Best Practices for Remote Board Meetings
People are less attentive when it comes to a remote board meeting than they would be in person. It’s easy to give into the temptation to check your email, grab some food, or pick up the phone. You can conquer many of these issues by organizing your meetings efficiently. The following best practices will help keep your virtual meetings on schedule as well as secure and efficient.
Use a reliable, online portal with a board-management program that includes an agenda maker and video integration. It also includes other useful tools like task managers and document centers. These tools will allow you to conduct your meetings without leaving the portal and will ensure that everyone has access regardless of location, time zone or device. It’s a good idea also to assign a moderator to your meeting. They will oversee the systems and make sure the technology is operating properly.
Be sure to send out meeting reminders at least 24hrs prior to the scheduled call. This will cut down on the number of no-shows and ensure that participants are provided with all the information required to participate. Additionally, use an agenda template that provides specific information about the call so that participants aren’t lost in the conversation.
If a board member is not able to attend a board meeting remotely, they must provide the board with a written statement giving the reason for their absence as well as a description of any reasonable accommodations that they would like to request. The board will then decide if the reason is valid. This process can be complicated however, the board must strive to be as fair and consistent as possible.