The board of directors is accountable for the direction of a company. They decide on policies and make decisions. In most companies the board is required to be able to vote on any decisions. Your board should be able to follow clear rules for meetings and guidelines to ensure a successful decision-making procedure.
The rules for meeting that most boards use are based on Robert’s Rules of Order, an English parliamentary rule book written by American General Henry M. Robert in 1876 to avoid meetings devolving into chaos. Although Robert’s Rules of Order is not mandatory for every board to implement it, formal guidelines could be used to create a framework which ensures fair debates during meetings that are hybrid or virtual, where directors might be lost in a sea of computer faces.
This includes ensuring that the agenda is concise and clear. In order to do this, well-written board documents must be prepared and distributed before the meeting to ensure directors are ready for discussion. It’s important to limit time spent on routine issues and reports, since they can drag on meetings.
Other meeting rules include limiting the number of times an individual can talk about a motion (two minutes), and ensuring the speakers are relevant to the discussion that is being discussed. If a specific motion is causing a heated debate or creating tension or tension, a motion to end the debate can be put forward with the support of two-thirds. To avoid wasting time it is essential that everyone respects each other and doesn’t undermine other members’ motives or use snide language.
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