Board meetings require so much preparation and effort to make them successful. And by measuring its success, board meetings must be effective in terms of communication, deliberation, resolutions, and actions. The board must be able to accomplish their duties in the meeting, along with the administrative staff assisting to prepare and document the meeting.
With the situation that the global pandemic has left, board meetings are now conducted via virtual platforms. However, going virtual may cause inefficiencies in the board processes, as most board members may not be familiar with the innovative tools. This calls for solutions, such as board portals, that can help escalate the efficiency and effectiveness of board meetings.
How can board portals help in streamlining board meeting processes?
The transition to virtual meetings may have posed challenges for boards in conducting their meetings. This may have resulted in unnecessary steps within the entire meeting process, making it more complicated to hold board meetings. Board portals are board management solutions that can help simplify meeting processes.
Cost-Effective Board Pack Creation
Building agendas or board packs is a crucial step in organizing a board meeting. Administrative staff or corporate secretaries often consume a lot of time to develop and circulate these meeting packs. There is a need to finalize the agenda in a PDF file with the attached pertinent documents. Sending these packs must be done through email, requiring administrators to commit fewer last-minute changes.
Fortunately, board portals have features that can help develop agenda packs instantly. Meeting organizers can now easily attach the needed documents within the board pack. With the additional features of a board portal, meeting participants and time duration can also be added per agenda item. Moreover, meeting organizers can make sure that last-minute changes are communicated to the meeting participants, no matter how many they can be.
Instant Scheduling of Meetings
Apart from developing effective board packs, administrators also find it difficult to invite participants and schedule meetings. Some administrators have to send the invitation twice just to make sure that the members have received it. With a board portal, organizers can now experience the ease of scheduling meetings while ensuring that the board has received the meeting invitation.
Engaging Presentation During Meetings
One of the problems in remote board meetings is the decreased interaction of the board members. Video conferencing platforms offer limited tools for presentation. While screen-sharing can help in discussing agenda points, this may not be enough to communicate each one’s opinion.
Board portals have live presentation tools that can aid in better board meetings. Laser pointers are specifically helpful for presenting reports during meetings. Live annotations can help in highlighting and noting important parts in the documents. Furthermore, conducting meetings with a board portal is more convenient, as it is hassle-free to switch presenters during the live meeting.
Efficient Voting and Tabulation of Results
Board meetings are conducted often to address resolutions. Board members have to vote on matters for the welfare of the board and the direction of the company. Voting through virtual meetings is a challenge, as there are only limited tools that can accommodate the confidentiality of the resolutions and the method to conduct voting.
Smart solutions like board portals can empower security and transparency on voting matters. Board members can vote quickly and securely for agenda items that need resolutions. Results are instantly tabulated upon voting — upholding transparency and accountability in board meetings.
Convenient Minutes-Taking and Distribution
Secretaries in charge of taking meeting minutes have found it difficult to view the screen for the meeting and take notes using another application simultaneously. In addition, they may miss out on some notes from the meeting. Without the help of the meeting recording, it will be hard to retrieve the discussion points, notes, and resolutions at the live meeting.
Board portals have minutes-takers that can include all the annotations, notes, and action items made during the meeting in a pre-defined template. Such minute-takers are helpful for secretaries or administrators, as they can take notes within the board portal — no need to switch to another note-taking application. Board portals also allow editing of the minutes template before distributing it to the meeting participants.
Tracking of Action Items
The board meeting process does not end after the circulation of the meeting minutes. During the meeting, directors might call for another meeting with the same agenda, or even assign tasks for board members. In the current situation, reminding directors and executives of their action items can be done by emailing them individually. A similar way goes for tracking their progress.
Through a board portal, easily track the assignment and progress of action items. No need to send emails repeatedly to directors and executives for their tasks. Using the same board management software, people involved can be notified of their assignments and update the status accordingly.
Leverage Meeting Processes with a Secure One-Stop Platform
Due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, board members and meeting organizers have resorted to inefficient ways to get through virtual board meetings. However, boards must adjust to the fast-paced world of technology while adjusting post-pandemic. Solutions such as board portals can hit two birds with one stone — allowing innovation within the board while coping with social distancing measures. Moreover, board portals are made to empower efficiency and security of board meeting processes.