The Importance of Board Meeting Rules

The board of directors is accountable for the management of a business. They decide on policies and make decisions. In most organizations, the board must vote on decisions. To facilitate an effective decision-making process, your board should have clearly established boardmeetingpro.net/how-boardpaq-is-changing-the-way-boards-understand-and-process-information/ meeting rules and guidelines that everyone follows.

The majority of boards adhere to Robert’s Rules of Order. This is an English Parliamentary rulebook that was written by American General Henry M. Robert to prevent meetings from becoming chaotic. Although Robert’s Rules of Order is not necessary for every board to implement however, formal guidelines can be used to create an environment that allows for the fairness of debates in meetings in hybrid or virtual settings which directors may feel lost among a carousel of computer faces.

The most important aspect of this is to ensure that the agenda is clear and concise and requires well-written and written board papers that are prepared and distributed prior to the meeting to ensure that directors are prepared to talk about the issues. It is also essential to limit the amount of time devoted to routine and reports that can drag down the meeting.

Other rules for meetings include the limitation of how many times a speaker can speak on any particular motion (two minutes) and making sure that all speakers remain relevant to the topic at hand. If a particular motion is becoming heated or creating tension the motion to end debate may be proposed with the approval of two-thirds. Finally, to avoid wasting time, it is essential that everyone respect one another and do not undermine fellow members by slamming their motives, or using derogatory language.