As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic forced boards of directors and their committees to move from in-person meetings to an online setting.

In some ways, that change has been great. Meeting online can save board members’ valuable time and make meetings more convenient. However, we’ve seen that meeting exclusively online has also hurt many boards’ cultures and it's been harder for board members to make human connections with each other.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a few key tips to help your board strengthen the effectiveness of its virtual meetings. While many of the sources we reference deal specifically with board meetings, the tips described can apply to most virtual meetings.

1. Establish Your Board’s Virtual Meeting Etiquette

We all know some of the common rules of etiquette for in-person meetings. Show up on time. Raise your hand to speak. Stay present and refrain from getting distracted by your cell phone.

Virtual meetings, however, are somewhat new and we’re all figuring out the best rules for these meetings. Some common pieces of virtual meeting etiquette include:

• Having your camera on.

• Keeping yourself muted unless it’s time to speak.

• Dress appropriately.

• Stay aware of your background (a wall is the best bet).

• No meals during meetings.

• Use verbal cues in lieu of body language.

Other important etiquette factors could include engagement with one another. How will participants ask questions? Should they use the chat or raise their hands? Do they wait until the end or can they interrupt? Having these expectations set at the beginning will help the virtual meeting flow more smoothly and reduce wasted time.

Whatever etiquette guidelines you choose to adopt, clearly communicate them and make sure you keep people accountable to the standards. Otherwise they might start to slip through the cracks, leaving a potential for distractions and less effective dialogue.

2. Create the Space for Connections

In-person board meetings offer a chance for board members to come together and develop their relationships with each other. Before and after the meeting, board members might strike up conversations, but in virtual meetings, that can be harder to replicate

A couple of simple things you can do to promote the connections among your board in these meetings are to:

• Conduct a meeting ice-breaker so that board members can get to know one another better. If you Google “virtual meeting ice breakers” you’ll find a number of great resources. Here’s one that we like.

• Provide board members with an option to join the meeting for up to a half-hour ahead of time just to connect and talk amongst themselves. We’ve seen this approach work great in advance of strategic planning meetings. Some of our customers use this time to share a virtual cocktail or break bread with each other, making the meeting time much more enjoyable.

3. Invest in the Right Technology

At this point, you’re probably aware of some of the most popular technology for virtual meetings. Most board members have become comfortable using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or other remote conferencing platforms.

There are other resources that integrate with these platforms to enhance the meeting experience. Collaboration tools like LucidChart, Jamboard, or Miro are all great for nonprofit work because they allow the team to work together on visually represented concepts or ideas. Team members can share charts or diagrams to show data, and others can make changes or suggestions in real time.

There are other tools out there, like Otter, that will record and take meeting notes. And other applications, like Krisp, that will enhance the sound quality of your meeting.

As remote meetings continue to rise, the technology will likely become more sophisticated, but whatever tools you use, make sure the whole board knows how to use them to get the most out of the experience.

4. Remember Regular Board Meeting Best Practices

Bad meetings are notorious time wasters, and board members don’t have much time to waste. With that in mind, be sure to implement common meeting best practices so that they are most effective. Here are some resources to help you with those practices.

• We wrote an article about the power of setting outcomes-based meeting agendas. Here is a sample meeting agenda that we reference in that article.

• The Council of Nonprofits has a great list of ten best practices for in-person board meetings that can also be applied to virtual ones.

• Here is a list of the top 10 nonprofit board meeting mistakes to avoid.

Closing Thoughts

At the end of the day, virtual board meetings shouldn’t be less effective than your in-person ones. They’re just happening over the phone or video conferencing software. We hope that the tips we’ve provided here will help you in your efforts to create more productive and engaging virtual board meetings.