Board meetings are an important and responsible process, during which many problems and issues related to the activities of the company are resolved. When the board formally approves a decision, it should be included in the board report, so that in the future all actions of the organization will be based on reliable information. In this article, we will talk about the Board Report in more detail.
What is a board report?
A board report is a formal document that consists of information from several departments of a company or committees, in a more concise and readable form. The reports are then part of the board minutes and are kept on file as records. You, as a board member, can request to see these records whenever you want, usually, such a need occurs during the legal wrangling. It is imperative that meeting records be reviewed by each member because inconsistencies with a certified document can lead to legal liability. Read the reports for complete information.
Usually, reports are prepared by the executive committee, or by the CEO himself. An important rule to always keep in mind is that the executive must always report to the board of directors, so it makes sense that they are the ones who prepare the report.
What are the main purposes of the board report?
The board report has many functions and purposes. The size of the report and its format may vary depending on the data that is entered into that report. The main purposes of the reports include:
- Informing board members
The primary purpose of the report is to inform the rest of the board of all activities and events that take place at the executive office. The report covers the period of time between which the meeting was held, it could be a three-month, six-month, or one-year report, depending on your company’s bylaws. This way, each board member will feel informed and be able to ask additional questions that interest them, which in turn will help to increase activity during the meeting.
- Reminding board members of the commitments they have made
When the board assigns a task to the executive board, the report should show the process and results of their work. So, the board should also appreciate all the hard work their colleagues have put in to achieve the goals, and the report will clearly show the results of their work.
- Initiate discussions and ask questions
The CEO always voices the key points of the report at the beginning of the meeting. The board then highlights the company’s main issues and reviews the work done, after which board members can begin discussions. During these discussions, the board report comes in handy to refer to in case you need more information.
How to Write a Meeting Report?
The report should be written clearly and transparently. The first thing you need to do is to highlight the most important points about the company and its problems because that is the part of the report in which members are most interested. Here’s what you need to do to write a proper board report:
- Identify the main points that other board members should pay attention to. These aspects might include the effectiveness of the marketing channel or the drop in sales
- Give context -The board meets fairly infrequently, so they need context for decisions or the state of the industry to refresh their memories
- Add visual data -each department of the company should provide the proper amount of visual data, such as graphs or charts because it is much easier than reading full pages of text