Board Members are known for their sharp-wittedness and experience. Board pushes the business forward and makes evaluative and critical decisions about the company. Board Directors may have personal and professional commitments and agendas, which are necessary for them to obey. So instead of hosting meetings in the traditional method at the whimsical time and taking the whole day, you can avail the benefit of technology and organize an Online Board Meeting and save valuable time for board members.
Because of a global economic crisis raised due to the pandemic, few companies have already allowed their board to meet virtually to protect their organization from adversity. While some companies are still finding their way toward online board meetings.
So in this blog, we will let you know about the concept of online board meetings and will also suggest some effective ways to host engaging and productive online board meetings. So let’s dive into the blog.
What is An Online Board Meeting?
Technological advances have led to many innovative trends in the industry; one of such greatest innovations is an online platform where board directors can gather virtually and host their meetings.
Online board meetings are formal business meetings where board directors and other important members meet over a virtual platform at the scheduled time and discuss the strategies and issues of the concerned organization. Using any audio-video conferencing tools, they can join the online business meetings from their desired location. The attendee must have a stable internet connection and a compatible hardware device (laptop or mobile phone) to join the meeting.
How Are Online Board Meetings Different From In-Person Meetings?
Unlike traditional board meetings, online board meetings enable all the directors to attend the board meeting regularly from their desired location. Online Board Meetings ensure the best opportunity to maintain the quorum and high attendee rate.
What Are the Benefits of an Online Board Meeting?
We have seen a paradigm shift from face-to-face meetings to online communication because of multiple reasons you are already aware of. Board meetings have also taken a sharp turn toward virtual board meetings for several reasons.
Besides all obvious benefits like reduction in travel expenses, time constraints, and health concerns, there are other equally important benefits of virtual business meetings. Let us dive deep into those benefits.
1. Escalate Attendees:
If you find your board meetings are unsuccessful because of quorum, then online board meetings are the comprehensive solution for you. Online board meetings reduce travel time and expense, ensuring all your board members attend the board meeting from their desired location.
2. Greater Diversity in Board Members:
Due to the geographical distribution of companies, many board directors are globally located; online board meetings allow them to join your board meeting and keep the board globally diverse. Attendees from different geographical locations can create diversity in ideas and thoughts, which can enhance the productivity of the board meeting. Along with this, remotely working physically disabled members can also join the board meeting using special audio-video features of online platforms.
3. Better Governance:
The main reason behind relying on online business meetings is to make crucial decisions regularly and communicate more often with the other members. Using the right online board meeting platform’s features, you can simplify the planning of your board meetings. Moreover, it will facilitate opportunities for board leaders to control and effectively analyze the meeting, supporting strong and competent governance of the organization.
4. Smooth Onboarding:
Board meeting platforms allow board directors to join board meetings directly from any web-enabled device. Moreover, online platforms enable them to access the collaterals of the board meeting and execute their governance liabilities securely. With the advancement of technology, multiple online board meeting platforms have emerged which offer a plethora of features to make board meetings more fertile.
Mixhub is one such platform that has all the right online meeting tools for your online board meeting and on this platform, you can also host your virtual corporate events and your organization can avail advantages of its best features for their work.
What are the Challenges that We Face while Hosting Virtual Board Meetings?
Now that we have entered the world of virtual reality and are ready to host board meetings virtually, we must know about the obstacles that we can face in online board meetings. So let us make ourselves familiar with those challenges that can act as barriers while organizing online board meetings.
Security Threat:
As we all are aware of the fact that board meetings are the most confidential meetings of an organization, board members discuss the strategies, financial stabilities, and sensitive issues of the company. In the case of online business meetings, keeping confidential information secure is one of the biggest challenges.
Solution: Recent security research has suggested that most companies have poor cybersecurity practices, making them vulnerable to crucial data loss. Cybersecurity breaches can have a disastrous effect on the company, but selecting a fully secure platform like Mixhub can help you in hosting a completely safe online board meeting.
Low Engagement:
Another one of the biggest challenges of online board meetings is sustaining board engagement. In in-person board meetings, it was much easier for the board to keep its members engaged through some basic chit-chats between the members.
But in online board meetings, there is minimum or no interaction between the members. As a board director, you have to make sure that no member should have a feeling of exclusion or isolation just because they are connected through phones and are only listening to the meeting.
Solution: To avoid this problem, you could use a video conferencing platform that offers ample opportunities to keep your board engaged.
It will also enable you to increase face-to-face interaction between the board members. Moreover, by using the engagement features of the online conference platform like Mixhub, you can encourage your board to participate in the live discussions.
Technological Hurdles:
“New technology, new challenges” is the most commonly heard phrase by everyone and it is very accurate as well. But not all of us understand the nuance of technology.
As online board meetings are a new concept for many companies, their board can face some technical challenges in organizing board meetings virtually. Some members may not even know how to use online platforms for meetings. And some of them may be using an online platform for the first time for meetings. In all these scenarios, as an organizer, it becomes your responsibility to introduce some basics about the technology that you are using for your online board meetings to everyone.
Solution: To avoid these tech-related issues, you should provide instructions to the members who are less aware of the technology. You can also use an online platform like Mixhub, which is an advanced yet very technology-friendly platform for your less tech-savvy attendee.
Now that we have enough knowledge about online board meetings; let’s move ahead in the blog and understand the approach to organizing an effective board meeting.
How Can You Effectively Organize An Online Board Meeting?
Since virtual board meetings are different from in-person board meetings, you should know how to organize a productive and engaging board meeting.
Start With A Goal:
Before you start preparing for the agenda of the online virtual board meeting or looking for the platform to host it on, you should focus on the goals of your virtual business meetings. Always set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based goals. You should have a clear vision in your mind about your goals and expectations.
Schedule The Meeting And Plan The Agenda Of The Virtual Business Meeting:
After deciding your goals, the next step is to schedule the time and date of your business meeting. And after scheduling the meeting the next step is to decide the agenda. To keep your discussions on the right track it is necessary to set a clear agenda and easily understandable topics.
You can also take the help of other attendees while creating the agenda for the board meeting. And don’t forget to distribute the copies of the agenda in advance to the board so they can prepare themselves for the board meeting.
Select The Right Virtual Planning Board Meetings Platform:
For any successful online business meeting, it is very necessary to select the right online platform that fits all your business needs. You can go for an online platform that is tech-friendly, customizable, and secure.
Several online platforms like Mixhub, Zoom, and GoToMeeting provide low-cost or free online space for your board meeting. After deciding on a platform make sure you know how to explore its features to make your board meeting more engaging and fruitful?
Set A Time That Suits All The Board Members From Different Time Zones.
Selecting an appropriate time for holding an online board meeting is one of the most crucial steps, as you have members from different time zones. Ensure the meeting time you schedule is easily accommodating for all, and they can easily make a window for the meeting.
Encourage Interactions:
Using multiple engagement features of an online board meeting platform you can keep your attendees engaged. Using Q&As, you can also encourage them to participate in the discussions.
Keeping attendees engaged in the meeting can boost productivity of the meeting. As we all know, a happy and engaged attendee has a degree of morale.
Take Feedback:
Last but not least, don’t forget to take feedback from your attendees. You can ask for honest reviews so that next time you can work on the areas where there is a need for improvement. You can also send attendees follow-up emails after the meeting is over. Using online meeting tools offered by online platforms such as Mixhub, you can also send recordings of the meeting with meeting minutes to the attendees via email.
What Are The Quick Tips For Hosting An Effective Board Meeting?
- Share agendas and documents securely with the attendees to ensure your confidential data is safe. You can use a secure sharing tool for this.
- Set only those goals which are realistic, uncomplicated, and easily attainable for you and your team.
- While hosting online business meetings, make sure that you provide breakout rooms, enabling board members to share brainstorming.
- Schedule board meetings at regular intervals as regular meetings ensure board members timely finish their tasks.
- Be a good listener. Leaders who listen before engaging are successful in soliciting new and fresh ideas.
What Are Dos and Don’ts That We Should Take Care of While Organizing Virtual Board Meetings?
Do: Highlight the important points and topics on the agenda which are to be discussed in the meeting.
Do: Allow some extra minutes to the attendees for the question and also let them ask some supplementary questions.
DO: Always make sure that you provide financial statics, reports, and meeting minutes in advance to the members.
Don’t: Mess up everything in one single slide; use the different slides for different topics.
Don’t: Add unnecessary graphics and matter to the slide as it can lead to distraction.
Don’t: Let discussions subside other interactive activities in the meeting. Try to offer enough engagement opportunities to the attendees so that they can be hooked up to the online board meeting.
Virtual board meetings can be boon for your company if they are well planned.
However, it is a new concept, but with the proper understanding, the right strategy, and not to mention the right online platform you can organize a productive virtual board meeting. Mixhub is one of the best platforms that allow you to host Virtual Planning Board Meetings with utmost ease. Using its online meeting tools, you can simply make your normal virtual business meeting more interactive and high yielding. Moreover, you can Host Virtual Corporate Events on this comprehensive platform.
Virtual Board Meetings: Frequently Asked Questions
1.What is a Virtual Boardroom?
A virtual boardroom is a virtual space where all the directors, members, and other members meet virtually and discuss the strategies and financial statics of the company.
2.Can we Host a Board Meeting Virtually?
Of course, we can host board meetings virtually. Using virtual meeting platforms, we can effortlessly host board meetings virtually.
3.What are the Best Practices for Virtual Board Meetings?
Following are the best practices for a virtual board meeting
- Keep Your Attendees Engaged
- Keep your meeting short
- Focus on strong agenda
- Facilitate collaborations
- Send copies of the agenda and other documents before the meeting to all board members.
