A great strategic board agenda sets the tone for your meetings. It ensures that the members are involved in productive discussions and decision-making. It also facilitates sharing of new insights and perspectives. But the secret to a successful board agenda is more than just drafting an agenda of topics for your meeting. It requires talent, skill, and discipline.
When creating your agenda for your strategic board ensure that you have set time limits for each item. This can prevent meetings from running over schedule and will ensure that important issues receive sufficient attention. It is also crucial to prioritize and balance the number of strategic long-term items with reports and other business items. It is best to focus on the strategic discussion and leave the reports for the last part of the agenda, so your board can concentrate on the most important issues for the organization.
Think about bringing in an impartial facilitator or board member to help in the process of strategic planning. This person can help bring fresh perspectives to the discussion and help your board take an approach that is more strategic in making decisions.
Distribute the agenda, along with any other pertinent documents, to the board members in advance. This allows them to look over the documents ahead of time and develop ideas for the meeting.