Virtual Board Meetings are a great alternative to face-to-face meetings. They can be an adaptable and efficient method for non-profit organizations to interact with their board members and directors. The transition from face-to-face meetings to virtual meetings is not without difficulties. To ensure a productive, engaging and effective board meeting, non-profit leaders should adhere to a few guidelines to ensure that things run smoothly.

Keep the focus of the meeting on the agenda.

In a virtual meeting, it's easy to get off topic or lose interest in the discussion. It's important that participants stay focused on the agenda and that the board members don't wander too far from the content. It's also helpful for organizations to record their virtual meetings and distribute minutes of meetings after each meeting has ended.

Increase Attendee Engagement

It's crucial that non-profits maintain high levels of engagement with board members when transitioning to a virtual meeting format. Meetings can be tense and awkward when attendees struggle to connect with each others via a digital platform. To avoid this from happening, it's crucial that the chairman of the board set a certain tone and atmosphere for each meeting and establish rules regarding participation and communication.

Avoiding the dreaded "zoom fatigue” is one of the biggest challenges when it concerns virtual meetings. Meetings that are too long make participants feel exhausted and disconnected from each other. To reduce the duration of an online meeting and help attendees remain engaged it is vital that presenters read their slides and videos prior the meeting starts and encourage attendees to take short breaks between sessions.