Best Practices for Preparing Board Documents
Board documents are an important source of information for making important decisions to keep a business on the right track. A board member can be overwhelmed by the amount of information available which could result in poor decision-making. However a board that has too inadequate information could miss vital insight or risk losing control of their business. To avoid this, the board members need access to comprehensive and accurate information that is easy to comprehend and well-organized. This article provides best practices for creating effective board documents which meet these requirements.
Effective board documents contain the most current and pertinent information that directly relates to the strategic decisions to be made. They are short and simple, using formal business writing styles and refraining from technical terms. The information must be tailored to each director’s needs, as boards have a variety of backgrounds. Marketing jargon, for example, is not relevant to finance professionals. When you’re creating documents for boards ensure that you include a glossary of terms for any acronyms or words that are specialized to ensure clarity for all readers.
The board must also establish its own standards and guidelines for preparing documents. This includes using an outline template and preferred choices for fonts, and the creation of an appendix sharing sources or providing additional information. The board should also create rules for a meeting’s quorum and the number of directors needed to be present at the. This will ensure that all directors are able to participate and be heard.
Boards should distribute meeting materials ahead of time so that directors have enough time to read them prior to the meeting. A week is typically the ideal time frame to ensure directors have ample opportunity to read the materials and make preparations for the meeting.