How to organise and hold productive executive meetings – 1

Meetings play a vital role in making decisions that impact organisations and societies both immediately and over time. Because of this, it is essential that they are conducted effectively. If not, the consequences can be harmful and long-lasting for organisations and societies in which they operate.

Effective meetings achieve their goals and produce results that contribute to improving both organisational performance and societies at large. My experience participating in meetings in various types of organisations and observing how they were conducted inspired me to write these articles. I hope they will help readers enhance their meetings and make them more productive, while also contextualizing their focus on effective meetings in formal organisations, with particular emphasis on management meetings.

In this series, I will begin by outlining a sound process of handling meetings effectively. I will then focus on how to facilitate high quality discussions that lead to well-informed decisions. The articles will also highlight key etiquettes that meeting participants are expected to observe. However, this series will not address the quality of attendees as that is a separate topic.

Before discussing how meetings are run, it is important to understand the composition of those in attendance. The structure and roles of participants play a significant role in shaping the effectiveness of any meeting, particularly in formal/semi-formal organisational settings such as board and management meetings.

With respect to attendees, there are typically two categories, those with voting rights and those invited to provide technical input and other advises. In the case of board committee meetings, invitees are usually requested to attend by the CEO to help elaborate on technical matters to the members.

During the main board meetings, these invitees are often called upon to present papers and contribute to discussions on specific agenda items. In most organisations, the executive management committee is permitted to attend board meetings to offer additional insights and support a structured succession plan, an approach considered best practice. This practice of allowing executive management into board meetings promotes team building, proper understanding of the tone of the board and adequate implementation of decisions.

It is widely accepted in many organisations that during board meetings, the CEO should be accompanied by at least one member of the executive team in addition to the meeting secretary. This individual typically serves as a backup in the CEO’s absence. When there is a deputy CEO, chief operating officer, or chief of staff, they usually attend all board meetings as standard practice. In the absence of these officers, the head or finance director becomes a permanent invitee.

The preparation of a meeting begins with the drafting of the agenda, which is initially proposed by the meeting secretary in consultation with the CEO. For management meetings, it is then circulated to members for input, while for board or board committee meetings, it is first shared with the chairperson for the initial approval.

For any meeting, there are typically six standard items that appear on the agenda. These are: (1) opening of the meeting; (2) declaration of any conflict of interest by members; (3) adoption of the agenda; (4) approval of the minutes from previous meeting*; (5) review of matters arising from those minutes; (6) discussion of core agenda items. Following these standard items, the agenda continues with additional topics specific to the nature and purpose of the meeting. In most cases, the final agenda item is “Any Other Business” (AOB), which allows members to raise relevant issues not included in the circulated agenda.

In the previous paragraph, a star was placed on item 4 to highlight a shift in current best practice. With advancements in technology and the increasing presence of competent secretaries, many organisations now consider it more effective to place this item at the end of the meeting agenda. This allows members to review and approve the minutes immediately while their memories are still fresh, rather than deferring approval to the next meeting at which time key details may be forgotten. This approach enhances accuracy, efficiency and the overall quality of decision documentation.

In the next instalment of this series I will dwell on the approval of agenda, preparation of minutes, length of meetings and the role of chairperson to ensure that members are fully engaged during meetings. Stay tuned.

Dr Muhsin Salim Masoud is a seasoned banker and academic, who has also served as managing director of the People’s Bank of Zanzibar and Amana Bank. [email protected]