From Boardroom to Virtual Room: How to Make Virtual Board Meetings Effective?

          At present, any director would probably have attended virtual meeting through Zoom, MS Team, Webex or other electronic platforms adopted by their organizations to accommodate work form home or remote working.  Virtual meeting has become normal practice for most organizations nowadays.

          Long and complicated Board meeting preparation process involving appointment coordination of directors, preparation of location, food, beverage, meeting documents, travelling (allowing extra time during rush hours) have now become issues of the past.  The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively forced the transformation of in-person Board meeting into Board virtual meeting.

          Since many directors are still not familiar with discussing, considering, and making decision online, this Boardroom article offers eight practical guidelines for directors to ensure smooth and effective virtual board meeting. 

1.      Connect board members to the mission

Most Boards meet quarterly or bi-monthly.  The long period of in-between meetings may make some directors feel like they do not belong to the organization.  With virtual Board meeting that each director stays at different location, they could feel even more alienated.  Thus, there should be more communication to reiterate the organization’s missions as well as duties of the Board.  This will make them feel like playing the part in driving the organization to achieve its missions.  Playing a short video clip about the missions and past performances of the organization is a fair technique to kick off the meeting with a decent, lively and enthusiastically tone.   It would also help directors review and adjust their working mode to ask question, analyze, and express views under the same scope of missions.

2.     Onboard new members virtually

With virtual work method and online meeting, newly appointed directors may feel alienated.  This is particularly the case for directors who have not been introduced to other fellow directors or do not know other directors well.  Thus, there should be an online orientation for new director as well as special online sessions for the director to discuss with the Chairman, other directors, and Board coordinators prior to official Board meeting.  A Board buddy could also be arranged in the initial stage to provide the new director with useful guidance in performing the role as member of the Board.

3.     Schedule shorter and more-frequent meetings

Lengthy online meeting could make directors feel exhausted.  Therefore, three-hours long quarterly or bi-monthly Board meeting could be divided into 1.5-2.0 hours meeting every six weeks.  Doing so will prevent excessively long meeting and allow the Board to conduct meetings more often.

4.     Minimize reporting and maximize discussion

A good design is essential to create effective Board engagement in virtual meeting.  For instance, a board packet can be arranged as pre-record information sent to directors ahead of the meeting to communicate key information with Board members in advance.  This can reduce number of slides being presented at the Board meeting while directors can emphasize more on consideration and decision-making parts.  Any meeting should consider, discuss and decide only 2-3 issues to ensure maximum efficiency. 

5.     Make sure everyone gets a chance to speak

With shorter meeting time and long list of agenda, some directors may not get the chance to express their views.  To ensure all directors have opportunity to present their opinions, the Chairman should prepare in advance a checklist of directors attending the meeting and able to see all participants on the screen (for example, set Gallery View in Zoom) to ensure that all directors have been invited to share their views.

6.     Make the most of virtual tools to boost participation

Virtual tools like Breakout Rooms allow directors  to fully  express  their views in small groups before proposing them to the main meeting room.  Discussion could be as brief as 15 minutes or so to brainstorm.  Polls can bring about more potential solutions than mere vote while Chat Box also allows directors to instantly respond to queries, bring up issues, or ask questions  without disrupting the speaking directors.  The three virtual tools could initiate Board engagement, enhance connection among directors, and generate more input.

7.     Take charge when conflict erupts

Different views and arguments are common at meetings.  The Chairman is obliged to control the meeting to avoid negative conflicts.  However, it is more difficult for the Chairman to control virtual Board meeting because each director cannot observe body language of each other, which could easily lead to misunderstanding.  In case a conflict appears to be uncontrollable or escalate,  the Chairman should use available function of the system to control misbehaved directors or asking them to temporarily leave the meeting and calm themselves at the online lobby before rejoining the meeting. 

8.     Organize social events outside meetings to foster relationships

Occasionally, directors may want to get to know and meet with other directors in less formal environment.  For example, the U.S.  National AIDS Memorial arranged monthly “water cooler session” for directors to meet without any specific agenda.  Directors were curious at first about the purpose but the session eventually fostered firm and positive relationship among directors.

          In the era that core operations are conducted online, these guidelines could be quite challenging for directors who familiar with conventional meeting to try adopting new methods.  However, it would not be too difficult if all directors share similar goal to make every Board meetings effective for the benefit of the organization and its stakeholders.   Even after COVID-19 outbreak eventually eases, virtual Board meeting will still be an alternative playing a greater role in replacing in-person meeting.  Hybrid meeting, a combine of virtual and in-person meetings, could also become a new meeting format option.  This is a fine time for directors to learn and prepare for post-pandemic work environment.

                                                                                          Ratanapat Yaowabut
                                                                                                    Senior CG Specialist
Thai Institute of Directors (IOD)

Source: Modified from “Leading Boards in a Virtual World”, Stanford Social Innovation Review, by Mark Zitter & Jon Huggett, March 17, 2021