The epidemic has made it more difficult than ever before for non-profit organizations to operate and generate community support, and many depend on remote board meetings to make crucial decisions and ensure their survival. However it isn’t easy to conduct an effective remote board meeting without the presence of all board members.
A clearly defined agenda will aid in keeping the board meeting remote on topic and focused. Include your board members in the process of setting the anonymous agenda. This will help you decide on the topics should be covered. Then, you should send the agenda as far ahead of time as you can to all attendees so that they can plan. This will ensure that they are fully aware of the topics to be discussed and they can add anything to the agenda prior to. Using an online portal for boards that is secure to distribute the agenda and other documents will aid in reducing security risk.
Video can boost engagement during remote board meetings because it adds the crucial face-to-face aspect to discussions. Video also lets participants be aware of the body language of others and note non-verbal signals such as frustration, impatience, or boredom.
Meeting in person may be difficult to plan for busy boards that have to manage many professional and personal commitments. With remote board meeting software, locating an acceptable time for all attendees could be much easier. SavvyCal’s free meeting polls for instance, let you to suggest different times for your meetings and let everyone vote for the times that work best for them. This will save time and effort, by removing the need to send a back-andforth email.