Any other business: Economist and diplomat John Galbraith once said: “Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.” But with fiduciary duty weighing heavily on trustees, board meetings must be a forum for effective decision-making.
With an average of four board meetings taking place annually, trustees need to be on their A-game to ensure effective decisions are taken in the time allotted.
Elissa Coward, talent management expert at PA Consulting Group, said in her experience a lot of meetings become undone due to a lack of preparation.
“The planning piece is if you’re the owner of the meeting, what is it that you’re trying to achieve and signposting [throughout the meeting] for each agenda item,” said Coward.
Increasingly trustee boards are carrying out annual analysis of their effectiveness to assess how well they are using their time to achieve their objectives.
The danger is [meetings] can be prone to turn into talking shops
Steve Delo, Pan Trustees
Sharon McSweeney, principal consultant at Aon Hewitt, said she encourages trustee boards to identify what their end point is, establish objectives and a plan to meet these.
“If you look at a typical six-hour trustee meeting we find they’re not spending as much time on the strategic decision-making and spending more time on the monitoring aspect of it,” McSweeney said.
This includes operational details such as reviewing the administrators report, she said.
This is another way effective planning by trustees comes into play.
“A lot of that stuff can be done in preparation for meeting,” she said.
For effective decision-making during the meeting there also needs to be an appropriate level of participation and challenge from trustees.
Ensuring progress
An assertive chair can be important to keep the meeting on track and ensure progress is made through the agenda.
“The danger is [meetings] can be prone to turning into talking shops,” said Steve Delo, chief executive at professional trustee company Pan Trustees.
Delo said this does not necessarily mean capping time spent on items, but “understanding what’s important and allowing certain things to go on and letting certain things be capped or cut”.
It can also be helpful for the chair to discuss items on the agenda prior to the meeting to ensure time is not wasted.
“Make sure reports from advisers are well-tailored to the items,” said Colin Richardson, client director at professional trustee company PTL.
This allows trustees to “come with their key points and questions in advance so time is not spent in the meeting where trustees are going through these reports”, he said.
The choice of venue used to hold a trustee meeting can also impact how much is achieved.
Delo said the chair may want to consider whether it is better hosting the meeting in a hotel, where trustees can arrive the night before for dinner, and are rested and on site for the next day.
He said it is important to keep energy levels up among trustees, however, he warns against bringing in the sandwiches too early.
“Bringing in lunch half an hour before lunchtime is due can actually distract trustees more,” he said.
