Online board meetings can be a beneficial tool to make effective decisions. When they are not well managed, they can result in boredom and low levels of participation. Follow these simple steps to make your virtual meetings more enjoyable and increase efficiency.
Discuss the agenda with attendees prior to the meeting, so that everyone is aware of what’s going to be discussed. Consider asking your board members to attend from a quiet space without distractions. Request that participants use the “raise hand function” of your software for virtual meetings when they wish to speak, so that they don’t risk over-talking or missing the point.
Keep the discussion focused on the most important subjects by establishing a set maximum speaking time for each item. This lets everyone participate and keeps the discussion from drifting off topic or causing distractions for others. Encourage your board members not to use their microphones if they are not talking to minimize background noises including children, pets and coworkers.
The last thing to do is close the meeting promptly. This is a sign of respect for the time and effort of your fellow board members. It is also a good practice to distribute the minutes quickly after the meeting has concluded. It can also help simplify the process of recording and distribution of minutes making use of the built-in features in your board management software like inline task delegation.
This will ensure that everyone is on the same page in regards to the discussion and what has to be done between meetings.