The quality of your board meetings is contingent on the amount of work your board members prepare prior to each meeting. Online meetings are more productive and efficient when participants are prepared. A well-prepared team is also more likely to stick to the agenda, and ensure that they don’t get distracted by an unrelated tangent.

It’s important to set clear expectations for board members who are remote on how they are expected to participate in meetings. For instance, it’s best to remind people to mute themselves and only speak when they’re requested to speak. This will prevent participants from talking over one another or leaving the room without feeling heard. Before a meeting begins the convenor must ask participants if they have any technological issues they require assistance with.

Include the https://protectednetwork.org/optimizing-strategic-planning-with-ma-data-rooms/ rules of virtual meetings in the board member orientation materials to ensure everyone knows what to expect before and after the meeting. For instance, it’s important to distribute the agenda prior to the time of the meeting and to follow up with the participants a day or a morning prior to the meeting to confirm the details, give them the link to the meeting or Zoom once more, and remind them of any other meeting preferences (such as requesting that attendees attend from an area with no distractions). It is also recommended to add a placeholder for an executive session to each agenda item and include this at the start of the meeting to avoid confusion about whether there is an executive session or not.