How to Manage Online Board Meetings Benefits
Online Board Meetings Benefits
A virtual board meeting can save your non-profit organization time, money, and energy. It also allows your members to participate regardless of their work schedule, quarantine or travel restrictions. Virtual meetings can be a challenge in the event that they are not planned correctly. However following a few simple guidelines can result in a productive online meeting with a strong board involvement and effective documentation.
Start with a concise, clear agenda. Include your board members in establishing the agenda. Give them a copy of it prior to the meeting to allow them time to prepare. This will keep your board members on track and ensure that all topics are discussed during the meeting.
Use video conferencing in your meetings to ensure that participants can communicate with each other. If the board members cannot understand body language and hear each other clearly, it’s difficult to connect. Additionally, video conferencing is an excellent way to eliminate distractions like pets, children, and household movements.
Include all the decisions that were taken at the meeting and the notes from each person who was involved. The meeting minutes are more useful for future reference and assures that the decisions taken are documented in full. If you don’t record your decisions properly it could lead to confusion and conflicting information later. Make sure you have someone designated to document all discussions and decision-making verbatim.