How Consent Agendas Help Shorten Board Meeting Times

Probably the greatest challenge of board meetings is that of dealing with the time factor. As the agendas grow more crowded and the decisions more complex, there is a dire need to look for ways to reduce meeting times without giving up productivity. Consent agendas have also been another workable solution many organizations operate within. This paper aims at outlining how the use of consent agendas has been used in bringing board meetings to incredibly short lengths while maintaining necessary tasks well done efficiently.

What is a Consent Agenda?

A consent agenda is a tool of board meetings that assists in putting regular, non-controversial items together as one single agenda item. Besides debating every one of them, the board approves them with a single vote without any debate. Items which can commonly be placed on a consent agenda may include:

• Approval of meeting minutes
• Financial reports
• Updates on ongoing projects
• Routine administrative matters

These things, when grouped together on a consent agenda, free up valuable meeting time for board members to discuss and vote on the really important items. Board members still can request that an item be pulled from the consent agenda if they feel discussion of the matter is necessary, but otherwise the process is streamlined.

Consent Agenda Benefits

Perhaps the major advantage with the use of a consent agenda is the saving on time. Routine matters that do not need in-depth discussions waste time during board meetings. Through the use of a consent agenda, boards may approve such matters in a speedy way and focus their attention on strategic issues that need in-depth discussion.

Other key benefits include:

• Greater Focus on Critical Issues: When routine matters are moved into the consent agenda with no objections, board members can focus their time and energy on discussing major strategic decisions and questions of governance.
• Greater Efficiency in Meeting Time Spent: Use of the consent agenda enables meetings to be better managed, using no time on issues that do not require much discussion.
• Increased Engagement: When the meetings are efficient, board members will remain more engaged in the meetings, especially in high-priority topics.

For organizations using a board portal, the process of implementing consent agendas is further facilitated. Board members can review consent items ahead of the meeting and request additional information or clarification through the board portal, further reducing any deep discussion during the meeting.

How to Implement a Consent Agenda

While a consent agenda does take clear communications and an organized manner of approach, it is easy to get a board started with this simple step:

1. Identify Routine Items: First, determine what kinds of items should go into the consent agenda. Typically, such items relate to routine reports, updates, and administrative approvals.
2. Pre-Distribute Materials: All materials associated with the consent agenda should be supplied to board members a great deal of time in advance of the meeting. In this way, they have ample opportunity to review the documents and develop any questions or concerns in advance.
3. Flexibility: Even as consent agenda items are placed on the agenda to ease the work of the meeting, board members need to be afforded the opportunity to ask that an item be taken off the consent agenda if they think some more discussion is needed on the matter.
4. Discipline: Board members must be disciplined in their approach toward consent agendas; they need to prepare well for this before the actual meeting and request removal only in very dire situations.

This will give the boards a clear-cut way to start working on how to implement consent agendas as part of their board operations and subsequently realize much-needed efficiency in terms of saving time.

Utilizing Consent Agendas Alongside Board Portals

For boards already using a board portal, adopting consent agendas is the natural next step. Board portals provide a secure and effective means of distributing documents, tracking meeting minutes, and keeping board members up to date with the latest news. Adding a consent agenda in a board portal can make the process even smoother by providing board members with the opportunity to review and approve items from anywhere at any time.

Through the use of the board portal, board members are in a position where they can:

• Review consent agenda items in advance
• Submit questions or requests for information
• Vote to approve the consent agenda remotely

This level of efficiency makes the employment of consent agendas not only practical but highly effective in keeping board meetings shorter while remaining fully transparent and engaging.

Conclusion: The Value of Time-Efficient Board Meetings

In fact, the use of consent agendas in board meetings significantly saves time with no impact on the quality of discussions or decisions. Boards oriented around strategy and high-priority discussion items provide an opportunity for increasing productivity through meetings, ensuring a good use of time for each person present. For those organizations already using a board portal, using consent agendas can be a painless yet significant change that will yield positive impacts on the overall governance process.