Meeting techniques Archieven - iBabs

Expert Minute Taking Tips + Template And Sample

Date: 11 January 2021

Not only does minute taking provide an important reference point for business management in the future, looking back to find out why the board made certain decisions, but they are also a legal requirement in many cases and can be used as evidence in court proceedings. This is why many board secretaries can feel nervous about taking on this task. Robyn Bennett, who runs the Art of Minute Taking course at Victoria University in Auckland, New Zealand as well as being a minute taker herself, describes the feeling precisely:   “those of us who do [take minutes] sometimes fear the job because of the expectation that is put on us to produce discussions accurately.” Secretaries must also make judgement calls about confidentiality in the minutes, as administrative assistant Simona Cantarelli writes about in Geneva Business News, stating,  “for questions about privacy, it can be preferable during a meeting to write the […]

Overcoming a meeting slump: how to stay focused during board meetings

Date: 7 June 2020

Board members often experience loss of focus during meetings, which can affect decision-making, productivity and creative thinking. Three aspects that are generally vital during board meetings. Studies have shown that board members do not maintain constant levels of attention during meetings. A meeting slump is very common among board members. As a board member or Executive Director, you can play a key role in keeping the board engaged and focused on what’s important. But only if you maintain focus throughout the meetings yourself. This article provides board members and executives with some tips and tricks on how to stay focused during meetings and prevent them from entering a meeting slump. 1: Enter the meeting actively Even better than defeating a meeting slump, is preventing a meeting slump. One way to do this is doing something active right before the meeting. Physical activity helps you focus, because it arouses your brain. This doesn’t […]

Healthy meetings in the hospital

Date: 8 September 2019

Just because you work in a hospital, doesn’t mean you’re surrounded by patients all day. Of course doctors, medical specialists and management assistants in this sector also have administrative tasks and obligations to confer, resulting in long working days. This often needs to be evening work, as daytimes are filled with patient consultations, tests and operations. Unfortunately, meetings have become increasingly complex in recent years; the extensive co-operations/partnerships within the healthcare system are leading to a lack of transparency in decision-making processes. Want to be fit at the end of a long working day? Take advantage of these 5 tips to give your meetings a health check. Tip 1: Make an operations schedule for your meeting Medical specialists are accustomed to working according to a structured (operations) schedule. Keeping to the structure of the meeting however, is often challenging. All too often, the agenda is disregarded and meetings regularly overrun. […]

Webinar – A showcase of the iBabs board portal

Date: 19 June 2019

We’re inviting you to a special webinar to show you exactly how the iBabs board portal works. Presenter Richard Sealey will walk through the special features, as well as talk about a very practical approach to implement a digital board portal. You’ll learn more about: A real life example of how to best introduce a new paperless board meeting solution to your board How to get even the most anti-digital users love and embrace a paperless solution A rundown of iBabs, our board portal solution The functionalities that made my former board say “why didn’t we have this before?” when they finally got to use iBabs And much more… P.S.: If you’re not entirely happy with your current solution, or you’re just starting the journey of going paperless, then I’d wholeheartedly recommend attending this webinar. This webinar will be presented by: Richard Sealey, UK Ireland & Nordics Sales Manager at iBabs […]

A board secretary’s guide to increasing non-executive directors’ performance

Date: 23 May 2019

Have you ever been in a board meeting and thought that at least one other person in the room shouldn’t be there? An astonishing 46% of directors believe a fellow board member should be replaced, according to PwC’s 2017 Annual Corporate Directors Survey. And with increasing expectations of boards, that’s really counterproductive. Everyone should pull their weight and bring the board’s performance to a higher level. But in the case of non-executive directors (NEDs), how much value you’re getting out of them is actually not just due to their skills or level of engagement. The value of non-executive directors Being more of an outsider, NEDs are in the best position to monitor executive activity and contribute to the development of strategy. Since they’re typically more unbiased, they can more easily challenge management, ask the difficult questions and keep everyone accountable. But while NEDs must be able to give the right strategic insight from […]

Marathon inspiration: 5 tips for golden meetings

Date: 7 April 2019

Have you ever won a sports competition? Then you know that focus is essential in sports. You have to have a goal and go for it. This weekend around 15,000 runners will experience that during the Rotterdam Marathon. Good focus is also essential in meetings. Did you know that the average maximum attention span is only 45 minutes? All the more reason to make speed a top priority, also in meetings! Luckily, when it comes to meetings, we can learn from runners!Methods to optimize the lap times of your meetings: Tip 1: Set a clear course The Netherlands is truly “meeting land.” Democratic decision making is a positive but consensus also sometimes leads to endless meetings. How do you ensure optimal meetings? With clear structure. A runner’s best performance comes with a clear starting time, set course and having a pacemaker (“rabbit”) who ensures that he runs faster. That is […]

A board secretary’s guide to writing effective board meeting minutes

Date: 20 November 2018

Writing minutes for a board meeting is a deceptively difficult and time-consuming task. It is often undervalued, especially by executives. Board meeting minutes capture what was discussed and decided during a meeting, what actions must be taken, who must take them and when. However, minutes are not just an administrative formality, but are in fact a vital aspect of any board meeting. Good minuting is considered as an important and very specific skill for board secretaries. This article provides board secretaries and directors with the best practices regarding developing board meeting minutes. Furthermore, you will be provided with expert insights from executives from a variety of industries. ‘’The board meeting minutes should be the single source of truth, and should be a complete, self-standing record. They should act as evidence of the meeting and as a record of those matters discussed/noted, concerns raised, decisions made and, where considered helpful, the […]

How board secretaries can create an effective agenda for board meetings

Date: 5 October 2018

An agenda is the backbone of any board meeting. It sets the tone, helps prevent board members from getting distracted or off-track and contributes to an effective board meeting. At least, that’s if you have a great board meeting agenda.  But a lot of board meetings take place with a not so great agenda. The result? Long meetings, that often go off-track and are nothing close to productive. As a board secretary, you have the responsibility to create an agenda for your board’s meetings that facilitates efficiency. This guide is here to help you. 1: Make the objective clear Every meeting should achieve the objective(s) for which the meeting was set up in the first place. Without an objective, the meeting would be unnecessary, right? Clear objectives set clear expectations. This is why you should explain the objectives of the meeting in the agenda. In this way, all the present […]

iBabs is a leader in paperless meetings and enables you to reduce these piles of documents to the thickness of your tablet. Hundreds of organizations have been using this system for more than 15 years.

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