If your organization uses Microsoft Teams, should you use it to manage board communications and meetings?
Many organizations already rely on Microsoft Teams for virtual meetings and collaboration, so extending its use to board governance feels like a natural next step. Its agenda builder supports collaborative editing and task assignments, and it integrates with Microsoft 365.
But board governance has unique requirements that general-purpose business tools weren’t designed to handle, especially as governance demands become more sophisticated.
Read on to see how Teams compares to purpose-built board portal software like Aprio.
Why do some boards use Microsoft Teams?
For smaller boards just getting started, Teams can be a valuable way to organize agendas and meeting minutes. Its agenda feature lets members create agendas, add documents, tag others, and collaborate in real time before and during meetings.
It’s also compatible with other Microsoft products that board members may already use such as Outlook, Word, and SharePoint – so it might be easier at first to use Teams than to learn completely new software.
But as organizations grow and board responsibilities increase, relying on Teams can pose challenges. Board members often find themselves frustrated trying to locate specific documents in Teams when they need to prepare for meetings.
Boards can find themselves spending excessive time across multiple Microsoft applications, while still lacking purpose-built features like governance-specific voting, automated compliance tracking, and committee-based access controls.
How does Aprio compare to Teams?
For small boards, Teams might handle the basics well. But as governance gets more complex, the time spent working around its limitations often costs more than purpose-built software.
The question becomes: is your board spending too much time wrestling with software tools instead of focusing on governance? If so, board portal software like Aprio may be a better fit.
| Benefits | Aprio | Teams |
| Centralized information hub
Aprio’s all-in-one platform provides a centralized hub of board activity and information. User actions, document access, and voting decisions are logged on the platform, providing an audit trail to support compliance. Teams may work well for virtual meetings and agendas, but boards will need to use it alongside other tools to manage workflows. |
Yes | No |
| Seamless login experience
Teams creates significant login friction for board members who have multiple Microsoft accounts (personal, work, other board positions). Microsoft’s sign-in system defaults to the most recently used account, often redirecting users to wrong tenants or locking them out entirely. Directors must frequently sign out completely, clear cached credentials, or use separate browser profiles just to access board materials. Aprio provides a straightforward login experience with single sign-on integration that works regardless of other Microsoft accounts. Directors can access board materials directly without account conflicts, tenant confusion, or the need for complex workarounds to manage multiple organizational logins. |
Yes | Limited |
| Board agenda tools
Microsoft Teams doesn’t offer reusable agenda templates for meeting content on its own, although users can create recurring meeting agendas through a Loop integration, requiring manual configuration. Aprio’s agenda builder lets you create reusable templates for different meeting types, automatically populate agenda items from prior meetings, and set time allocations with presenter assignments—turning a complex manual process into a few clicks. |
Yes | Limited |
| File organization and accessibility
Teams stores files across multiple locations (SharePoint, OneDrive, channel folders) with no governance-specific organization, making it difficult for board members to quickly locate meeting materials, historical documents, or committee-specific files when they need them most. Aprio provides purpose-built document organization with board-specific libraries, committee access controls, and powerful search functionality designed for governance workflows – allowing directors to instantly find board books, meeting minutes, resolutions, and archived materials. |
Yes | Limited |
| Access controls for sensitive board information
Teams offers enterprise-grade security and can be configured with robust access controls, but setting up granular permissions for board materials requires significant IT expertise and ongoing management across multiple Microsoft tools. Aprio provides board-specific access controls that any administrator can easily use. Restrict documents by committee or individual director, control downloads and printing, and access reports on who’s viewing documents. |
Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app optimized for board governance
Teams mobile app is designed for general business collaboration. Some users report slow performance and cluttered file organization. Aprio’s mobile app is purpose-built for board governance with offline access to board materials, streamlined interface for governance tasks, mobile voting capabilities, and document signing – all optimized for directors working on the go. |
Yes | Limited |
| Exceptional customer support
Microsoft has a general IT help desk, but no dedicated support for boards that often need specialized assistance. Aprio’s support team of former board administrators understand board governance workflows and best practices. All Aprio plans include unlimited 24/7 support for your entire board. |
Yes | No |
| Complete reporting & archiving
Teams doesn’t have reporting capabilities on its own; instead, boards need to use Microsoft’s other tools to generate reports of board activity. Aprio offers multiple customizable reports. Create and download reports of director activity, survey results, expense reports and more in just a few clicks. |
Yes | No |
Why Teams might not be the best solution for board meetings
Teams was built for virtual collaboration, but its features aren’t optimized for board governance processes. Many users also report concerns about privacy, usability, and restrictive workflows, especially for board communications.
- Privacy and monitoring concerns. Board communications are highly confidential, but Teams’ compliance and monitoring tools can raise concerns about chat log access. This can undermine trust in board discussions and create liability issues.
- Complex navigation and poor user interface. Board members often have full-time jobs or serve on multiple boards, and need to find information quickly. Some Teams users complain about Teams’ user interface being confusing, slow, or cluttered, with issues like limited chat pinning, bad search, poor multi-account support, and complicated navigation – making it frustrating for directors who don’t have time to hunt through chats or channels.
- Complex configuration requirements. Teams has powerful capabilities, but needs significant expertise to configure properly for board governance. The complex security policies, access controls, and reporting systems boards need are often too much for IT departments to handle effectively.
When using Teams, boards often end up spending valuable time trying to work around these limitations or cobbling together multiple tools to handle governance requirements. While Teams comes with existing subscriptions, be wary of the hidden costs of workarounds, IT support, and lost productivity.
With Aprio, directors get all the tools they need for effective governance. From meeting agendas to voting and task management, administrators can manage all board processes in one place – allowing boards to focus on strategic decisions rather than wrestling with software.
Why switch from Teams to Aprio?
If your board is finding Teams limiting for governance processes, it might be time to make the switch to a dedicated board portal like Aprio. Here are some of the most common reasons why boards make the switch:
1. Intuitive tools designed specifically for boards
Board members don’t have time to find constant workarounds for processes that should be straightforward. Aprio eliminates this frustration with intuitive tools designed specifically for board workflows: creating a board agenda and building board packets, setting up online voting, sending out board surveys, creating action items and following up, plus securely managing all board documents in a central library Aprio gives you all the tools that actually make board meetings more effective.
Directors get instant access to everything they need without hunting through folders or dealing with access issues. Aprio makes it easy to find governance documents and past meeting materials, so new directors can get up to speed much faster.
2. Purpose-built security features and access controls
While Teams offers enterprise-grade security, its internal controls need to be configured properly for boards. The compliance and monitoring features that work so well for operations teams can create significant privacy issues for sensitive board discussions – and company-wide security restrictions can unintentionally limit board collaboration.
Aprio’s security features are designed specifically for boards. It also offers enterprise-grade data security, but pairs that with internal controls built for governance, such as granular access controls for committees, audit trails built for compliance, and remote locking capabilities to protect sensitive board data.
3. Less IT dependency
While Teams offers features like voting and task management, these tools need manual coordination to work together effectively. Boards that want specialized workflows will end up relying heavily on their IT departments – or jumping between several Microsoft tools to manage a single meeting cycle.
Aprio is purpose-built for governance, from board pack creation to post-meeting task assignments and compliance reporting. Boards get all the features they need right away, without the administrative burden of complex IT configurations.
4. Expert support, 24/7
When boards run into issues with their software, they need support from people who understand board workflows and compliance requirements. Aprio’s friendly team of former board administrators understand the unique pressures and deadlines that boards face.
With Aprio, your entire board gets personalized onboarding help, along with 24/7 access to support and ongoing training. Aprio is designed to be easy to use, but if your board encounters issues, they won’t get stuck troubleshooting software.
“The support team is friendly, knowledgeable, and ready to tackle any issues that come up at any hour of the day. The training offered to the directors is a nice added bonus. Having the app available across any device has also made the ease of integration much easier to access materials.” – G2 review
Curious about how Aprio compares to Teams for your board?
Move beyond cluttered, complex applications that weren’t designed for boards. Aprio gives your board the tools they need to make good governance easy, with outstanding support from a team who understands the day-to-day realities of board administration.
Ready to see what your board could achieve with purpose-built tools? Start a conversation today and let us know what your board needs from meeting management software.
See how Aprio compares to other popular tools:
- Board portal comparison – Aprio vs. SharePoint
- Board portal comparison – Aprio vs. Basecamp
- Board portal comparison – Aprio vs. email and PDF
Disclaimer: The information presented in this blog is current as of September 18, 2025, and is accurate to the best of our knowledge. Our insights are derived from publicly available sources, such as product review websites and social media websites, as well as direct conversations with customers. This information is intended to provide a general comparison and may not reflect the most recent updates or changes in the products mentioned.
