Running an Effective Board Meeting

One of the most time consuming parts of being a Board member is attending the Board of Director’s meetings.  Therefore, you don’t want to be wasting time at these meetings which are necessary to have a

functioning association.  Here are some of the ways to make sure your Board meetings are productive and efficient:

·         Prepare for the meeting by first of all, making sure that a quorum of the Board members will be in attendance. Without a quorum, a meeting cannot be held.

·         Make sure that you read the management and financial reports before getting to the meeting and prepare any questions you might have for management.

·         Establish a well-organized agenda and stick to it.  The agenda should include;

1)      A call to order and a roll call of members present.

2)      Approval of minutes from the last meeting. These should be reviewed, corrected if . and approved.  Once approved, these should be made available to the unit owners.

3)      The financial report should be summarized at this meeting by either the Treasurer or management.

4)      A homeowner’s forum could be held at this point in the meeting, before business of the association is discussed, or at the end of the meeting.  Although there is no requirement to hold this forum, giving the unit owners a time to express concerns or ask questions pays dividends in the long run.   

5)      Old business covers topics that have been brought up and discussed at previous meetings and call for either an update, the presentation of more information to the Board or resolution.

6)      New business covers new items that require Board attention.

·         If you are responsible for a topic on the agenda, make sure that you are well prepared and understand what needs to be accomplished on this topic.

Running an effective meeting not only requires adequate preparation but an established set of protocols and behavior that will accomplish your agenda.  There are basic principles of parliamentary procedure or Robert’s Rules of Order that you should adopt that sets the tone of the meeting.  Motions need to be made when items are brought to the table that requires Board action.  Seconds to the motion and discussion are necessary before the vote is taken on the issue.  (If a Board member is directly impacted by the motion, he or she should abstain from the vote in order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.)

Executive session gives the Board the opportunity to discuss personnel, legal or homeowner issues in private.  It is essential that all information discussed in the executive session remains completely confidential.

Conducting an effective Board meeting requires preparation, a thorough review of agenda items and conclusion.  Following these simple procedures will make for an effective and efficient meeting. 

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