date is set.

2 weeks before meeting:

The Board Chair reviews the previous minutes, and builds an agenda based off of it. Once the agenda is finalized, the Chair will need to locate, compile, and make copies of all the supporting documents that will accompany the agenda.

1 week before meeting:

An email of the meeting packet is sent out to members, which includes: previous minutes, current agenda, supporting documents, and other items that need to be discussed. When sending important meeting documents to other members, security is often a concern for the organization. Another option the Board Chair may consider is a courier service, but that can often include additional printings and more expenses for the organization.

Week of meeting:

Packets are printed out for all of the board members that will be in attendance. The Board Chair may also be answering members’ emails or phone calls about the meeting.

Morning of meeting:

The meeting room is set up, snacks are prepared, and meeting packets or binders are printed, divided, and ready for the members. During the meeting, the Secretary or another board member will have to write down most of the discussions for recording later in the meeting minutes.

If you’re a board chair or committee leader, you’d agree that completing all of these tasks each month or quarter can really distract from things that help further your organization’s mission— like meeting potential new members, attending community events, leadership retreats, or planning new, innovative ways to keep your board mission-focused.

Here are a few ways a board portal software like BoardPaq can make easier work of this time-consuming process, and allow more time for the things that matter :

As the leading board management vendor, BoardPaq hopes to see engaged board and committee leaders who aren’t weighed down with unnecessary tasks. Utilizing time-saving features like the agenda and minutes builder, document viewing, and meeting calendar allows space to plan for more important things— like the discussions and ideas that could greatly impact your organization and industry.

Interested in seeing how BoardPaq can eliminate the mundane tasks that come with preparing for a board meeting?

Schedule a demo today!