How to Meet Quorum of Board Meetings

If you do not have a sufficient number of board members in attendance at your meeting, the meeting isn’t legally allowed to take place. This article gives some suggestions to ensure you have the quorum for your board meetings to make decisions with legitimacy.

While perfect attendance at every board meeting is not common and quorum is a guarantee that decisions are based on the opinions and interests of all stakeholders. It prevents the negative effects of minority rule, where a small group of directors could have a significant influence and can take unilateral decisions which don’t benefit the organization or its stakeholders.

Most organizations have quorum regulations stipulated in their bylaws. These rules can be different but usually include a certain percentage of board directors who must be present in order for a quorum exist. Certain bylaws also allow for exemptions that can be applied to certain types of meetings, or under certain conditions.

When selecting a proportion of quorum for your board, take into consideration factors such as the size of your board as well as the difficulty of getting all members together at the same time. It’s important The Guidance on M&A Integration Process for Post Merger Effectiveness to balance the flexibility and legitimacy of the quorum requirements, since it’s unlikely that every member will be available for every meeting.

If the quorum cannot be reached at the beginning of a board meeting the chair should take a few minutes to check if there are more members present in order to reach the minimum number of members required. If it becomes evident that the quorum will not be met the chairman will announce that there isn’t a quorum and that no business of any kind will be held at this meeting.