Sounds boring, I know. But hear me out. Using the “consent agenda” format at your board meetings can make them go faster.
Here’s the general idea:
Approving the agenda and the minutes takes up valuable time. As we all know, 99% of the time there are no changes or corrections. But passing them separately starts to take up time. Boards have started to address this by creating something called the “consent agenda.” A consent agenda bundles all sorts of non-controversial items into a single item on the agenda that is passed without discussion.
The most common items are the meeting agenda and previous meeting’s minutes. If your board has to approve other easy tasks—confirming partnerships with another organization, appointing a non-board member to a committee—this could go in the consent agenda, too. Anything that is very basic and that the Board President thinks doesn’t need discussion is a good candidate. The consent agenda should be sent out in advance with the board packet.
At the board meeting, when the board president gets to this item on the agenda (usually right after the call to order), the board president asks if anyone would like to pull an item from the consent agenda for further discussion and a separate vote. Most likely, no one will say anything. If someone does ask for something to be considered separately, that item gets placed next on the agenda.
Then:
After a period of a few seconds of silence, the board president says, “I’m looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda.”
Someone says, “So moved!”
Someone says “Second!”
“All those in favor?”
Everyone says “Aye.”
“Any opposed?” The board president asks as a formality. “OK. Consent agenda is approved.”
It happened in less than ten seconds. That’s why consent agendas can be so useful. Normally after a motion is presented there is discussion. A benefit of the consent agenda is that no discussion is needed—that’s why board members have a chance to pull something from the agenda for further discussion and why it’s the only vote where the question of “any opposed?” truly is just a formality. By structuring the meeting this way, a good deal of needless air is compressed out of a meeting.
Bonus Procedural Time-Saving Tip!
After the treasurer’s report has been submitted, some boards formally vote to “accept” the report. There is actually no reason for this convention. What would it mean if you voted no? That you didn’t “accept” it for some reason? The best reason I can think of to vote to accept the treasurer’s report is that it re-affirms the board’s fiscal oversight duty. But even then, the board has a lot of other duties that don’t get this treatment. It doesn’t need to be special.
If you’re working to compress air out of your meeting, I’d remove this. Being at the board meeting, hearing the financial report, and asking appropriate questions is how a board does their due diligence. You don’t need a special motion to approve the report.
If you’re interested in ideas for improving board meetings, this topic (and so many more) are covered in my next book, “The Little Book of Boards: A Board Member’s Handbook for Small (and Very Small) Nonprofits.” It’s available on Amazon and elsewhere.
