Challenges of Conducting a Board Meeting Online

Online board meetings provide better scheduling options. They reduce the time and cost constraints of travel, and eliminate the time constraints associated with flights and hotels. They also expand the diversity of board members and help ward off groupthink. The virtual world comes with its own challenges that can result in unproductive meetings.

Switching from in-person meetings to virtual meetings requires a shift in the manner boards communicate and operate. Many of the components that facilitate communication during meetings in person such as a physical board book and digital presentations, as well sharing documents, need to be recreated for an online board meeting. This can be a challenge for board members who aren’t familiar with the technology. The use of a basic board software program helps to streamline the process, but additional training on the tool could be required for board members to be successful.

Engaging and maximizing productivity is another challenge when conducting an online board session. The constant distraction of new discussion topics can eat up time and distract from the most important things on the agenda. A schedule with 20 percent less items, and breaking discussions into 15-minute increments could aid in reducing this issue. In addition, establishing an online discussion forum that is based on new topics can be beneficial.

It is also crucial that remote participants be able to see faces of the attendees in-room. This can be accomplished by removing backgrounds or moving participants away from lighting in windows that like it could glare onto the screen and obscure images for other board members. Eliminating distractions like cell phones and other devices can aid in focusing the participants on the discussion.