How to Conduct a Successful Remote Board Meeting

The pandemic has made life more difficult than ever before for non-profit organizations to function and gain community support. Many are relying on board meetings that are held remotely to make critical decisions and ensure their survival. However it isn’t easy to conduct an effective remote board meeting without the presence of all board members.

An organized, clear agenda will keep the board meeting you are hosting remotely on track and on-topic throughout the entire meeting. Include your board members in the agenda-setting process to figure out the topics that need to be covered and then send the agenda to all attendees as far in advance as possible so they can prepare. This will help ensure they have a full understanding of what’s scheduled to be discussed, and they can add any additional points to the agenda ahead of time. Using a secure online board portal to distribute agendas and other materials will aid in reducing security risk.

Using video can enhance engagement during remote board meetings because it adds the essential face-to-face component to discussions. Additionally, video makes it easier for participants to read the http://boardgreenroom.com/who-is-a-data-engineer/ body language of other people and to observe non-verbal signals such as boredom, impatience or even excitement.

It can be a challenge for busy boards to plan meetings in person, particularly when they have multiple commitments both professional and personal. Finding an appropriate time for everyone is much simpler using remote board meeting software. Tools like SavvyCal’s free polls for meetings let you propose multiple times for your meeting and let everyone vote on the times that work best for them. This eliminates the need for back-and-forth emails and could save you a lot of time and hassle.