How well you use members' time at board meetings is one key to developing a cohesive leadership group. Sadly, board meetings themselves are more often part of the problem than part of the solution.

Meetings are often tedious, overly-long events that often rotate between boring reports and long-winded diatribes, with little in the way of real discussion or tangible meaning. Here are some ways to make board meetings productive, interesting and supportive of the board's leadership role.

• 1. Meet only when there is business to accomplish

• 2. Have an agenda with timeframes

• 3. Make meeting agreements explicit

• 4. Use a consent agenda

• 5. Use the board meeting to help board members stay connected to the organization's mission, stakeholders and operating environment

• 6. Link a meeting to a social opportunity

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