Making Online Board Meetings Productive and Effective

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The quality of your board’s meetings will depend on the amount of work that members prepare prior to each meeting. If the participants are able to plan their meetings and prepare, they can make online meetings more productive and efficient. A well-prepared team is also more likely to adhere to the agenda and make sure that they don’t get sidetracked by any tangent.

It’s important to set clear expectations for board members who are remote on how they’re expected to participate in meetings. For instance, it’s best to remind them to silence themselves and only speak when they’re asked to speak. This stops people from speaking over each other or leaving a gathering without feeling heard. It is also essential for the convenor to ask participants for assistance with a technical issue prior to starting.

Include the rules of virtual meetings in the orientation for board members material so that everyone knows what to expect prior to and after the meeting. For instance, it’s crucial to send the agenda ahead of time and to follow up with attendees a day or morning before the meeting to confirm all the details, then provide them with the Zoom or meeting link in a second time, and remind attendees of any other preferences at the meeting (such as requesting attendees to attend from an area with no distractions). It is suggested that you add a placeholder for an executive session to every item on the agenda, and add it at the beginning of the meeting in order to avoid confusion.