Virtual board meetings are a time-saving and convenient way to meet and discuss important issues that face your nonprofit organization. They eliminate the hassle of cancellations, traffic or travel delays and allow you to plan meetings at the convenience of your board members without disrupting their work. They also allow you to retain and attract talent regardless of their geographic location, which increases your options for recruiting.
There are still a few issues with virtual board meetings despite their benefits. The first hurdle is to keep your attendees engaged. In the absence of this the camaraderie and discussions which typically occur in person, it may be more difficult to keep attendees focused. To overcome this, develop an agenda with an organized structure and limits the time that discussion can take place.
It’s also crucial to make sure that all participants are heard even if they aren’t able to speak during the meeting. To ensure this, you should ask them to mute their microphones when they’re not talking and then unmute them when they’re ready to speak. Use a video conference tool that records the audio and video so that your less tech-savvy team members can participate.
It is also essential to have a board management software suite that includes secure document storage that allows the sharing, archiving, and annotation of documents prior to the meeting as well as during the meeting. This will enable your board to easily review and share important documents including governing documents financial reports, and other important information. It will then be simple to create accurate and detailed minutes of the meeting.