The importance of the board consent agenda

LIVE Webinar

The importance of the board consent agenda

Board meetings shouldn’t feel rushed, reactive, or unfinished.

Yet too often, valuable time is consumed by routine reporting, minor updates, and items that don’t require full discussion. The result? Strategic conversations get squeezed, decisions feel hurried, and meetings run over time.

The consent agenda is a simple but powerful governance tool that changes that dynamic.

By grouping routine or non-controversial items into a single approval motion, boards can:

✔️ Protect time for meaningful debate
✔️ Reduce unnecessary repetition
✔️ Improve the quality of decision-making
✔️ Finish meetings on time — without rushing critical issues

When used well, a consent agenda doesn’t silence discussion — it sharpens it. Directors still have the opportunity to “lift” any item for deeper consideration. The difference is that attention is directed where it truly matters.

Imagine board meetings where:

• Strategic issues receive the focus they deserve
• Directors feel heard and confident in decisions
• Agendas flow logically and efficiently
• The meeting ends on schedule

This free webinar will show you how to implement a consent agenda practically and confidently — so your board spends less time managing the clock and more time shaping the future.

If your meetings regularly run over, this is a conversation worth having.

Managing Director - Directors Dilemma

Julie Garland McLellan

Julie Garland McLellan is a governance expert and board-whisperer. With elite postgraduate qualifications and extensive practical experience serving on diverse boards, she combines academic rigor with real-world expertise. An accomplished author of six books on governance, Julie’s approach emphasizes strategic clarity, accountability, and sustainable success. Her masterclasses and keynotes empower leaders to foster responsible, ethical governance that builds trust and protects reputation. Grounded in her disciplined martial arts background and a deep understanding of organisational culture, Julie delivers actionable insights that inspire confident, principled board leadership in today’s complex business environment.

Senior Partner - Independent Governance Services

Dauniika Maclean

Dauniika is the Senior Partner and Director of Independent Governance Services (IGS), New Zealand’s largest professional services firm offering governance advisory and support services. She is a Chartered Governance Professional and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors, and sits on the Board of Riverhead School. IGS offer a suite of services, including meeting minutes, board paper refreshes, constitution reviews, board software recommendations and implementations, CoSec services for regulated entities, investor-ready packages, and full-scope setup of governance foundations for companies with newly appointed boards..

Practise Leader - Boardworks International

Graeme Nahkies

Graeme Nahkies co-founded BoardWorks in 1997, Australasia's first specialist governance consultancy. Since then the company has worked with over 600 client across all sectors. Graeme came from a series of senior roles in local and central government. He is now BoardWorks Practice Leader ensuring BoardWorks stays at the forefront of contemporary practice.

Why attend?

Designed for busy board chairs, directors, CEOs and Company Secretaries, this webinar will provide practical tips, tools, and techniques to create and use a consent agenda to put time back into your meetings and direct diligence to the discussions where it will add value. You will learn how to:

1. Identify items that can be noted without discussion

2. Introduce the use of the consent (or block) agenda

3. Record your board members’ acknowledgement of information

4. Allow for items to be removed from the agenda and discussed

5. Introduce the consent agenda verbally at the meeting

6. Record the attestation for your minutes

"I like how the webinars are concise, and deliver what is required, to make modifications to current systems. No pressure and no selling at your events is great. We can simply focus on the great content"

Paula M

Secretary, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

"Thank you for providing insight into better board governance, I have picked up valuable information from these short and sharp webinars."

Mary A

Company Secretary, SME (51-100 emp.)

"This webinar provided an excellent opportunity to think through what is currently provided to my Boards and opportunities where improvement could be achieved."

Virginia P

Board Secretary, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

"These 45 min sessions are fast becoming my staple brief sessions for topical skills update. Keep them going please."

Andrea M

Human Resource & Compliance, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

"Thank you, this was a helpful session and very timely - our board has just this year planned specific strategic discussion topics into our board calendar, to help us be more strategic."

Peter L

Chairman, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

"Thank you for providing a forum for knowledge sharing, being a CEO is often isolating. This opens the conversation up for sharing experience and positive, solutions based outcomes"

Lester M

Chairman, Mid-Market (101-500 emp.)