Challenges and Benefits of Virtual Board Meetings

Despite the current pandemic, nonprofit boards are required to meet regularly to make decisions. Virtual meetings can be a useful solution that can increase the productivity and participation of board members. However, these online meetings have their own issues. Certain board members may not be comfortable https://boardroomtx.com/ with the latest technology, while others have limited technological proficiency.

Virtual meetings can also result in an absence of motivation and concentration, particularly when meetings are long. Attendees experience “zoom fatigue” and can easily become distracted by other things on their screen. To prevent this, it’s essential to keep the meeting short. Be sure to clearly communicate the agenda and encourage the participants to take part in the meeting. You can also use polls and questions to keep the attention of the audience.

Another challenge of virtual board meetings is the inability to discern the body language or facial expressions of board members. This can hinder board member engagement and impact the effectiveness of the meeting. To combat this board members must be encouraged to watch video during the meeting, so they can detect non-verbal signals of their peers.

The difficulty in recording and disseminating minutes of board meetings is another issue. It is vital to keep a record of the entire meeting in the event that board members are in a position to miss. It will also enable future boards to revisit their past decisions and learn the reasoning behind a specific decision. It is best to use a tool for managing boards which provides a central repository of all meeting materials that is both historical and current.