Despite the current epidemic, nonprofit boards must still meet regularly to take decisions. Virtual meetings are an easy solution that improves the efficiency of board members and increases their involvement. But these online meetings aren’t without issues. Some board members might not be comfortable with the latest technology, while others may not have the technical skills.
Virtual meetings can also lead to an inability to motivate and focus, especially during long meetings. Attendees suffer from “zoom fatigue” and can easily get distracted by other things on their screens. It is essential to keep https://boardroomtx.com/sponsoring-vs-mentoring/ meetings short in order to avoid this. Be sure to clearly communicate the agenda and encourage participants to take part in the discussion. You can also make use of polls and questions to keep the attention of the audience.
The inability to see body language or facial expressions is another challenge of virtual board meetings. This could affect the level of engagement among board members as well as the effectiveness of the meeting. To prevent this from happening board members must be encouraged to take a break and watch a video during the meeting so they can discern non-verbal signals that their peers are sending to them.
Other issues include the difficulty in recording and distributing minutes of board meetings. It is crucial to capture the entire meeting to ensure that no board members are not able to attend. This also allows for future boards to review previous decisions and understand the rationale behind a particular decision. It is best to utilize a board management tool which provides a central repository of all meeting materials as well as historical.
