How To Improve Membership Board Meetings

Ideally, meetings are designed to coordinate progress in a membership organization. Therefore, the more often meetings are held, the more progress that should be achieved. However, meetings can also feel like the same topics keep being covered with little progress being made. 

 

Communication is also a key benefit of regular board meetings. By posting information on your membership website, members are encouraged to be involved, help with projects and spread the word about upcoming events. So, what is your organization doing to focus on progress and communication?

 

 

The agenda is the most important tool to keep meetings organized and on topic.  An organized meeting will be more productive. However, it is easy for a meeting to get off track people voice their ideas. It is important for the meeting organizer to pause the conversation and make a note to discuss the new topic at a later time during the meeting. 

 

When preparing the agenda for a meeting, be sure to include all topics that emerged since the previous meeting. This will ensure all topics were covered so that members do not feel their item was ignored.  This also helps the organization focus on making progress both during and after each meeting.

 

 

After each meeting, encourage members to visit the membership's website for the minutes from the meeting along with any special announcements. This is especially important if a decision was made at a meeting that all members need to be made aware. The website is also a great tool for members to submit questions to the board members which may need to be added to the agenda for the next meeting.