If you don’t have the required number of board members present at your meeting, it cannot legally be held. This article offers some suggestions on how to ensure quorum of your board meetings to make decisions with legitimacy.
Quorum makes sure that, even though perfect attendance is rare at board meetings, the decisions made accurately reflect the views and the interests of everyone involved. It is a safeguard against the negative effects of minority rule, which means that the A Complete Data Room Checklist for Seamless and Secure Due Diligence directors of a small percentage are able to exert a large amount of influence and take unilateral action which doesn’t benefit the company or its customers.
A majority of organizations have quorum rules outlined in their bylaws. The rules could be different, but they usually include certain percentages of directors that must be present to constitute an quorum. Certain bylaws could also contain exceptions to the rule of law that are applicable in certain circumstances or for certain types of meetings.
Consider things like the size of your board or difficulties in getting all your members together simultaneously when deciding on the proportion of quorum. It is crucial to balance the flexibility and legitimacy of your quorum guidelines, since it’s unlikely that all members will be available for every meeting.
If the quorum isn’t attained prior to the start of an event, the chairman should wait a few moments to see if any more members arrive to meet the minimum number required. If it becomes apparent that the quorum will not be met, the chairman should announce that there’s not a quorum and that there will be no formal business conducted at this meeting.