The quality of your board’s meetings depends on how much work members complete prior to each meeting. When participants are prepared for online meetings, they will make the meetings more efficient and productive. A well-prepared team is more likely to stick to the agenda and ensure that they do not get distracted by a tangent.
It’s important to communicate clearly to board members from remote locations how they should participate in meetings. It’s best, for example, to remind participants that they should mute themselves when speaking and only speak when they are asked to. This will prevent people from arguing with one another or leaving the meeting without feeling heard. It is also essential for the convenor to ask participants if they need help with a technology problem before getting started.
It’s also beneficial to include the rules for virtual meetings in the materials for board members’ orientation to ensure that everyone has complete understanding of what’s required of them prior to and after the meeting. It’s essential, for example, to send out the agenda in advance and to follow up with the attendees in the morning or day prior to to confirm the details. You could also offer the link to the meeting or Zoom to the participants and remind them about any other preferences that you may have (such as asking them to listen to the meeting from a quiet place to limit distractions). It is also recommended to add an executive session placeholder to each agenda item and include it at the beginning of the meeting to avoid confusion regarding whether there will be an executive session.
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