Making Online Board Meetings Productive and Effective

The quality of your board’s meeting is dependent on the amount of work that members complete prior to each meeting. If the participants are prepared and prepare, they can make online meetings more productive and effective. A group that is well-prepared is more likely to adhere to the agenda and not get distracted.

It is important to establish clear expectations for board members who are remote on how they’re expected to attend meetings. It’s best, for example to remind the participants that they should mute themselves when speaking, and only speak when called upon. This will stop people from talking over one another or leaving the meeting without feeling heard. It’s also crucial for the convener to ask participants if they require assistance with a technical issue prior to getting started.

Include the rules for virtual meetings in the orientation for board members material so that everyone knows what to expect prior to, during and after the meeting. For instance, it’s crucial to communicate the agenda ahead of time, and to follow up with the participants a day or early in the morning prior to the meeting to confirm all the details, then provide them with the Zoom or meeting link again and remind attendees of any other preferences for meetings (such as asking attendees to listen to the meeting from a quiet area to minimize distractions). It is also recommended to add an executive session digitalizing M&A processes for optimal outcomes placeholder to every agenda item and to include this at the start of the meeting to avoid confusion about whether there will be an executive session.