The planning of an online board meeting is crucial to successful meetings, a strong engagement of the board and the quality of minutes from meetings. These tips will help organize your next virtual meeting and ensure that it’s efficient and productive.

Create an agenda that reflects the goals of your meeting, like to inform, gather information, or reach a decision. This will help to guide the conversation and assist your chairperson in controlling speed of the discussion. Also, make sure to include a maximum talk time for each topic and speaker to keep the discussion going and stop the discussion from getting lost in.

The meeting should be scheduled at the time that works for all participants. This will board evaluation questionnaire enable them to participate more easily in the discussion and ensure that the quorum that is necessary for voting and democracy is present. It is also important to consider the time zones of everyone in the room and provide them with the necessary tools to facilitate a smooth discussion.

Recruit a staff person to act as a timekeeper and oversee the duration of each discussion and ensure scheduled meeting times are adhered to. This will increase accountability for board members and maintain productivity. It’s also recommended to ask members and directors to dress in business attire during the meeting to keep away from distracting lighting or clothing which can cause issues when recorded.

Invite or require everyone to use video during meetings to boost engagement. This will also allow them to gauge the body language of their fellow attendees. This will also help create the spirit of collaboration and build trust.