The Challenges of Online Board Meetings
Online board meetings eliminate one of the biggest obstacles to attendance and participation: time. Meetings are shorter, which means board members can attend more of them. This in turn increases attendance, and decreases the likelihood of missing important decisions. But it’s important to understand that running an online board meeting is not without its challenges.
Meetings in person allow participants to read body language and facial expressions. This can be a challenge when it’s a virtual discussion. It’s harder to keep distant board members engaged. Board members might be reluctant to speak up if they feel their contribution won’t be heard. Even when they do speak up and speak up, their voice could be drowned out by other attendees or background sound.
Other issues that arise with online board meetings include poor audio quality and inconsistency with video conferencing software. It’s crucial to choose a video-conferencing software that is secure, accessible, simple to use, and offers many features that will help your business. Ask your board members to test the platform prior to the online board meeting. This will allow you to avoid any technical issues.
Another challenge is to keep the meeting on the right track. Limiting the length of the discussion items can aid. It’s recommended to set an objective for each item and limit its duration. For example, you can assign a member to lead each topic of the agenda or set a deadline on each item. Before moving on to a different topic, the objective is to come to an informed decision or come up with some ideas.
