View source for Making an agenda and meeting packet for the board

Making up the packet is an excellent way for the facilitator to get a handle on what needs to be covered in a meeting and crafting the agenda -- and help the board run its meetings in a more professional way. It's pretty simple, but does require some legwork. Suggestions are included here for practices that may make it easier in the future.

==Making the packet==
This consists mainly of pasting email contents into a word processor, but the process itself feeds into the creation of the agenda.
# Start with the minutes from last meeting
#* Look for items that were put to the next meeting (there should be a section in the minutes; things may also be mentioned in discussion)
# If there are reports or proposals, include their text in the packet
#* Where possible, include URLs for these -- most will be from email (this will provide context)
# Email packets a week before the meeting so people will have time to review and process them

==Building an agenda==
This will be the first item in the packet, the game plan.
* a [[Meeting Template|basic framework]] includes checkin, agenda review, commitment review, optional training, reports from collective and noncollective liaisons, business, next meeting roles
* note whether the item is a report, a discussion or requires a decision. sometimes discussion and decision may have to span multiple meetings. 
* make sure there is a person responsible for framing the discussion/giving the background information for each item
* ''my strong suggestion: require reports to be submitted a week beforehand, so that meeting time is saved for clarifying questions and board members may have the text in their hands''
* take into account annual/recurring items (annual meeting, budget review/approval, THM-related tasks, board retreats). ''these may provide the framework for a [[Board agenda calendar]].''
* read over the agenda as a reality check. is it way too long? figure out if there's anything that can be [[On List Decisions Policy|decided online]], divided into segments over multiple meetings, approved as part of a [[consent agenda]], delegated to committee, or the like.