How to organise and hold productive executive meetings – 5

Following up matters arising is one of the most important exercises in ensuring that board and management meetings yield meaningful outcomes. Without deliberate follow-ups, these meetings risk becoming ineffective and repetitive. The chairperson plays a critical role in overseeing this process by thoroughly reviewing all documents, keeping records and ensuring proper maintenance of folders—particularly in soft form—for ease of access and reference.

To support this follow-up process, the Internal Audit office can be instrumental in tracking implementation of board and board committee directives. In some organisations, this responsibility may also fall under the Risk and Compliance unit. For management-level meetings, the secretariat or the Executive Assistant to the CEO typically maintains records and monitors progress. Regardless of the structure, ensuring that these mechanisms are active and effective is vital to institutional discipline and the successful execution of resolutions.

During my career, maintaining documents in soft copy packages proved invaluable on several occasions, both at the board and management levels. There were instances where members attempted to distance themselves from decisions they had previously made. In such cases, I would go back to the approved minutes or policies and highlight the relevant sections to them.

Fortunately, since all members had also received the same soft packages, it became easy to resolve these matters once everyone reviewed their own copies and confirmed the records. This experience underscores the importance of consistent documentation and proper record-keeping, particularly in soft formats

Another important element for conducting effective meetings is to ensure quality discussions. For deliberations to be meaningful and productive, members must be consistently guided by the organisation’s key instruments, primarily its strategic plan and the approved annual work plan.

In particular, every decision made should reflect alignment with the organisation’s vision, mission and core values. These elements define the organisation’s purpose, long-term aspirations and ethical compass. It is therefore advisable to display the vision, mission, and core values prominently in meeting rooms, as they serve as constant reminders of what the organisation stands for and strives to achieve.

In any meeting, members should be guided by ethical hyper-values if they aspire to build a sustainable organisation with a long-term impact on all stakeholders. Key principles that must consistently be observed include honesty, fairness, respect, responsibility, and compassion. These values not only foster trust and integrity in decision-making but also ensure that outcomes serve the best interests of the organisation and its broader community.

Literature and practical experience both affirm that organisations are more likely to achieve long-term sustainability when decisions are made with the intent to serve the broader good of society. Citing Mohamed Faris in his book published in 2024, The Barakah Effect More with Less, on Page 159, he observes, “…it became apparent that extreme individualism has a painful cost. …consequences of putting personal interest before collective good. …if we continue to live selfishly, we may not survive as a society…”

Quality decisions emerge when members consider the interests of all key stakeholders rather than focusing solely on profit maximisation at the expense of others. An organisation cannot thrive in the long run if its decisions consistently conflict with the expectations and welfare of primary stakeholders such as shareholders, employees, customers, government, environment and the wider community.

When decisions are made solely for profit maximisation while disregarding other stakeholders, the life of the organisation is likely to be short-lived. It must be recognized that it is society that grants the license to operate. Organisations that fail to act in the interest of the broader society may enjoy short-term gains, but eventually, they risk losing their legitimacy and social license to operate.

This principle is strongly supported by Davis in his 1973 paper titled “The Case for and Against Business Assumption of Social Responsibilities” in the Academy of Management Journal, Volume 16, pages 312–322, where he asserts that organisations that pursue self-regarding values while ignoring others-regarding responsibilities will ultimately be rejected by the very society that enables their existence.

In the next week’s sixth instalment I will continue sharing other qualitative factors to be considered by members in order to arrive at fruitful decisions. Emphasis will be put on maintaining confidentiality and independence among members. I will also start a discussion on useful etiquettes to be observed during the meetings.

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]