Make Meetings Matter

You’ve likely sat through a less-than-exciting meeting. Maybe it was even a meeting of your chamber’s board of directors. But meetings don’t have to be long, draining and dull. Board meetings can create camaraderie, provide ongoing education and move strategic plans forward. They could even be fun. Here are a few best practices from chamber industry professionals to add fresh energy to the boardroom.

Adjust the Agenda

Robert’s Rules of Order may set the standard but adjusting your board agenda might be just the thing to liven up meetings. Consent agendas are a must for efficiency and expediency. At the request of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce’s board chair, new business was moved to the top of the agenda instead of its usual place at the end. “We’re there for a reason and our board members respect that,” said Bruce Hillegeist, president & CEO. Moving new topics to the top of the list ensures plenty of time for discussion instead of rushing through at the end while trying to beat boardroom boredom.

Focus on Important Conversations

To make board meetings matter, discussions need to focus on critical issues facing the chamber and the community it serves. Otherwise, board members may not be motivated to show up. “If they’re talking about important things, they want to be there,” said Claire Louder of Louder Nonprofit Strategies. “If they’re listening to 14 reports that they could’ve read online, not so much.” Remember that volunteers don’t sign up to do nothing. It might be as simple as integrating the strategic plan and focusing on moving the chamber forward. It can help keep board members out of the weeds and targeted instead on initiatives, providing a sense of ownership of the organizational strategies.

Go Quarterly

There’s no hard or fast rule on how often to have meetings, but the Wichita Falls Chamber gathers its full board quarterly. President & CEO Henry Florsheim meets with the executive committee monthly and provides a summary of that meeting, along with financials and membership information, to the full board in an email. “As long as you’ve got an active committee structure and an active executive committee, I think quarterly meetings are fine,” he said. When the board does get together, the 90-minute meetings are focused on timely segments of the chamber’s strategic plan. “It may not look like it on the agenda, but to me, that’s the most important piece,” Florsheim said. “That’s the stuff that’s going to take us from who we are now to who we’re going to be three years from now.”

Share and Celebrate

After adding a diversity, equity and inclusion committee as a standing committee, the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce incorporates DEI moments at each board meeting. One meeting featured a quiz show based on the chamber’s DEI work to ensure the board knew what was being done. In May, the DEI moment was focused on Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. “We recognized that the work needed to be done more than just for today, that it needed to always play a part in how we made decisions,” said Danielle Fitz-Hugh, president & CEO.

At the Tomball Chamber’s meetings, successes on the strategic plan are feted. “They have a start date, an ending date and if they’re completed,” Hillegeist said. “And we celebrate those that are completed. The whole board celebrates what has been done.” Hillegeist also saves space for board members to share good news at the end of meetings, providing a chance to add personal connections between board members.