Productive board meetings play important role in corporate management. These tips will help you and the meeting participants to ideally conduct remote board meetings: from preparation to implementation and follow-up.
Remote board collaboration – that’s why meetings are so important
Board meetings are an absolute must for good communication in a team, to plan strategies, brainstorm together, determine necessary goals and develop new ideas. A physical distance, due to international teams or work models such as the home office, can be a hindrance. Live communication via video chat or the phone creates trust in the team, promotes empathy, and is therefore essential for mutual success.
For effective board teamwork to succeed, you should consider three things in remote board meetings:
- Targeted: If necessary, a remote team meeting should always be organized to work together on a problem and to achieve the desired goal.
- Structured: A good structure, precise planning, and clear expectations should be defined together. This enables all members of the team to rethink possible scenarios and have a say in decisions.
- Success-oriented: Efficiency and effectiveness require clear structures and good orientation, otherwise the meeting will quickly become a waste of time. By the end of the board meeting, everyone should know what to do.
Remote board meetings: tips for effective collaboration at a distance
The following tips are vital for planning and conducting effective and efficient board meetings in the online format:
- Make a plan
The first question we ask ourselves is: does a board meeting make sense? What could the goal of the meeting be? A meeting should only be called if the goal is clearly defined and the exchange promises added value. A successful meeting needs a well-thought-out foundation. Therefore, it is essential to work out an agenda for every meeting and to discuss it with the participants, and adjust it if necessary.
- Define participants
As the number of participants increases, it becomes more and more difficult to organize meetings and adhere to structured processes. Therefore, you should make sure that only the most important people come together and that everyone can benefit from the communication. For example, you can create a table with the responsibilities of all employees, which will then help you to make precise choices.
- Structure the agenda
It takes a lot of organization and effort to hold a remote meeting, so any waste of time should be avoided at all costs. For this reason, you should also set an exact agenda and stick to it with your team. Share the agenda in advance by e-mail or in the shared calendar so that every participant can prepare well for it.
- Use a suitable digital platform
There are several possible tools and applications for video conferencing. For example, you can opt for a special business program or use common software such as Skype and combine this with special tools that allow you to work on designs or tables at the same time. Regardless of which option you choose, you should test all technical functions in advance and come up with a plan B in case something goes wrong at the time of the meeting. But for online meetings of collegial bodies, there is a specially designed software – board portal. This innovative tool provides a secure digital environment with a set of useful tools like voting modules, data storing, file sharing, chat, modules for making electronic agendas, minutes, etc.