It is crucial to create an organization that keeps the discussion focused and productive when holding a remote board meeting. This is simpler when meeting participants have an agenda in place that guides them at all times. It’s also helpful to provide the agenda along with any related documents to attendees ahead of time via a secure online portal where they can note down notes and add items to the agenda and review them before the meeting starts.
Another way to ensure a successful remote board meeting is to minimize distractions as much as possible. Attendees should ideally take the meeting in a quiet space, such as a office or at home. This reduces the likelihood that they’ll lose focus and miss important issues that are being discussed during the call.
It’s also a good idea to ask participants to turn off their microphones when not speaking, in order to reduce distracting background noise. Also, the person who takes minutes must keep a record of every motion verbatim as well as who made the move and who voted for it. This is essential to maintaining a clear record of the meeting which can be used for reference or legal purposes years afterward.
It’s also important to stick to the time limitations you set for each item on the agenda to avoid the meeting dragging unnecessarily. You can further encourage efficient meeting processes by encouraging participants to use a parking lot for ad-hoc topics so that they don’t derail the main discussion.
Betty Wainstock
Sócia-diretora da Ideia Consumer Insights. Pós-doutorado em Comunicação e Cultura pela UFRJ, PHD em Psicologia pela PUC. Temas: Tecnologias, Comunicação e Subjetividade. Graduada em Psicologia pela UFRJ. Especializada em Planejamento de Estudos de Mercado e Geração de Insights de Comunicação.