The quality of your board meeting depends on the amount of work that members complete prior to every meeting. Online meetings can be more productive and efficient if participants prepare. A well-prepared team is also more likely to stick to the agenda and ensure that they aren’t distracted by an unrelated tangent.

It is important to establish clear expectations for remote board members on how they are expected to participate in meetings. It is best, for instance to remind the participants to turn off their phones when speaking, and only speak when asked to do so. This will stop people from talking over one another or leaving the meeting without feeling heard. It’s also crucial for the convener to ask participants for assistance with a technical issue prior to beginning.

It’s also helpful to include the rules for meetings that are virtual in the board member’s orientation materials so that everyone has a clear understanding of what’s required of them prior, during, and following the meeting. It’s important, for example, to send out the agenda prior to the meeting and to follow up the day or morning before to confirm the details. You can also give the Zoom or meeting link to the participants and remind them about any other preferences that you may have (such https://protectednetwork.org/ as asking them to listen to the meeting from a quiet area to minimize distractions). It is recommended to include a placeholder to an executive session to every item on the agenda and include it at the start of the meeting to avoid confusion.