Effective virtual participation is vital to the success of meetings for nonprofit boards. Gathering board members of nonprofits in person isn’t always possible, so savvy meeting facilitation and detailed records are crucial to ensure that online meetings run smoothly.
To keep the discussion focused and focused, establish clear talk times for each action item and allow only one person to speak at a time. It’s also helpful to provide an online video prior to the meeting so that presenters are able to narrate their slides to attendees, which saves time and helps reduce distractions.
A remote meeting can be a challenge to run because it’s hard to discern when participants are expressing something they want to share. It’s difficult to discern social signals in a video call, but encouraging open discussion and allowing for dissent is crucial to the success of your nonprofit.
It’s crucial to have enough details to make informed decisions. It’s therefore important to provide a comprehensive report of the meeting in a minutes. Minutes can be used to document the decision-making processes which can be useful for board members who are absent or in the event of a legal challenge. Your minutes should be precise and clear. The person taking the minutes should not include any information that might be considered to be private, such as opinions, voting or off-the record discussions. This article offers seven tips on how to host an online board meeting that leads to effective decisions for your non-profit.