There’s one thing just about any business owner will tell you, and that is regular board meetings are one of the most important parts of building and sustaining a successful organization. This is particularly true for those companies in hypercompetitive industries.

Now, given how important board meetings are, it is imperative that business leaders maximize these interactions to facilitate optimal collaboration. One way to do this is to always keep these meetings moving efficiently. Afterall, time is money.

But it’s equally important to find ways to ensure your board meetings aren’t boring. I mean, discussing company performance, future strategies, key performance indicators, problems and opportunities, and future plans of action can only be so exciting for your meeting attendees. The more engaged they are, the more apt you are to discover innovations, new concepts and ideal solutions.

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Make Boardroom Meetings Engaging:

Use a Hook

When you can grab people’s attention at the very beginning of your meetings, you are far more likely to keep their attention throughout. Using a hook is a great way to “hook” your team members. This hook can be a funny story, showing a funny Youtube clip, or simply taking a show-of-hands poll. Just get creative and use something right out of the gate that will grab attention.

Give Everyone the Opportunity to Contribute

No matter how high up someone has risen in the ranks, that doesn’t necessarily mean they find speaking in front of others easy. But, seeing as collaboration is entirely necessary for the success of your board meeting, you’ll want to find ways to ensure everyone has a chance to contribute.

Depending on how many people will be invited to the board meeting, you may decide to have your group split up into smaller groups to work on specific aspects of your agenda. For instance, one small group may be discussing future strategies while another small group comes up with new plans of action. This will give everyone a chance to really contribute, which will seem far more engaging than just sitting there listening to others.

Get People Moving

Here’s what you don’t want: Your team to come in the meeting room, hunker down and stay that way for hours. Inactivity is a surefire way to get people to fall asleep.

Allow for breaks so people can get up, stretch their legs and interact with each other in a casual way. You can even get people to move during the meeting. For instance, instead of a show of hands, get people to stand when they agree with something.

Allow for Learning

Make sure you include a time slot where team members can take part in an interactive lesson of some sort. For instance, perhaps one of your team members has recently taken a course and can now impart some wisdom on the other team members. Or maybe you hire someone to come in for an hour and teach your team how to use a particular software or, for those international organizations opening a new office abroad, have someone come in and teach the group about the new culture.

Feed Everyone

Let’s face it, we all like being fed. Your attendees will be very happy if you serve a delicious lunch. Connect with local restaurants and ask them if they can cater your meetings.

The Wrap

Board meetings are incredibly important and how organizations determining priorities, set goals, and reviewing strategic investments. But if you’re not careful, your board meetings can bore everyone to sleep.

If you follow these suggestions, you’ll be able to engage your team members so your organization can reach its goals. And if you need any help planning your next event, click here to contact us!