Create an annual board calendar. Think about the natural flow of the board year, and pencil in items you know will need to be discussed in certain months (the annual audit, authorizer inspection, approval of the budget, CEO evaluation, officer elections, and so on).
Next, think of other pressing issues—succession planning, capital campaign plans, and so forth. List them all, and prioritize them by month. Develop annual priorities, with committee/individual assignments and time frames. Start plugging them into the calendar.
When other issues arise throughout the year, you can now weigh them against the already scheduled topics and decide what you might take off the agenda to make time to discuss this new business.
Here's a sample strategic board calendar that you can download and customize.
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