Online board meetings provide better scheduling options, alleviating the time constraints caused by travel and cost restrictions from flights and hotels. They also expand the diversity of board members and can help to prevent groupthink. However, the digital world has its own challenges, which could lead to less-than-effective meetings.

To transition from meetings in person to virtual ones, boards should alter their communication and collaborate. In order to facilitate communication in an online meeting, many of the elements that are used during an in-person board meeting must be recreated. This includes a physical boardbook, digital presentation, and sharing documents. It can be difficult for board members to navigate technology. The use of a basic board software program can help streamline the process, but additional training on the tool could be needed to ensure the success of board members.

Engaging the audience and keeping it productive is another problem when conducting an online board session. Distracted by the latest topics of discussion can eat up your time and distract you from the most important agenda items. This can be reduced by preparing an agenda with 20 percent less items, and breaking the discussion into 15-minute segments. A discussion forum for the latest issues can also be useful.

It is also important that remote participants can be able to see faces of my blog the attendees in-room. This can be achieved by avoiding backgrounds or removing them from light sources that can reflect on the screen and obscure images for other board members. Eliminating distractions like cell phones and other devices will also aid in focusing the participants on the discussion.