Making Online Board Meetings Productive and Effective

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The quality of your board’s meetings is contingent on the amount of work that members perform prior to every meeting. Online meetings can be more productive and efficient if participants prepare. A well-prepared group is more likely to stick to the agenda and avoid getting sidetracked.

It’s essential to establish clear expectations for members of remote boards regarding how they’re expected to attend meetings. It’s a good idea, for instance, to remind participants that they should mute themselves when speaking and only speak when asked to do so. This stops people from speaking over each other or leaving a meeting not feeling heard. Before starting a meeting, the convenor should ask participants to identify any technology problems they need help with.

It’s also helpful to include the rules for meetings that are virtual in the board member’s orientation materials so that everyone has a good understanding of what is required of them prior to and after the meeting. For instance, it’s important to distribute the agenda prior to the time of the meeting and to follow up with the participants a day or early in the morning prior to the meeting to confirm the details, send them the link to the meeting or Zoom once more and remind attendees of any other preferences for meetings (such as asking attendees to be in a quiet area to minimize distractions). It is recommended to add a placeholder for an executive session to each item on the agenda and include this at the beginning of the meeting to avoid confusion.