Confronting the scourge of the ever-growing meeting pack

Scheme representatives are feeling the pressure of an ever-demanding workload against a backdrop of a changing legislative landscape, the growth of defined contribution sections, as well as the need to tackle scheme deficits.

Eighty-two per cent of trustees said demands on them are increasing, with 31 per cent, saying they are increasing dramatically, according to Baker Tilly’s recent trusteeship report.

With sometimes only four trustee meetings a year, having easily digestible materials to support effective decision-making is essential.

Putting together trustee meeting packs that contain the right level of detail, but which are also accessible for trustees, can be a difficult task

Some stuff can be decided on without having to have a formal meeting, either by email responses by the trustees or perhaps with a brief conference call

Mark Hodgkinson, Muse Advisory

Mark Hodgkinson, director at consultancy Muse Advisory, said the person putting together the meeting pack has a choice whether to make it very detailed, which could end up being big and bulky, or “they [could] try and keep it as light as possible but include all the essential information, assuming that trustees will either ask them or go and find out the answer to it themselves”.

One option to help deal with this is to set up an online facility where trustees can access all the important scheme documents and decision papers. Clear organisation as well as signposting within the meeting pack is also key to helping trustees absorb information.

Colin Richardson, client director at professional trustee company PTL, said a lot of different organisations will have contributed to the meeting pack. “It’s always useful for whatever format it’s in for there to be an overall guide or contents,” Richardson said.

Too many consultants write overly long reports, he said, adding: “Let’s have a short report of key points, key details with appendices for background information behind that.”

Indicating to trustees the purpose of a section, whether it is for educational purposes or to help with decision-making, can also make the meeting pack more easily accessible.

Hodgkinson said: “It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about paper or about an electronic board pack which is delivered to the trustee on download via an iPad.

Beyond the meeting pack

Trustees should also be kept informed between meetings and interim decisions can be decided over email, giving trustees a chance to ask questions before the next gathering.

This can help avoid something that cannot be resolved at one meeting, being shunted onto the agenda of the next, Hodgkinson said.

“Some stuff can be decided on without having to have a formal meeting, either by email responses by the trustees or perhaps with a brief conference call,” he added.

Marian Elliott, head of trustee advisory services at actuarial consultancy Spence & Partners, said some trustee boards now have live, shared documents that are updated between meetings.

Circulating this as well as the agenda and meeting pack needs to be done at least two weeks in advance, she said.

Elliott cautioned that information stored online should be double-password protected and encrypted.