It’s no secret – planning and running productive board meetings takes a lot of time. And while board meeting preparation can amount to weeks of hard work, the effort is critical to ensure that directors are well prepared and board meetings are productive.
In this post, we’ll explore some of the best practices of board meeting prep, and we’ll also share a board meeting preparation checklist that you can use as a guide.
You can also skip ahead to these sections:
- Roles & responsibilities: who’s in charge?
- How do you prepare for a board meeting?
- Key deadlines & timing
- Preparing for the meeting – before the meeting checklist
- After the board meeting checklist
- How a board portal can help you prepare for a board meeting
Roles & responsibilities: who’s in charge?
Effective board meeting preparation requires clear delegation and accountability among your leadership teams. While board administrators typically orchestrate the logistics, successful corporate governance depends on collaboration across multiple stakeholders.
Board Administrator/Secretary: Takes the lead on agenda creation, coordinating with presenters, managing the document library, and ensuring compliance with governance practices. They serve as the central point of contact for all meeting preparation activities.
Board Chair: Reviews preliminary agendas, guides strategic discussion topics, and ensures the meeting aligns with governance objectives. The chair also helps prioritize agenda items when time constraints arise.
CEO/Executive Director: Provides input on operational updates, strategic initiatives, and key business matters that require board attention. They collaborate closely with the board administrator to ensure all necessary topics are covered.
Committee Chairs: Responsible for preparing and submitting committee reports, coordinating with their committee members, and identifying items that need full board discussion or approval.
Establishing these roles early in your board processes helps prevent last-minute scrambling and ensures nothing falls through the cracks.
How do you prepare for a board meeting?
While there’s no secret playbook that will equip every board administrator and governance specialist to plan and run the best board meetings, there are guidelines that you can follow. These include:
- Make sure you start the planning process well in advance of the board meeting to give enough time to prepare. It can be helpful to start preparations for the next meeting as soon as the last one finishes, starting with asking what went well and what didn’t? Map out a pre-meeting schedule and prioritize your tasks, allocating the appropriate amount of time for each. Use a meeting checklist (like the one below) to avoid having to scramble to finalize details at the last minute. Don’t be afraid to block off time in your calendar!
- Collaborate with key stakeholders to ensure that all necessary topics are included in the board meeting agenda and that all relevant materials are sent out to directors in advance. You’re not in this process alone, so make sure to book time in advance with the board chair and CEO to ensure that you don’t miss any relevant information.
- Use technology, like board portal software, to save hours of effort on board meeting prep tasks, such as mapping out meeting calendars, creating an agenda and compiling board meeting packages.
Key deadlines & timing
Effective corporate governance requires giving directors adequate time to review materials while maintaining momentum on urgent issues.
Be sure to build buffer time into your board meeting schedule. Complex topics may require additional review cycles with the board chair or CEO, and you don’t want to compress director preparation time to accommodate internal delays.
Remember that some jurisdictions have legal requirements for notice periods and material distribution timelines. Always consult your bylaws and applicable regulations to ensure compliance with your specific governance requirements.
Here’s an optimal timeline for your board processes:
- 4-6 Weeks Before: Send annual meeting calendar and confirm recurring meeting dates. This allows directors to block time and make travel arrangements well in advance.
- 2-3 Weeks Before: Distribute the preliminary agenda and major supporting documents. This timeline gives leadership teams enough time to review complex financial statements, strategic plans, or regulatory updates that require deeper analysis.
- 1 Week Before: Send any last-minute additions, updated reports, or supplementary materials. Your board management platform should automatically notify directors when new documents are added to their meeting package.
- 48 Hours Before: Final agenda confirmation and any urgent updates. Avoid adding new substantive materials at this point unless absolutely critical – directors need time to properly prepare.
- Day of Meeting: Technical meeting details (dial-in numbers, room changes, parking instructions) and any breaking news that couldn’t wait for the scheduled meeting.
Before the board meeting – checklist for meeting preparation
Preparing for a board meeting can easily feel overwhelming. Use the checklist for meeting preparation below to guide you through the process.
Step 1: send notice & determine meeting requirements
You may have already sent out the meeting schedule for all board meetings at the beginning of the year. If not, send notice of the upcoming meeting, and, if you’re required to give public notice, post the notice as required by your bylaws. With the notice, send out the meeting invite and watch the RSVPs start to trickle in.
Next up: determine the meeting requirements. Get input from the executive and board chair on meeting goals and key topics for the upcoming meeting. Review the minutes from the last board meeting, pay close attention to follow-up tasks, and consider what needs to be included in the upcoming meeting preliminary agenda.
Step 2: develop the agenda
Build out a preliminary agenda draft. Make sure it includes the meeting location, or if the meeting is virtual or hybrid, plus date and time. Consider the purpose of the meeting, the anticipated attendance, the division of items, the expected time to spend on each item, strategies for encouraging discussion, and note any in camera sessions.
Once you’ve completed a draft of the board agenda, send it first to the board chair, CEO or executive, and/or executive director for review. Often new items will arise at this step and you’ll need to practically consider time allotted to each item in the schedule and choose what to include or postpone.
Step 3: confirm attendance & arrange travel plans or easy online meeting access
By this point, RSVPs should mostly be in. Contact any directors and presenters who have not yet confirmed their attendance and see if they are planning to attend. If you have remote board members planning on attending, set up a way for them to join, whether that be by phone or video.
If needed, check the availability of your meeting space and book it, build out a transportation schedule and book hotel rooms. Once you’ve confirmed the number of people attending, book catering and any other extra services needed for the meeting such as any audio or visual equipment is required, such as like computers, screens, projectors, or audio equipment. Flip charts, easels, and whiteboards can be handy too, and having extra pens and paper on the table is a good idea.
Hybrid & Virtual Meeting Considerations
Today’s board meetings often include a mix of in-person and remote participants, requiring additional preparation steps to ensure seamless participation for all directors.
- Schedule a brief tech check with remote participants 24-48 hours before the meeting. Test audio, video, and screen sharing capabilities.
- If some directors are attending virtually while others are in-person, invest in quality audio equipment that picks up voices clearly from around the conference room. Consider a dedicated camera that shows all in-person participants, not just the presenter.
- Ensure all meeting materials are available digitally, even if you typically provide printed copies for in-person attendees. Remote participants need the same ability to reference documents, take notes, and follow along with presentations. Board meeting software like Aprio ensures all meeting attendees can access documents securely and follow along.
- Plan specific moments to check in with remote participants and encourage their input. Virtual attendees can sometimes feel disconnected from the discussion, so intentional inclusion is crucial for effective governance.
- Always have a backup communication method (phone conference line, alternative video platform) ready in case your primary technology fails during the meeting.
Step 4: finalize the agenda
Finalize the agenda, incorporating any feedback and making necessary adjustments. Contact the directors and committee chairs that will be required to submit reports or other supporting documents and provide a deadline and follow up as necessary.
Before distributing the final agenda to all board members, review it with the board chair or executive director. This step ensures they are aligned with the agenda and can effectively lead the meeting.
See related: The ultimate guide to effective board meeting agendas
Step 5: prepare & distribute board meeting materials
Assemble all board meeting materials, including the finalized agenda, financial and/or management reports, committee reports, prior meeting minutes, and any other relevant information. Send out the board materials in advance as according to your bylaws, typically one to two weeks before the board meeting.
If you’re using board management software, assembling and distributing board materials electronically can greatly simplify the traditional courier or delivery process of binders and ensure the board of directors gets access to board materials at the same time.
Step 6: prepare minutes template
Prepare a minutes template prior to the meeting that includes the meeting date, time, and location. Add sections for the major items of the agenda and leave room for note-taking.
Save time preparing your board meeting minutes template with Aprio’s board meeting minute builder. Pre-populate items to your meeting minute template such as the list of attendees, meeting date and location, and agenda items.
See related: Board meeting minutes: How to take minutes at a board meeting
Step 7: final preparations
If any directors have not submitted their reports, follow up with them and determine a method to distribute those materials to all attendees.
If not meeting completely virtually, check the conference room the day before the meeting and ensure that all required supplies and seating requirements are met. Make sure that catering arrangements are finalized and that the meeting attendees are aware of how to access the space. Pack up your laptop and charger, and any other materials you need to bring, and get a good night’s rest. Good luck!
After the board meeting checklist
There are still a few items left to take care of before you have a well-deserved break. Here’s a starting point:
Step 1: remove meeting notices
After the meeting, remove any public meeting notices. These may be replaced with the date, time, and location of the next meeting, if that’s already been decided. If you rented or borrowed any meeting room supplies, ensure that they are returned.
Step 2: correct & finalize minutes
If there were any changes to the previous meeting’s minutes approved by the board, make those revisions, and have them signed and dated by the board chair. Better yet, upload to a central location like Aprio’s library so the minutes can be accessed easily in the future. Then, start to draft the current meeting’s minutes while the meeting is still fresh in your mind, and distribute them. Create a clear process for directors to review and edit the minutes.
In the minutes or in another document that is distributed to all board members, make sure to list assigned tasks and the completion dates for each. Aprio’s Actions module makes assigning and updating tasks easy.
Step 3: track feedback & expenses
To prevent frustration from building up, use an online survey in your board portal to poll your members for feedback after each meeting. Doing this will help you get a continuous pulse on how board members are feeling and prevent unsaid frustration from festering and eventually boiling over. It can also help you improve the structure of future board meetings.
If directors incurred any travel expenses to attend the board meeting, have them submit their expenses so that they can be tracked.
Step 4: debrief with the leadership team
Within a week after each board meeting, meet with the chair and CEO for a debrief. Discuss what went right, what went wrong, what you learned, and what lessons you can carry with you into the next board meeting. You can also discuss the feedback you received from directors in your survey.
If there are outstanding action items, you can also discuss who is accountable and establish systems to monitor progress effectively.
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How a board portal can help with board meeting preparation
Using a board meeting preparation checklist can definitely help you stay on track while working through the planning process, but don’t overlook the value of purpose-built board management software for preparing and running productive meetings.
Switching to board portal software like Aprio can save you valuable time preparing for a board meeting. Here’s how:
All board information safe in one place
No more worrying about links and files getting lost in an endless email swirl. Aprio acts as a centralized platform for all board communication, making it easy for anyone – directors and or administrators – to find files, review past meeting materials or reference material such as policies, procedures, business plans, and budgets in one accessible place.
Save hours in meeting prep
Use Aprio to send meeting invites, schedule meetings efficiently, build agendas and meeting minutes, assign tasks, poll directors to determine best-fit meeting dates, and track director expenses, all in one secure place.
Easy electronic distribution of board materials and updates
Once board materials are prepared and ready to send out to the board, notifying directors is as simple as sending an email through Aprio. As long as board members have a computer or tablet, they can log in to Aprio and access the material anytime. And if a document needs updating, you can simply remove the previous document and upload the new file in its place.
Board member tools for fast meeting prep & expenses
See agenda and board materials the moment they are available, annotate documents to be prepared for meetings, research relevant related information in the self-serve easy-to-search library. Arrive at the meeting relaxed and ready. Aprio also simplifies expense reporting and reimbursement processes for board members as part of the several modules we offer.
Board materials stay protected with industry-leading security
Aprio conforms to the highest security standards in the industry to keep your board information safe and protected. Aprio offers a range of advanced security features to keep your board information safe and secure – even in cases of lost or stolen devices. We help you control user access, protect against unauthorized use, and monitor director activity to stay on top of all cyber-security threats.
“Aprio is the portal I recommend for every Board. In my role as Board Secretary, I have been using Aprio on a daily basis for six years for four different Boards and many committees. There are many aspects of the software I appreciate but, in particular, the ability to create a board package from beginning to end in a few minutes is the greatest gift to my very busy and time-sensitive schedule. I love the agenda generator and the ability to create skeleton minutes in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take.” – Aprio customer review on G2.com
Save hours in board meeting preparation with Aprio
Backed by unmatched expert service and an easy-to-use secure board portal, discover why more boards chose Aprio. We top the charts for positive customer reviews by providing advanced security, complete features, and standout time savings tools like our automated agenda builder, meeting minute builder and comprehensive reports!
Are you ready to save yourself hours of time and improve your meeting prep process? Our team is happy to help assess if Aprio is the right fit for you – talk to us about your needs.
