How to create a board meeting agenda template.
Bring structure to your meetings and get more accomplished by creating an easy-to-use board meeting agenda template.
If you’ve ever been to a meeting without an agenda, then you know how easily things can get off-track. A board meeting agenda is more than a checklist of topics to cover during a board of directors’ meeting. It’s a roadmap board members can use to create structure, keep everyone engaged, and promote decision-making.
Boards of all types, including nonprofit, corporate, and even homeowner’s associations, can benefit from an easy-to-use board meeting agenda template.
Why do you need a board meeting agenda template?
Having a simple, well-organized agenda template can save you time preparing for meetings, especially if you meet frequently. It ensures all your meetings follow a consistent structure so people can focus on the discussion and not the format of the meeting. It’s also a helpful tool if more than one person is responsible for setting the agenda. A board meeting agenda can offer even more benefits by:
- Bringing clarity to your priorities with distinct sections for things like new business, budget decisions, and action items
- Saving time by prefilling routine items, such as approval of minutes or a link to your meeting minutes template
- Simplifying the way you document discussions and decisions for future reference with a consistent format
- Ensuring all board members are aligned on the agenda before the meeting
- Making it easy for people to follow along and become familiar with the meeting structure
What to include in your template.
Whether you make your own or use a premade board agenda meeting template, here are nine things you should include:
- Logistics: Include the date, time, location, and list of attendees.
- A call to order: This signals the official start of the meeting.
- Approval of minutes: Review and approve the minutes from your last meeting.
- Old business: Close the loop on any unresolved issues from previous meetings.
- New business: Introduce new topics or proposals. Typically, this is done after discussing old business, but if your meetings tend to run long, you may want to consider addressing new business first while everyone’s minds are fresh.
- Action items: Note any decisions, votes, or other actions members need to take.
- Open discussion: Open the floor for members to bring up additional matters.
- Next meeting date: Encourage attendees to add the date to their calendars right away.
- Timing: Include the allotted length of time for each section in your template.
Tip: If you’re using a premade template, you can use a PDF editor to highlight important details or leave comments. If you want to make more substantial formatting changes like adding or removing sections, convert the PDF to a Word document for simpler editing.
Sample board meeting agenda template.
The following example is for an hour-long meeting. Adjust times depending on your desired meeting length.
Organization Name: [Name]
Date: [Day/Month/Year]
Time: [Start Time]
Location: [Physical and/or Virtual Details]
Attendees: [Names]
- Call to order (2 minutes) — Include the name of the person who initiates the meeting and document the meeting’s start time.
- Approval of minutes (3 minutes) — Add a placeholder for a description and a link to previous minutes.
- Old business (20 minutes) — List the topics and allotted time for each one.
- New business (20 minutes) — List the topics and allotted time for each one.
- Action items (5-10 minutes) — Bulleted list of clear actions.
- Open discussion (5-10 minutes) — Include a time limit for each person.
- Adjournment — Note end time.
A board meeting agenda template like this can help you make every meeting more focused, structured, and productive.
If you want to further streamline your meetings and save time on post-meeting tasks, try an AI meeting notes summarizer. It takes your transcripts and creates meeting recaps complete with action items, making it easier for board members to review key points and decisions at future meetings. You also can send out the summary to anyone who missed the meeting.
By streamlining your board meeting processes with tools like templates and meeting summarizers, you can focus on what matters most — engagement, decision-making, and driving impactful outcomes.
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