Due to the difficulties companies around the world encountered during COVID-19, they began to adapt to the new environment and discovered many new possibilities. For example, some boards are now using virtual meeting software. These solutions can be used on a completely remote or hybrid basis and are now more helpful than ever in keeping boards communicating and working. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the concept of a board portal.
What are board portals?
Virtual meeting software, or as they are also called board portals, are special software solutions that are designed to effectively run a board of directors. These solutions help in preparation for the upcoming meeting, during the meeting, and after the meeting, supporting all participants throughout the process. These tools facilitate the work of many employees by automating the preparation process and allow meetings to be set up remotely with advanced conferencing and collaboration features. On top of that, they offer a high level of security and protection. You can publish all relevant meeting materials and reports in the space and discuss them via chat or video conferencing, all while keeping them completely confidential.
Benefits of virtual board meetings
Certainly, remote meetings carry with them tangible benefits. You don’t have to spend time and money to travel or even fly to the place of the meeting, because you know that board members can often be on business trips or live on the other side of the world.
Also, board portal users note that using such tools presents all meeting participants as equals. Everyone has the same time to speak, interrupting during a conference call is difficult, and no one else feels like they’ve gotten the worst seat in the room.
Board portals also promote more productive and efficient meetings. During live meetings, the board could go on for endless hours, and whiteboard portals help to have shorter weekly meetings in which attendees can ask questions for one week and then have time to think about the problem so they can conclude the next week’s discussion with an adequate solution.
Board portals present voting features for faster resolution and other useful collaborative features.
New skills, new behaviors, and finding the right support
New technology is a word with a positive connotation, but if you don’t know how to use it properly, you can quickly become frustrated. Simplicity and ease of use are something board portal providers are constantly working on and trying to make as clear as possible, but we’ll still give you some tips on how best to use a board portal before, during, and after an online board meeting:
- Never share sensitive data via email unless your board portal has been optimized for secure collaboration with it
- Invitation links to the videoconference can be sent out using special technology within the program, not email, this is to avoid unauthorized entry
- Publish the agenda in advance in the program space, others will see it immediately as they will be notified and can better prepare for the meeting
- Use a safe messaging space instead of a video conference chat room
- Set up space for your meeting to have breaks, for example, 50 minutes of meeting and 10 minutes of breaks
- Involve even the quietest participants in the meeting in the discussion by voting