The January 2002 issue of Board Café contained these 10 suggestions from Jan Masaoka on how to have successful board meetings. Many of them would work for other groups as well. 

TEN QUICK WAYS TO IMPROVE BOARD MEETINGS
by Jan Masaoka

When we think about the boards we're on, we usually think
about the board meetings-which says a lot about the
importance of having good meetings. Make a New Year's
resolution to implement one of the following ideas each
month:

1. 1. Name tags for everyone, every meeting. It's
   embarrassing to have seen people at several meetings and
   wondered what their names are . . . and later it's
   REALLY hard to admit you don't know their names.
2. 2. Post an acronym chart. Make a poster of frequently used
   external and internal acronyms (such as CDBG for
   Community Development Block Grants or DV for domestic
   violence) and post it on the wall of every meeting. (If
   you distribute the list on paper it is soon lost.)
3. 3. Write an "anticipated action" for each agenda item.
   Examples: "Finance Committee report, brief questions and
   answers: no action needed." "Volunteer recruitment and
   philosophy: Anticipated Action: form committee of 3-4
   board members." "Public Policy Committee: Anticipated
   Action: approve organizational statement to city council
   on zone changes."
4. 4. Make sure that each person says at least one thing at
   every board meeting. This is the Chair's
   responsibility, but everyone should help! "Cecilia, you
   haven't spoken on this issue. I'm wondering what you're
   thinking about it?" "Matt, at the last meeting you made
   a good point about finances. Are there financial issues
   here that we aren't thinking about?"
5. 5. No one-way communication from staff. If you have a
   regular Executive Director's Report on the agenda, or if
   a staff program director is giving you a briefing, be
   sure that such presentations need a response from the
   board. If not, put them in writing in the board packet
   and just ask if there are any questions.
6. 6.Don't include committee reports on the agenda just to
   make the committees feel worthwhile. If a committee has
   done work but doesn't need it discussed, put the
   committee report in the board packet. (In the meeting
   be sure to recognize the committee's good work and refer
   people to the written report.) Instead, schedule
   committee reports in the context of the main discussion.
   For example, if there is a discussion planned on
   attracting and retaining staff, reports from the Finance
   Committee and the Personnel Committee may be
   appropriate.
7. 7. Note to the board president and the executive director:
   what are the two most important matters facing the
   organization-economic downturn, changes in government
   funding, decreased preschool enrollment due to higher
   unemployment, a competitor organization, demographic
   changes in the county? Is one of these matters on every
   board agenda?
8. 8. Encourage "dumb" questions, respectful dissent,
   authentic disagreements. Find a chance to be
   encouraging, at every meeting: "Sylvia, I'm glad you
   asked that 'dumb' question. I didn't know the answer
   either." "Duane, I appreciate the fact that you
   disagreed with me in that last discussion. Even though
   you didn't convince me, your comment helped make the
   discussion much more valuable."
9. 9. Make sure the room is comfortable! Not too hot or cold
   or crowded. Offer beverages and something light to eat
   such as cookies or fruit.
10. 10. Adjourn on time, or agree to stay later. Twenty
    minutes before the scheduled end of the meeting, the
    Chair should ask whether the group wants to stay later:
    "If we continue this very interesting discussion, we
    will have to stay fifteen extra minutes to hear the
    recommendation on the executive director's salary. Can
    everyone stay that long, or should we end this
    discussion and move to that one immediately?"

BONUS: Once every year or two, survey the board about
meetings. Pass out a questionnaire for anonymous return to
the board vice president or secretary, asking, "What do you
like best about board meetings? Least?" "Are you satisfied
with the items that are usually on the agenda?" "How could
the board president do more to encourage discussion at the
meetings?" "Is the location or time of day difficult for
you?"