Online board meetings require a different level of engagement than their offline counterparts and it’s often difficult to find new ways to stimulate them. It’s essential to begin by making sure that your virtual boardroom is outfitted with a reliable video conferencing system with clear protocols for communication and adequate meeting facilities for each participant. From there, you can set up effective protocols to guide participants through the online meeting process and allow participants to participate in productive discussions.
Make this content sure that each agenda item is associated with a conversational objective like “decide on an action item” or “spark ideas.” This will allow you to move on from the topic to be discussed as soon as your desired result has been reached and avoid overstaying your session. Setting a time limit on each topic will ensure that the meeting is kept moving.
Start with the most important items on your agenda. In board meetings that are held in person it is possible to recognize body language cues that indicate the other members have something important to say. But, these are harder to discern during remote meetings. Begin by focusing on the most important issues to ensure that everyone is engaged in the discussion and feels their time was spent well.
Use the consent agenda to save time for more controversial discussions which may not have as much of an impact on the organisation. Members can vote on non-controversial items before the meeting starts, so you can concentrate on the most important issues. You might consider inviting experts to present short presentations or insights which can broaden the board’s perspectives and help prevent groupthink.