The Ultimate Guide to Board and Executive Team Management

Organizing and arranging meetings for boards and executive teams can be a long, drawn-out process that requires a lot of patience and managing many moving parts.

I’d also like to draw your attention to the following guides, which will help you manage meetings:

The ultimate guide to effective minute-taking

I’ve worked with quite a few Boards and Committees over the years. I have organized some critical and some time-wasting meetings, so I understand the balance needed and the steps to follow to ensure the meeting’s success.

It is a lot of work for Assistants.

The ultimate guide to board and Executive team management will cover everything Assistants need to know, including all those moving parts leading to an effective meeting.

  • Effective Committee meeting management
  • Ten tips on preparing board papers
  • Ground rules for team meetings
  • Adding some creativity to a regular meeting
  • 10 apps to help you plan meetings
  • Are you getting attendees to your meetings?

 

Effective Committee Meeting Management

How do we ensure the meeting is well-organized, productive, and attended by the right people?

Here are my tips on effective Committee meeting management, which are part of the ultimate guide to board and Executive team management.

The saying goes that there are three requirements to make up a competent Committee: the right task, the right people, and the right process. The responsibilities must be clearly defined. The people have to be engaged, capable of completing the tasks given to them, and the correct procedures must be in place to ensure the tasks are completed efficiently.

In most cases, Assistants cannot influence the tasks given to a Committee or the members that make up the group. However, they will have considerable influence over the process. Here are the steps we will be involved in and some advice on making this part of the process more efficient.

The Meeting Space

Committee meetings are long, drawn-out, and can go on all day, so the attendees must be comfortable. If they’re squeezed into a room with uncomfortable chairs and no natural light, they probably won’t be as productive as they would be if they had plenty of space, were comfortable, and could move around freely.

If you hear Committee members complaining about certain aspects of the room arrangement, suggest to your manager that you change the location or, at the very least, introduce more breaks so they aren’t in continual discomfort.

The Agenda

The Committee chair will generally finalize the meeting’s agenda, but you can help draft the initial version. Every agenda should have the following details:

  • The name of the Committee meeting
  • The date, time, and venue
  • The members attending the meeting
  • The names of those who have sent apologies
  • The name of the person taking the minutes

Look through the previous set of minutes and add items to the agenda that carry over to this meeting. Also, if there is any relevant work or news within the company that needs to be discussed by this Committee and is part of their overall objective, this should be added to the agenda.

The agenda should also have regular items for discussion, such as financials, operational activity, communications, etc. Ensure the agenda and supporting papers are sent to the Committee members at least a week before the meeting.

The Timing of Meetings

Planning meetings well in advance will help the Committee members attend regularly (or at least they’ll have less of an excuse to send apologies). The meetings should be scheduled and in their calendars, ideally for the entire year. Resources required for the meeting, such as conference calling details or presentation material, should all be arranged before the meeting date.

During the Meeting

If you’re taking the minutes at Committee meetings, refer to my previous blog for handy hints and tips. It can be difficult to actively engage in the meeting if you’re writing the minutes, but at the same time, if any questions arise regarding the organization of the meeting, give your opinion.

As I said, these meetings can take up a good few hours and can sometimes be quite tedious, but maintain your concentration and stay focused (or at least look like you are!).

Post-Meeting

Ensure the minutes are sent out to the Committee members as soon as possible, and inform them of any action points they must complete and the date of the next meeting. Keep in touch with the Committee members during the interval between meetings, especially if they don’t work directly with you.

This will show you are actively engaged in the organization of the Committee and that you appreciate their input and the decisions they have to make.

Minute Taking Template

This powerful template is designed to help busy Assistants take effective minutes.

Whether minuting interviews, team meetings or executive leadership committees, this template helps you record everything accurately and professionally.

Ten Tips on Preparing Board Papers

We can’t write the ultimate guide to board and Executive team management without mentioning board papers! Working for a Company Secretary in one role and managing 12 Committees in another means I’ve spent more time than I care to admit putting board papers together.

They have been the absolute bane of my life, and I have to admit I hated that part of my role. Constantly chasing people for supporting papers, printing thousands of pages only to be told that the documents have been amended, stapling through massive reports—I hated it.

And let’s not even get started on the number of paper cuts! Not to mention colleagues who would mess up my printing order if I dared step away from the printer for two minutes. Ugh! I often had heated conversations with one of my managers about taking the board papers online or, at the very least, just emailing them to board members.

Neither happened, so I was stuck printing out board packs nearly every week. So, here are some tips for those who still have to print board papers. Here are my top ten tips for preparing board papers:

  1. Print off a few extra copies of the board papers. Someone will always forget to bring their pack.

  2. Set strict deadlines for those who need to produce supporting papers. You can be pretty firm with anyone who isn’t a board member preparing a board paper. If they’re late, remind them it’s for the senior management team!

  3. Print each board paper as soon as you receive it. Organizing documents over time rather than all at once the day before the meeting is worth it.

  4. Insert a numbered divider between each supporting document, especially for large packs. Then add the number of each board paper to the correlating agenda item.

  5. Deliver a copy of the board papers (in a confidential envelope) to each board member. At least this way, you know they’ve received it.

  6. Scan the final board papers into a PDF format for future reference. Secure the document in a safe or password-protected file.

  7. If you’re missing one or two supporting papers, don’t wait before sending out the board pack. You can send additional documents to board members later. Ideally, you want to give the Executives plenty of time to read the board pack before the meeting.

  8. The agenda, action list, and previous minutes should be the first three items in a board pack.

  9. Ideally, bind the board pack, but if that’s not possible, use a clear plastic wallet to keep everything neat and in order.

  10. Ensure each supporting paper is well-formatted and easy to read. These documents will enable the Executives to make business decisions. The easier they are to understand, the easier it will be for them to make decisions.

Ground Rules for Team Meetings

A fundamental task for Assistants is organizing department team meetings. I bet if your organization is anything like the ones I used to work for, you’re responsible for organizing a lot of team meetings. Most of us know that some meetings aren’t the best use of time, but did you know that companies lose around $37 billion annually to unnecessary team meetings?!

It’s astounding.

The statistics don’t end there. In researching the ultimate guide to board and Executive team management, we found that 73% of people admit to doing unrelated work during meetings. These stats show that more work needs to be done to make meetings worthwhile and productive. Since many of you organize team meetings, this is an area where you could add real value. A great place to start is by establishing ground rules for team meetings.

A good starting point with ground rules is the simple things everyone should already be doing because they’re just polite!

For example, everyone should:

  • Show up on time
  • Send apologies if they can’t attend or arrange for a substitute
  • Set their phone to vibrate
  • Come prepared and have read all supporting materials
  • Listen to each other without interrupting
  • Stay focused on the meeting’s purpose
  • Follow up on assigned tasks

 

These simple ground rules for team meetings should be easy to implement and attached to every meeting invitation you or your Executive sends out.

Getting people to stick to these rules is a whole other topic, but having the basics in place is a good start. Let’s look at some additional ground rules you can implement to make team meetings more productive.

How Can Ground Rules Help Attendees Be More Productive?

Here are five ground rules for team meetings that will boost productivity.

1. Establish the Purpose of the Meeting

An excellent first ground rule is to determine the purpose of the meeting. Here are a few options (thanks to the Undercover Recruiter):

  • Decision-making
  • Information sharing
  • Brainstorming
  • Updates
  • Sales

 

Before a meeting is even scheduled, consider the purpose and categorize it. This way, attendees will know the general focus and can plan accordingly.

2. Every Meeting Must Have an Agenda

Another simple but often overlooked rule is to ensure every meeting has an agenda. It can be straightforward, like this:

  • Date, time, location
  • Attendees
  • Meeting purpose
  • Supporting papers
  • Meeting type (conference call, in-person, etc.)

 

The most critical aspect of the agenda is the timing of each item. Make sure everyone knows what’s being discussed and how long each discussion should take. Include an end time so people know when to stop talking!

3. Keep Meetings to 30 Minutes

Unless it’s a board meeting, team meetings shouldn’t last longer than 30 minutes. Meetings should be purposeful, taking 30 minutes to discuss and assign necessary actions. If the meeting has to be longer, include regular breaks. There’s a lot of evidence that people need mental breaks to process their thoughts, so frequent breaks can help productivity.

4. No PowerPoint

There’s nothing worse than sitting through an unnecessary presentation. “Death by PowerPoint” is real! Do you need people to present with slides during your team meetings? Consider having them send out the slides, with a voice-over if necessary, for attendees to review before the meeting. Avoiding unnecessary presentations can save time.

5. Assign Accountability for the Meeting

Another excellent ground rule, borrowed from Apple, is to assign accountability for each meeting. Designate someone to drive the meeting forward. This person should ensure that the meeting has a sort of ROI (return on investment). They can keep the discussion on track, stop irrelevant conversations, take notes on action items, and follow up after the meeting.

This role doesn’t have to be a senior team member or the same person for each meeting. Sharing this responsibility among the team can encourage everyone to take ownership of the meetings.

Putting These Tips Into Practice

Finally, how do you implement these ground rules for team meetings? Take these ideas to your Executive and ask if they will enhance your team meetings. If your Executive agrees, send an initial email to your team explaining that you’ll be implementing a new set of rules for each meeting.

You can even take it a step further by saying that you’ll reject any meeting set up for your Executive that doesn’t follow these rules. This may stir things up initially, but once people see that the rules lead to more efficient meetings, they’ll be more likely to comply to ensure your Executive’s attendance.

Adding Some Creativity to a Regular Meeting

We’ve all been responsible for organizing regular meetings. Maybe it’s a formal board meeting with stacks of reports, a more casual weekly staff gathering, or something in between.

Have you ever thought, “I wish I could freshen this up to make sure attendees get more from the meeting?” You probably know that the more familiar people become with an environment, the more they operate on autopilot. So, how do you add some creativity to your meetings? In The EA Campus’s ultimate guide to board and Executive team management, we’ll show you how.

When you use the same room with the same format, attendees tend to approach it in the same way. Trust me, it’s not just you who gets bored in board meetings—your attendees do, too.

Operating on autopilot and feeling a bit bored is hardly the ideal setting for problem-solving. Research shows that meetings in creative spaces lead to clearer thinking and better solutions.

Here are a few ideas for adding some creativity to regular meetings. You’ll need buy-in from stakeholders, so try these suggestions one at a time.

1. Take the Meeting to a Different Venue

If possible, consider hosting your regular meeting in a different space. Not just another similar meeting room—book a spot in an upscale members’ club or a creative co-working space.

Hosting the meeting externally can encourage a fresh perspective for your attendees as they tackle challenges and problems.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons why an external meeting might not be possible. Here are four simple things you can try if you’re stuck in the same building.

2. Freshen Up the Meeting Format

Typically, meetings follow the same process every time. Maybe it’s informal chit-chat with coffee, then a roundtable of verbal updates, followed by a structured agenda.

Whatever the format, attendees become used to it, which may stifle creativity. Why not shake up the format?

Still aim to cover the agenda, but try a different approach. One effective way to spark creativity is to shorten the time available for problem-solving. This “blink” approach is brilliantly explained in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.

It may seem counterintuitive, but snap decisions often work out well.

So, why not shorten the meeting time? Try a stand-up meeting or go without tea or coffee. Just make sure attendees know what to expect. You can be quite creative—and a little “challenging.”

Adding Some Creativity to a Regular Meeting

Or maybe be very challenging—the meeting lasts only as long as attendees can hold a plank position!

3. Start the Meeting with a Creative Introduction

I’ve used this kind of icebreaker at various meetings and events. It helps attendees focus on the meeting’s purpose.

The format is simple: cut out some colorful cardboard shapes and ask attendees to either draw or write something on the shape before the meeting, then stick them to a wall in the room.

Ideas could include:

  • Brain shapes or lightbulbs for new ideas
  • Heart shapes for something they love
  • Brick shapes for barriers they foresee

What you’re doing is creating a “creative” space in the room. Attendees can gather to review ideas and challenges, turning the wall into a focal point for the meeting.

Rather than sticking to a set agenda, attendees can work through each other’s ideas and challenges.

4. Don’t Think Boardroom—Think Classroom

There’s no limit to where you can go with this idea, so take things gradually.

Many creative spaces borrow heavily from the classroom.

Research shows that people are at their most creative when they’re in a learning environment. “Regressing” attendees to a more open, childlike state can sometimes encourage creative thinking.

There are simple ways to do this—no psychologist’s couch required. Try using colorful notepads, or place markers, crayons, and colored pens around the room.

Let them write on tablecloths or cutouts like we mentioned above.

One client even serves drinks in plastic cups instead of coffee to evoke childhood memories, hoping to boost creativity among the team.

5. Change the Environment and Atmosphere in the Room

Another quick fix is to alter the environment and mood in the meeting room.

There are so many ways you can do this.

Maybe you bring in some desk lamps to brighten things up, swap out the boardroom table for cozy furniture from the reception area, or change up the artwork in the room. Add some cushions, flowers, pitchers of colorful juices—anything you can think of to add some color and vibrancy to the room.

You could even try playing music. Ask attendees for their favorite songs beforehand and play them when welcoming people to the room.

The time our Executives spend in meetings should be among the most productive, and these few tips can help make regular meetings add more value to your organization.

10 Apps to Help You Plan Meetings

We all know how tough it is to get a meeting into your Executive’s schedule, let alone everyone else who needs to attend. And once everyone’s there, it’s a gamble whether the meeting will be truly productive!

As we discussed in The EA Campus’s ultimate guide to board and Executive team management, planning meetings can be challenging. That is why I highly recommend using technology to help streamline the process.

Here’s a list of 10 apps that can help you plan meetings effectively:

  1. Calendly – This is an excellent meeting calendar that lets others schedule meetings based on available time in your calendar.

  2. Pick – Pick A Meeting gathers info from attendees’ calendars to determine when everyone has time to meet.

  3. First Agenda – This app gathers all your meeting documents under one login for everyone to access, making the process much smoother!

  4. Doodle – Set up a poll so everyone can pick an available date and time.

  5. Slack – Probably the best internal communication tool on the market. It’s great for organizing meetings, sharing agendas, reminding invitees, and keeping track of follow-ups. Slack also supports 1:1 video calls/screen sharing, a handy feature when working remotely.

  6. Slido – An audience interaction tool for meetings, Slido lets attendees ask questions or engage with live polls during the session.

  7. Fireflies.ai – A powerful AI-driven tool designed to automatically record, transcribe, and organize meeting notes, making collaboration seamless and ensuring key insights are captured across virtual meetings.

  8. Google Meet – A free HD video call service with instant messaging and great conferencing options for up to 10 people and group chat for up to 100. It integrates seamlessly with other Google products.

  9. Kahoot! – A game-based learning platform where you can administer quizzes, discussions, and surveys, all in a fun, engaging mobile environment.

Are you Getting Attendees to your Meetings?

You’ve organized a meeting, set it in everyone’s calendar, booked a room, and arranged refreshments. Yet, when it’s time, only a few people show up, some arrive late, and others just don’t show. Frustrating, right? Yes! We’ve all been there.

Given how many meetings assistants are asked to arrange, we must manage them effectively to ensure everyone who needs to be there attends. Here are a few tips to increase attendance and engagement at your meetings:

Plan the Meeting in Advance

It may sound obvious, but the longer the meeting has been in someone’s diary, the more likely they’ll attend. Last-minute meetings happen often, and assistants typically have to make space in packed schedules. While urgent meetings are inevitable, planning board and team meetings as far in advance as possible (ideally a year out) can improve attendance.

Start on Time

Start promptly, even if only a few attendees have arrived. Latecomers will soon realize that arriving late makes them look unprofessional and that they’ll miss valuable information. This practice will also help ensure your meetings finish on time, which is essential for those with busy schedules.

Write an Agenda

For every meeting you organize, include a clear agenda. Attach it to the meeting invite so attendees know what to expect. Include any documents they need to review ahead of time, and send a reminder the day before the meeting. Each agenda item should be timed to show you’ve carefully considered the meeting structure.

Get the Right People in the Room

Does the CEO really need to be in this meeting? If they arrive only to realize it wasn’t necessary, they may be reluctant to attend your next one. On the other hand, if no senior decision-maker is present, it might hinder effective decisions. Make sure the meeting includes the right people.

Assign Attendees a Task

A great way to ensure attendees are prepared and engaged is to assign them a task related to the meeting. Remind them of their assigned task beforehand.

Use a Meeting Productivity Tool

Many organizations now use meeting productivity tools to improve meeting results. Using such tools shows colleagues you’re serious about optimizing their time. There are plenty of options, like Less Meetings.

Last Resort? Offer Free Food…

Offering snacks or lunch can sometimes make a big difference in attendance.

I hope you found The EA Campus’s ultimate guide to board and Executive team management useful.

When organizing a meeting for your team, project group, or Executive, there’s a lot to consider. Hopefully, these tips will help you plan valuable, productive meetings!

Find more tips on meeting management and supporting your Executive’s productivity here: How can Executive Assistants make their Executive more Productive?

Meeting management isn’t easy, but creating a clear strategy and an efficient agenda can make a significant difference. Following the tips in this article should set you on the path to better meeting planning. To go even further, consider enrolling in our Effective Meetings Management Online Course, which offers in-depth knowledge on organizing high-productivity meetings.

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Nicky Christmas

I'm Nicky, the Founder and CEO of The EA Campus. Let’s continue the conversation over in our communities.

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