Online Board Meetings Benefits
A virtual board meeting can save your nonprofit organization time, money and energy. It also lets your members participate regardless of their job schedule, quarantine or travel restrictions. It’s important to keep in mind that virtual meetings can create issues if not properly managed. However, following a few simple guidelines leads to an efficient online meeting, with a high level of board participation and a well-written document.
Begin with a concise, clear agenda. Involve your board members in the agenda-setting process, and provide them with an agenda prior to the date of the meeting to allow them to prepare for the discussion. This helps keep your board on track and ensures all relevant topics are addressed during the meeting.
Make use of video conferencing for your meetings so that attendees can view each others. It’s difficult to be engaged when members of the board aren’t able see body language or hear each other clearly. Video conference is a great method to eliminate distractions like pets, children and household movements.
Include all the decisions that were taken during the meeting, as well as the notes of each participant. This will make your meeting minutes easier to refer back to in the future and ensure that all decisions are recorded in detail. If you don’t record your decisions correctly it could cause confusion and conflicting information later on. Make sure you have an individual minute-taker who is aware of the importance of recording all discussions and decisions verbatim.
