And so, when they prepare to hold a virtual board meeting, they need to take into account a lot of nuances and details. The success of an online meeting depends not only on the provision of high-quality content. Switching to online meetings requires preparation and conduct in a slightly different way compared with physical meetings. In this review, we have collected some useful tips on how to conduct effective online meetings using the virtual boardroom.
What is a Virtual Board Meeting?
Virtual board meetings allow each board director to visit regularly scheduled meetings from any place – home, office, or some other location. Instead of viewing notes after the fact, board members use audio and video conferencing facilities for remote joining. These online meetings may be launched only by phone, videoconference, or other virtual communication tools within the limits permitted by a particular company. There are three main types of online board meetings:
Teleconference (audio connection exclusively);Videoconference (audio and video connection);Web conference (audio, video, and content exchange).
To start an online board meeting, you need a workplace, a laptop or desktop computer, a reliable Internet connection, virtual board software, members of the event, and a topic, surely.
Tips for Preparing a Successful Virtual Board Meeting
Although virtual communication is different from face-to-face meetings, there are some crucial points that you should check and adjust to ensure that this type of meeting goes under your business plan. Here are some practical tips you need to take for a productive meeting using a board portal software:
Have the right tools at a hand Before launching the virtual meeting, ensure that you have a perfect paperless meeting solution to allow you to communicate and share your screen with other participants. At the moment, there are several tools that you can use, however, it is important to choose a provider that pays the highest attention to safety.Make sure that the technical part is working properly Before starting, be sure to check audio, video, and screen work perfectly. Team up with some other meeting members and test the equipment in advance. This way, you will avoid a tense start to the board portal meeting and gain the trust of everyone around.Decide on the moderator of the meeting Appoint a moderator if the administration does not do this, and provide a full guide to this person. This way you will avoid poor sound quality during a meeting when participants speak at the same time. For example, raise your hand if you want to say something, or text your name in the “What to do if the meeting is held without a video” field. Keep in mind that video can affect the sound quality.Keep your notes private Make sure that the board’s documents are closed. For a better result, you should install the board management software on your tablet, iPad, or on one of the screens if you work on several.Share the agenda with members Share the agenda via screen sharing, ensuring that participants present to know which agenda item is being discussed.Use the updated collaboration platform Make sure everyone has the latest version of the online board meeting documents to avoid misunderstandings. This can and should be done using secure sharing platforms.Request for feedback You should collect feedback to find out what you can improve next time. There are many ways to create an effective agenda for a virtual board meeting, and each member and director most likely has their own experience of what works and what doesn’t. Making changes every time means that your virtual board meeting will only get better.Be careful what you share via email It may be tempting to share some working files of the board via email but we strongly do not recommend doing this! The documents of the board meeting are one of the most confidential data that the company has, and if they are distorted, it can have serious negative consequences for all board members.
Afterword
Summarizing all the above, we can say that organizing the virtual board meeting requires a great deal of attention. Use the virtual meeting template above to make sure everything is covered the right way. Besides, you should ensure that all participants have enough time for preliminary consideration and revision of the online meeting topics, and strive to ensure that the meeting is interesting and encourages cooperation and communication of all members.
