Many boards have switched to remote board meetings to accommodate busy schedules and make meetings more convenient for directors. When they’re run well, remote meetings can enhance the director experience for both mission-driven and for-profit governing boards. However, any organization considering digital meetings must take a targeted approach and invest in the right digital tools to gain the most benefit.
Remote and virtual meetings can also alter boardroom dynamics, so it’s a good idea to adjust ground rules to make sure all meeting attendees feel heard. Below, we’ll explore some of the benefits and drawbacks of remote board meetings, and how to make your next virtual board meeting a success.
The rise of remote board meetings
In the past, the virtual boardroom was a quick and convenient way to discuss and solve problems during crises. COVID-19 brought the importance of flexibility to the forefront, making virtual settings the norm rather than the exception and remote or hybrid board meetings a standard part of board operations.
As many organizations returned to in-office work, boards face a combination of preferences: some meeting attendees still prefer to participate in discussions from the comfort of their home or office, while other directors may prefer in-person conversations. Some boards only conduct remote meetings, while others take a hybrid approach with a combination of in-person and remote attendees.
Going remote opens up many possibilities for all types of boards, but it’s not without its challenges. If you’re thinking of making your next meeting remote or hybrid, careful planning can help you reap the benefits and avoid some of the most common pitfalls.
Benefits and drawbacks of remote board meetings
Going virtual has practical and measurable benefits, including reduced expenses and better board meeting attendance – as well as keeping your board more adaptable to crisis scenarios. However, there are some important challenges to keep in mind as well. For example, virtual calls are more prone to technical difficulties and can lead to a lack of director engagement.
Below is a more detailed explanation of some of the key benefits and drawbacks to consider when deciding on the format of your future meetings.
Benefits of remote board meetings:
1. Reduced expenses
A face-to-face meeting requires a meeting room, which can be expensive. Even if you don’t need to rent a boardroom, remote board meetings can help your organization save on utilities, A/V equipment, catering, and travel expenses for board members who don’t live nearby.
Beyond just saving money for your organization, you’ll also help attendees save on travel time and any non-reimbursable expenses like childcare or pet sitting.
2. Better attendance
Virtual board meetings might just be the answer to your quorum problems! Remote sessions enable board members to attend the conference from anywhere with an internet connection, so they’ll be more likely to join.
3. A more diverse board
Remote board meetings can lead to a more geographically and socially diverse board by making board membership possible for a wider pool of candidates, including those who live in remote locations or who have care responsibilities.
In turn, that can lead to a greater diversity of skill sets and professional backgrounds on your board. These new perspectives will allow your company to gain valuable insights, ultimately enabling you to make more well-rounded decisions.
4. Better governance
Digital meetings help boards make time-sensitive decisions and communicate more regularly. The digital tools that support those meetings can also help your board leaders achieve better control over meetings and maintain online boardroom etiquette, directly supporting effective corporate governance.
In the long run, board leadership will benefit from having a common solution for recording and sharing meetings as well as sharing data, discussions, and files.
Of course, there are some potential drawbacks of remote meetings as well. But addressed and anticipated in advance, many of these drawbacks can be mitigated successfully.
Drawbacks of remote board meetings include:
1. Information security
Information security is a crucial consideration for board meetings, where discussions and supporting documents often include sensitive financial statements and strategic plans. All meeting attendees should ensure they’re joining from a private place such as a home office, and refrain from using any recording tools without the board chair’s approval.
Video conferencing software can also introduce information security risk, especially in industries like healthcare where it needs to be HIPAA compliant. Microsoft Teams has a broad range of security options, and can be used in tandem with Aprio’s secure board portal software to protect all board documents and conversations during and between remote meetings.
2. Potential for lower engagement
Since remote board meetings lack face-to-face interaction, it’s easy for directors to become passive listeners.
In addition, when you use a hybrid approach and only a few participants are remote, those who participate via phone only can feel excluded from discussions.
Secure video conferencing software will provide a welcome face-to-face element, reminding in-person attendees that remotely connected participants are still an integral part of the conversation, encouraging active participation.
3. Tech adoption challenges
Boards often face adoption challenges with new technology, especially for less technical board members – leading to wasted time in meetings when directors need impromptu instructions during meetings. Choosing software with comprehensive, personalized technical support can help board members get up to speed faster and help organizers stay aware of the technical requirements to ensure that board leadership and members can attend.
Consider providing sufficient instructions to your less tech-savvy attendees so they can participate in polls and discussions.
Helpful tips on how to run an effective virtual board meeting
Beyond ensuring nothing goes wrong, careful planning can help boards take advantage of the best aspects of virtual meetings. Here are some virtual board meeting best practices to get your members on board.
1. Does the organization allow virtual meetings?
The first thing you should do is ensure that virtual meetings are legal. These meetings are sometimes prohibited by the bylaws of some mission-driven organizations and corporations and sometimes by state laws. In some cases, bylaws may also require that directors are “physically present” to count towards quorum.
You’ll need to check both the internal regulations of your organization (terms of board governance), and the laws of your state/location.
2. Find a meeting time that works for everyone
Selecting an appropriate meeting time is key to successful virtual board meetings, especially if attendees are located in multiple time zones. Meeting times should respect everyone’s lunch and break times.
Make your remote board meeting easily accessible for as many people as possible, even if it might not be possible to accommodate everyone’s schedules. You might decide to set up two separate meetings if there is a strong divide.
3. Have a clear meeting agenda
Effective remote board meetings begin with a strong agenda. When you have remote attendees, it’s even more crucial that everyone has easy access to topics and discussions, and that meetings don’t get sidetracked. In Aprio, you can share agendas complete with supporting documentation in one click, so directors have instant access to all meeting materials on mobile devices.
Ensure that participants are involved in creating the agenda so that all pertinent topics are addressed. Once the agenda is finalized, send an advance copy a week before the meeting so directors have sufficient time to review.
Finally, timestamps and interactive tools in agendas and meeting minutes can help you keep remote meetings short. For example, Aprio’s voting and signature tools let directors make decisions and approvals faster, so meetings aren’t delayed by administrative hassles.
4. Have everyone turn their video ON!
In remote board meetings, video conferencing provides a crucial face-to-face element for a successful board. Meetings can be conducted without video, but with video conferencing software, makes discussions much more interactive and fruitful.
Participants build stronger connections when they can see each other, since they’ll be more aware of critical nonverbal cues. Pay attention to body language that conveys disagreement, boredom, impatience, or enthusiasm.
Establishing a “video on” policy can help keep members on track during sessions, but it’s also a good idea to be mindful of Zoom fatigue. Ideally, remote meetings should be shorter, with frequent breaks to let everyone stretch and take their eyes off their screen for a few minutes.
5. Encourage participation in virtual meetings
One of the main challenges of holding a remote board meeting is keeping everyone engaged. Be sure to encourage collaboration during your virtual board meetings if you’re struggling with participation.
The meeting should begin with a check in to get everyone speaking and fosters a collaborative spirit. In addition, it reminds meeting attendees of who is joining.
Remote meetings can make it harder to jump into a conversation, so touch base with attendees regularly as the meeting progresses. Perhaps you can pause after each main topic and ask everyone what they think. There are many strategies to promote interaction; you just need to find the one that works best for your board.
6. Collect feedback regularly
The feedback you receive will ensure your virtual board meetings are as successful as possible. Give all participants a chance to give feedback on the last meeting with survey tools in board portals like Aprio.
Provide anonymous feedback through your polling tools so that participants feel comfortable providing open, honest feedback. Make sure you consider all suggestions when deciding when and where to hold virtual board meetings. Implementing board members’ recommendations will demonstrate your value for their input, resulting in positive relationships and effective contracts.
All the above tips can apply not just to regular board meetings, but to get the most out of committee meetings, nonprofit learning labs, and other special meetings that happen remotely as well. But while these tips will help keep your remote meetings more productive, there’s often another factor that affects active participation in remote meetings: psychological safety.
Strategies to maintain psychological safety in virtual settings
Boards achieve psychological safety when directors feel free to speak up without fear of humiliation or negative consequences. Board chairs can foster this sense of safety with inclusive practices that help directors feel more comfortable speaking up, such as proactively asking for opinions or returning to speakers who are interrupted.
As the Project Management Institute notes, building psychological safety in remote work is about maintaining visibility and connectedness. For example, people in remote meetings may have different levels of comfort with the lack of nonverbal cues that help them gauge when it’s their turn to speak. That’s why it’s important for the meeting host to keep more careful track of who is actively participating and invite the opinions of members who haven’t had a chance to speak.
Keeping cameras on, making space for social interaction, and ensuring board members have multiple ways to share their opinions can all contribute to making board members more comfortable in remote meetings.
Leveraging hybrid flexibility: when to mix in-person meetings and virtual calls
When board members are divided on their preferred meeting format, hybrid meetings can offer the best of both worlds, combining in-person and virtual attendees. However, such meetings can also create uneven boardroom dynamics without the right ground rules.
Hybrid meetings work best when all board meetings have equal access to presentations and collaboration tools, even when they’re joining remotely. A few rules of thumb for hybrid meetings include:
- Meeting attendees should all log in from their own device, and mute their microphones when they aren’t speaking to eliminate feedback.
- Use collaboration tools like virtual whiteboards for brainstorming sessions and board portals to share agenda items.
- Silence background noises as much as possible to ensure remote attendees can hear speakers equally well.
- If you have internet connectivity issues, wait for remote members to join or reschedule discussions.
Teams should also try to reserve side conversations for breakout rooms in the video conferencing software, rather than discussing official business during breaks when virtual members aren’t present.
Get more effective virtual board meetings with board meeting software
Your board needs leading-edge tools to make remote meetings more effective and productive. With Aprio, your board can access all important meeting materials, action items, documents and more in one secure place, whether they’re at the boardroom table or on their mobile device.
Aprio also offers best-in-class onboarding and technical support from former board administrators who understand how time-sensitive board issues can be. Discover why Aprio is a top choice for leading corporate and non-profit boards who conduct remote board meetings. Whether you’re a hybrid or fully remote organization, our board portal software has all the functionalities you need to succeed.
Ready to see how Aprio can enhance your remote board meetings? Start a conversation today to assess Aprio’s fit for your organization’s needs.
