Online board meetings provide better scheduling options. They can reduce the cost and time constraints of travel, and why should you move to the cloud eliminate the time constraints associated with hotels and flights. They also broaden the range of board members and can aid in preventing groupthink. The virtual world comes with its own challenges that can result in poor-quality meetings.
In order to transition from in-person meetings to virtual ones, boards should alter the way they communicate and work. In order to facilitate communication during the online setting, a lot elements used in an in-person meeting of the board must be recreated. This includes the physical boardbook, digital presentations, and sharing documents. It can be a challenge for board members to navigate technology. A simple software for board members will make the process easier. However additional training might be required to ensure that board members are successful.
Engaging and maximizing productivity is another problem when conducting an online board session. The constant distraction of new discussion topics can eat up time and distract from the most important items on the agenda. This can be reduced by creating an agenda with 20% less items, and dividing the discussion into 15-minute segments. A discussion forum for the latest issues could also be helpful.
It is also crucial that remote participants can be able to see faces of the attendees inside the room. This can be achieved by removing background images or moving participants away from light sources that can be glaring on the screen or obscure images for other board members. In addition, avoiding distractions such cellphones or other devices can increase the participant’s ability to concentrate on the subject being discussed.
