If you do not have a sufficient number of board members in attendance at your meeting, it can’t legally be conducted. This article will provide you with some tips to ensure that your board meetings are held with a quorum so that you can take decisions legally.
Quorum ensures that even although perfect attendance isn’t common at board meetings, the decisions taken are based on the views and A Complete Data Room Checklist for Seamless and Secure Due Diligence opinions of all those involved. It is a safeguard against the negative effects of minority rule in which the directors of a small percentage are able to exert a large amount of influence and make unilateral decisions which doesn’t benefit the organization or its customers.
The majority of organizations set their quorum requirements in their bylaws. These rules may vary but generally they include a certain percentage of directors that must be present to constitute an official quorum. Certain bylaws may also provide exceptions to be made for particular types of meetings or in certain circumstances.
When deciding on a percent of quorum for your board, take into consideration factors such as the size of your board as well as the difficulty of bringing all members in one place simultaneously. When establishing the rules for quorum, it is essential to find a balance between being flexible and ensuring legitimacy, since not all members are likely to be present at every meeting.
If the quorum doesn’t meet at the start of a board meeting, the chair should wait for a few minutes and determine if additional members are present to meet the minimum number of members required. If it becomes evident that the quorum won’t be reached the chair should announce that there’s no an quorum and there will be no formal business held at this meeting.