Best Practices for Preparing Board Documents

Board documents are an essential source of information that informs the major decisions that keep a business on the right track. Too much information can overwhelm the board member and lead to ineffective decision-making, while too little means the board is missing crucial insights or may lose control over the business. To avoid this, the board members should have access to precise and comprehensive information that is easily digestible and well-organized. This article offers best practices for writing effective documents for board members that meet these requirements.

Effective boards contain the most current and relevant information that is directly connected to the strategic decision at hand. They are concise, clear and use a formal business style. They stay clear of jargon and technical terms. The information should be tailored to the specific needs of each director, because boards have diverse backgrounds. Marketing jargon, as an example is not applicable to finance professionals. If you’re writing documents for boards make sure to include the glossary of terms for any acronyms or words that are specialized to ensure the clarity of all readers.

Additionally the board should also establish its own internal guidelines and standards for the preparation of board documents. This includes using a template and selecting the preferred fonts and creating an appendix to share sources or provide additional information. The board should also set the rules for a meeting’s quorum and the number of directors required to attend the meeting. This will ensure that all directors have the opportunity to participate and be see post about 10 faqs about software as a service heard.

Boards should distribute their meeting materials well before the meeting to ensure that directors have ample time go through them prior to the meeting. A week is typically the ideal time frame to ensure directors have ample opportunity to read the materials and prepare for the meeting.