Literacy Basics - Community Literacy of Ontario

Meeting purpose

The usual purposes of board meetings are to:

• Make decisions
• Set policy
• Solve problems
• Plan and evaluate

These may not all occur at every meeting, but satisfied board members will leave a meeting having at least learned something or  accomplished something. While boards are legally required to meet, it's equally important to value the time of the volunteer members or risk losing them. The United Way's online board development resource states that an estimated 50% of meetings could be replaced with other actions such as memos, emails or conference calls. Although technology may be able to replace the need for some meetings, it is important that meetings still be held in accordance with organizational bylaws.

The Ontario Trail Council has produced a meeting management document with several useful tools and templates for effective meetings including a Meeting Options Matrix to help boards decide if a meeting is necessary. It lists criteria such as time available, further information needed and the level of involvement and commitment of members. A couple of examples from the matrix are:

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