Four Tips for Excellent Virtual Board Meetings
COVID-19 forced us to rethink how we operate. Nonprofits shifted their programs, fundraisers, and services overnight to adapt to the new reality. The pandemic also forced nonprofit boards to meet virtually. Rapid change is hard but the good news is, board meetings are extremely adaptable to the virtual setting. Here are four tips to make your next meeting a success.
Freshen up your virtual meetings skills
You may feel like you spend all day in virtual meetings, but that isn’t the case for everyone. Set your meetings up for success by asking board members to freshen up their virtual meeting skills before the meeting so you don’t spend a bunch of time messing around with connectivity issues. Send out an email before the meeting asking board members to visit one of these links to learn more. Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams
“Hey Everyone! To set us up for success with our call we want you to have all the tools you need to access the meeting! Please check out this link for quick and easy video tutorials!”
2. Share your screen
Get comfortable with the share screen function and use it to its full advantage! Email everyone the meeting documents beforehand so that they have a copy, then share each document as you go through the meeting. Welcome everyone with the agenda open. Time for the finance report? Share it for easy of access. Make sure to pay attention to the font size of your document while sharing so that you know everyone can read the content.
Go the extra mile and have all your documents open and ready in easy to locate tabs, that way you won’t waste meeting time searching for that one report.
3. Take notes on a Word of Google Doc
I don’t know about you but my office is filled with giant plats of poster paper. I love the kind that already has the adhesive at the top. I also have my preferred poster markers. These products are wholly unused in a virtual world, however. If you are engaging in brainstorming or another discussion that requires note-taking bypass the notes function on Zoom or other platforms and use a Word or Google Doc instead.
This tip is important for two reasons, 1. Sorry to the virtual meeting platforms but those functions don’t work well. And 2. If you take notes using Google Docs or Word you can easily save the information for later. Pull up a blank document, share your screen, and away you go!
4. Utilize the extra features.
Does your board typically break into committee work? Do you have a large board where you need to manage communication effectively and in a timely manner? Make sure to utilize all the functions of the virtual meeting platforms to aid in your work. Committee meetings? Breakout rooms. A large board where you can’t take the time to hear everyone’s thoughts on a topic? Polls!
Know what features you need and take a look at your settings before the meetings to ensure you’ve enabled all the necessary functions.
With a little careful planning, your board meetings can be as successful virtually as they are in person. Who knows, maybe you will find out that offering meetings virtually allows you to welcome members from farther away.
If you need help setting up your meetings for success, contact Spark Group today for a free 30-Min consultation!
⭐ Join our weekly newsletter where we share tons of exclusive tips, tools, grant opportunities, and resources to our subscribers. Subscribe on the Spark Group home page.
