Online board meetings can be a great method for nonprofits as well as their staff members to conduct business. Like any other meeting, a number of elements can affect the efficiency of an internet board meeting. This article discusses how to make virtual board meetings more productive and the most common pitfalls to avoid.
Many nonprofit boards struggle to keep remote attendees engaged during meetings. This is especially true if your organization has transitioned to meeting remotely from face-toface meetings. Meetings can be impacted by low participation in the event that your board members aren’t accustomed to interacting via video, or if they are struggling with the technology itself.
It can be difficult to convince participants to participate in a virtual meeting when committee reports aren’t the most interesting part of the agenda. Encourage your committee chairpersons to include in their reports a specific question or request for feedback from the Board.
The minutes of your board’s appointed officials are responsible for ensuring that every critical discussion and decision in the virtual meetings are documented in a concise manner. They should not discuss personal opinions or informal discussions and should aim for an equilibrium between concision and thoroughness. It is also essential that your minutes are recorded exactly as optimizing M&A transaction workflows with technology they were, and that you have an established system to secure the storage of all documents, including governing documents, financial reports, and much more. This will eliminate confusion and improve accountability between meetings.
