Chairing meetings

Good leadership makes a board productive.

As Chairperson, your role is to make sure that meetings are used efficiently to make decisions that will get the work of the organization done. Some of the advice below applies only to Board meetings, but most of it applies to any kind of meeting.

To learn how to be a chairperson, you can gather advice on good practice, but it is most helpful to observe a skilled chairperson. Modeling and mentoring is the best way to teach it; some things are caught more than taught.

Planning the meeting

This is often the secretary's role, but you should check that it is done well.

Set the meeting time and place. This is very straightforward if the board already has a policy (e.g. first Tuesday of every month, set at previous meeting) or has a long-term schedule. In other cases, you or the secretary have to circulate people to know whether or not they can come.

Check whether you will have a quorum (i.e. enough people attending to make official decisions). Tip: If someone cannot come, they should proxy another attender to attend on their behalf so the Board can make decisions. It is very awkward if you hold the meeting but don’t get a quorum; you can’t actually make decisions.

List the agenda items. Some of these will come from the previous set of minutes, but you should email board members and the CEO for their suggestions of other items. Practices vary:

• Some boards hold an executive committee meeting early to set the agenda.
• The chairperson, secretary and CEO usually set the board meeting agenda.
• In some organizations, the agenda is closed at the end of the preparation stage and no more items can be added. In others, the agenda is left open and it has a segment early in the meeting when people can add agenda items.

When you have decided on an agenda, you can send it out with the invitations, usually at least a week beforehand. Include copies of any reports or proposals to be considered at the meeting. People will need time to read and digest them to save time in the meeting.

Leading the meeting

1. The leader facilitates, not dictates.
   Dictators tend to lose the best people.
2. Make decisions and get things done.
1. Boards must make decisions to do things and check that they get done. A motion is really a proposed decision to do something and meetings should be “Decide and Do,” not “Discuss and Defer.” Discussion without making decisions is a complete waste of time. Even worse, you will lose some of the best board members if they get frustrated with time-wasting discussion that goes nowhere.
2. People should have read all the reports and proposals that were sent out, and you can usually move straight to discussion. In a very few cases, a person might also give a formal presentation, but keep it to the point. These kinds of presentations need to be very well prepared so they keep within the bounds of the meeting.
3. If discussion has slowed right down and nothing new is coming up, you can usually wrap it up and ask for a decision on the motion.
3. Stay in control of the meeting.
   As chairperson, you have the responsibility to keep the meeting on track and stop time-wasting. In some circumstances, you will need to close down discussions or divert attention to other topics. You can’t move the meeting forward if you are only a passive follower.
1. You can close down digressions into unproductive discussion, personal chatter, obfuscation, and bureaucratic nonsense.
2. You can close down speakers who are already clear but have started to repeat themselves.
3. You can quickly close down any proposal that would be illegal or unethical.
4. You can also cut off discussions that are overly personal and not necessary to the business of the organization.
4. Be neutral.
   As chairperson, stay as neutral as possible. Your position is compromised if you take sides or set up decisions, and Board members could feel that you have circumvented their duty to participate in making decisions.
5. Ask questions.
   You can ask questions if a comment is unclear.
6. Monitor board members' satisfation with their board role.
   Some are enthusiatic about the vision of the organization, some for fellowship or personal loyalty, some want to to make decisions to get things done. Some see their role according to their specific area of ability.
7. Make sure everybody who wants a say gets opportunity.
   You will often have to compromise between letting everyone say all that they are thinking, and giving them all enough time to contribute. A few people will want to do all the talking and you can limit their input. Just do it politely.
   You might need to coax quiet people who are reticent to speak. Be patient with people who are naturally inarticulate, nervous, shy, or who tend to repeat themselves. They are on the board because they have something important to say, and they also have a right to speak. You can stop them when their message is clear or they no longer add new information. You could sum up or ask them questions.
8. Make people feel understood and valued.
   Make people feel understood and that their views are valued. If their English language skills are poor, articulate for people.
9. Watch your time limit.
   If necessary, move for an extension.
10. Check that people understand the topic being discussed.
    Just because something is obvious to you doesn't mean it will be obvious to everyone else in the meeting or anyone else reading the minutes.
11. Allow people to go off topic if it adds value.
    The main example is discussion that turns to unexpected but relevant points. Otherwise close it down.
12. Respond to unplanned topics
    The discussion will sometimes progress to a relevent but unplanned topic, but no prospective decision is being discussed. If so, either call for either a change of motion or a new motion to sharpen the focus on decision-making.
13. Delegate very time-consuming issues.
    Discussion can also bog down when the group comes across a complex issue or gets into implementation. These are usually time wasters; you cannot do a responsible job of fully exploring complex issues in such a short time, and you should not get sidetracked with details of implementation. It is usually better to delegate the matter to a person or create a committee to do the research and bring a proposal to the next meeting. If the matter is urgent (e.g. you face a deadline), then you should authorize someone to approve the proposal within the time limit.
14. Give the CEO opportunity to speak.
    Give the CEO a little more opportunity to speak than most people. He/she knows more than anyone else the executive functions and the operations, and personally has most to lose if something goes wrong.
15. Beware CEO bias.
    CEOs naturally want to cast themselves in a good light. Besides, their view of the organization is idiosyncratic and others might see it differently. For this reason, Boards have the power to bypass the CEO and get other information on the organization's activities.