Board meeting software
Board meeting software for meetings that end in decisions
Prepare the board pack in days, not weeks. Every section has an owner and a date, the numbers come from your monthly business reviews, board members send their questions before the meeting, and every decision and action is logged and followed up.
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- A board pack built from your monthly reviews and decision log
- Owners and due dates for every section
- Questions from the board before the meeting
- Minutes, decisions and actions followed up
Watch how it works
See a board meeting cycle in Nova
What changes from your next board meeting
The pack stops being a two-week scramble, and the meeting stops being a presentation.
Every section on time
Each part of the pack has an owner and a due date, with reminders. The CEO stops chasing slides the weekend before.
The pack writes itself from your reviews
Numbers, objective status and decisions come from your monthly business reviews and decision log, not from memory.
Questions before the meeting
Board members read the pack and send their questions in advance, so the meeting goes to the decisions that need them.
Actions that happen between meetings
Minutes, decisions and actions are logged within 48 hours, and owners are reminded before each date.
How to prepare for and run a board meeting
A good board meeting is mostly done before anyone walks in. The pack is read, the questions are in, and the time together goes to the one or two decisions where the board's experience is worth the most.
- 4 weeks beforeAgenda
- 3 weeks beforeOwners
- 2 weeks beforeBoard pack
- 1 week beforeQuestions
- Meeting dayDecisions
- Within 48 hoursMinutes and actions
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4 weeks before
Set the agenda with the chair
Agree the two or three topics that matter most this quarter. Mark every item as for decision, for discussion or for information. If nothing is for decision, ask why you're meeting.
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3 weeks before
Assign each section an owner and a date
Finance owns the numbers, each leader owns their area, the CEO owns the letter. Owners pull from the last three business reviews and the decision log, so nobody starts from a blank page.
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2 weeks before
Build the board pack
- A one-page CEO letter: what went well, what didn't, what you need from the board.
- Key numbers against plan, cash and runway.
- Progress on objectives, with the same status as the business review.
- Actions from the last meeting, and what happened to each.
- The decisions you're asking for, with options and your recommendation.
- Top risks, and changes in the team.
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5–7 days before
Send the pack and collect questions
Ask board members to send their questions in writing at least two days before. Answer the factual ones in writing and keep the meeting for the ones that need discussion. Bad news never arrives first in the pack: call board members before you send it.
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The meeting · 2–3 hours
Discuss, don't present
Assume the pack was read. Take routine approvals together as a consent agenda, give a short CEO update, and spend most of the time on the strategic topics and the decisions.
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Within 48 hours
Minutes, decisions and actions
Send the minutes, log every decision and turn each follow-up into an action with an owner and a date. Those actions open the next board meeting.
Board meeting agenda template
- Consent agenda5 min
- CEO update25 min
- Numbers20 min
- Strategic topics75 min
- Actions10 min
- Closed session15 min
| Item | Time | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Consent agenda: last minutes, routine approvals | 5 min | For decision |
| CEO update and questions on the pack | 25 min | For information |
| Numbers against plan, cash and runway | 20 min | For discussion |
| Strategic topic 1, for example entering a new market | 45 min | For decision |
| Strategic topic 2, for example the hiring plan | 30 min | For discussion |
| Actions, owners and dates read back | 10 min | For decision |
| Closed session | 15 min | Board only |
Tips from boards that work
- No surprises. Anything bad gets a phone call before it gets a slide.
- Ask for a decision, not a reaction. Bring options and a recommendation, and say what you need.
- The pack is the pre-read, not the presentation. Nobody reads slides aloud.
- Same structure every quarter. The board learns where to look, and you prepare faster.
- Keep a monthly update between meetings. A short written note, so the quarterly meeting never starts cold.
Board meeting software: what to look for
Most board portals store documents. The hard part is everything around them: getting every section written on time, getting questions in before the meeting, and making sure the actions happen. Nova runs the whole board cycle as a process, connected to the monthly reviews and the decision log the pack is built from.
| Document portal | Nova | |
|---|---|---|
| Agenda and pack in one place | Yes | Yes |
| Owner and due date for each section | Tracked by email | Built in, with reminders |
| Numbers and status | Copied into slides | Drafted by Nova AI from your monthly reviews |
| Questions before the meeting | Sometimes, as comments | A step for board members, before the meeting |
| Decisions | In the minutes | In the decision log, searchable |
| Actions between meetings | Not tracked | Owners, dates and follow-up |
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should a board pack be sent?
Send the board pack five to seven days before the meeting, and ask board members to send their questions in writing at least two days before. The meeting then goes to discussion and decisions instead of a presentation of the pack.
What goes in a board pack?
A one-page CEO letter, key numbers against plan with cash and runway, progress on objectives, actions from the last meeting, the decisions you are asking for with options and a recommendation, top risks and changes in the team.
How long should a board meeting be?
Two to three hours for most startups and growth companies, held every quarter, with a short written update to the board each month in between.
What is a consent agenda?
A consent agenda groups routine items, such as approving the last minutes, into one vote at the start of the meeting, so the time goes to strategy and decisions.
What should I look for in board meeting software?
One place for the agenda and the pack, owners and deadlines for each section, a way for board members to ask questions before the meeting, and minutes, decisions and actions that are recorded and followed up afterwards.
Three ways to start
Run it yourself today, or have it set up with you. Either way, your team runs its first cycle this month.
Use the template
Start the Monthly Business Review template from the process library. The steps, questions, timing and AI are already set up. Free to try, no credit card.
Use the template free Done with youDone-With-You Implementation
No time to set it up? Our team installs it inside Nova with your leadership team, adapted to your company, objectives and calendar, and runs the first cycles with you.
Ask about implementation Partner networkWork with a Fractional COO
Get matched with an operator from the Nova Fractional COO partner network who runs the rhythm with your team and keeps it going.
Get matchedWant to see it first? Book a 30-minute demo and we'll show you the template running on a company like yours.
Keep going
Make your next board meeting the easiest one yet
Start with the monthly review your board pack is built from, have our team set up the whole board cycle with you, or see it in a demo.