How to Implement an Online Board Room Meeting
Online boardroom meetings cut down on the need for physical meeting and also reduce the cost of travel. It also offers flexibility to members, who can participate from any location. As with all new technologies, there are a few issues to overcome when the implementation of this tool. Before using the software, board members must be familiar with it and understand how it works. They should also establish clear communication protocols and expectations.
The biggest challenge is to ensure that all remote participants are actively participating in the discussion. In an online meeting it is very easy for the participants to become distracted and lose focus. Therefore, it is crucial to keep them engaged by ensuring they can clearly hear the speaker. A clear agenda helps facilitate an efficient discussion and stops the meeting from going over. Ideally, the agenda should include 20% fewer items in order to give enough time for discussion. It is also ideal to schedule the meeting outside of regular mealtimes in order to avoid eating in front of cameras. The chair should also ask the board members to use the mute function when they are not in conversation so that background noise does not distract.
The main challenge is to ensure that the virtual conference portal and the board portal are in sync. A reliable solution will allow you to manage the video call and documents from a single location. The system will also make it simple for boards to download and read an agenda in PDF format, even if they are not online.
