What are virtual board meetings?

Virtual board meetings are an excellent way to keep your board connected and up-to-date on your company’s progress, without having to spend excessive amounts of time and money traveling. They allow for real-time communication and collaboration between all members of the board, regardless of their location. This is a great option for businesses that have a remote team and superiors located in different parts of the world.

To organize a formal business meeting most effectively, special equipment and online board software for video conferencing are a must-have. So in this post, we’d like to focus on virtual board meetings and the most useful tools for holding them. Let’s dive right in!

Board meetings are a necessary part of any organization, whether it’s a for-profit company, a non-profit, or even a school board. They provide an opportunity for the board to come together and discuss various business issues. The agenda for the meeting is set ahead of time by the president or chair of the board and typically includes reports from officers and committee chairs. Board members should come prepared to contribute to the discussion and vote on important decisions.

Not so long ago, board meetings were held in neat conference rooms gathering all superiors around the table. But these days they’ve moved to virtual rooms.

According to Owl Labs, 62% of employees aged 22 to 65 say they work remotely most of the time, while 16% of international enterprises claim that they are 100% remote, having no office or headquarters.

During the time of social restrictions, online meetings remain a crucial way to keep a business running smoothly. By using special video conferencing software, remote teams can connect with their teammates and board members in a virtual meeting room without any hassle. This is a perfect solution that allows sharing updates, discussing strategies, and making important decisions without having to travel.

What are the benefits of holding board meetings online?

In fact, many international organizations got used to arranging video conferences since they have partners and customers from different parts of the world. So what benefits do they see in this type of communication?

• Low time and money consumption

For starters, it’s a great way to save time and money. Board members can attend meetings from anywhere in the world, which means there’s no need for everyone to travel to one location and rent rooms for holding sessions.

• Higher level of engagement

In addition, online meetings allow board members to participate in real-time, which makes it easier for everyone to stay on track, engage in a conversation, and address important issues as they come up, without wasting time.

• More convenient planning

Modern services support the integration with calendars that allows for synchronizing work schedules and planning online events taking into account the difference in time zones and work hours of every participant. For example, Whoosh offers its users to try a smart scheduling assistant that syncs with the calendar and automatically suggests the best time for an online meeting.

• Better efficiency and productivity

Finally, online meetings create a more efficient and productive working environment. All board members can view and discuss a meeting agenda ahead of time. This helps them to come prepared and save time on conferences to devote to what matters more.

3 biggest challenges of virtual board meetings

Despite being a highly convenient and sometimes the only way for superiors to keep in touch with each other, there are a number of challenges that come with virtual board meetings.

• Are you here?

One of the biggest challenges is making sure everyone is on the same page. This can be difficult when people are spread out geographically, and it’s hard to get a sense of everyone’s mood and engagement.

• Have a minute?

Online conferences can be more time-consuming since everyone needs to be on call and there is often more back-and-forth discussion. It often happens that users waste much time waiting till everyone enters the meeting. Another problem is the internet connection. If someone faces any problems with it, everyone else has to wait till the connection is restored.

• Is it true?

Finally, it can be harder to build trust and rapport in a virtual setting. When people work remotely, there is little chance they meet their colleagues in reality. This problem usually leads to distrust, anxiety, and stress. This problem can be easily solved with more frequent video calls, for example with Whoosh. This app is aimed at fighting video call fatigue and making online meetings comfortable for everyone.

How can you make virtual board meetings work for your organization?

Now, when you’re aware of the major benefits and challenges of online meetings with board members, it’s time to come up with a perfect plan that will certainly help you organize only successful and productive meetings on the web.

How about video conferencing with Whoosh?

What if you could have a face-to-face meeting with anyone, anywhere in the world without having to worry about the way you look, the way you talk, and the way you work?

With Whoosh, you can! This brand-new video conferencing platform makes it easy to host high-quality virtual meetings with superiors and other types of online events.

What’s more, we believe that video conferencing isn’t just for large businesses. Whether you’re a small business trying to expand into new markets or an individual looking for a more efficient way to stay connected, Whoosh will help you set up only fruitful conferences that are just as productive as in-person meetings.

Its key features:

• Full-HD video with outstanding audio for a high-quality connection
• Audio splitting for talking in groups
• Weatherman layouts for interactive presentations
• Touch-up tools, photorealistic avatars, AR masks for a professional look
• Conference calls with up to 500 participants for large-scale events
• Virtual backgrounds for changing plain white walls into a stylish office space
• 100% free plan for giving a shot to fantastic AI features

If you want to make a bigger impression on your virtual board meetings, then you need Whoosh! Our audio and video conferencing platform will make sure your ideas are heard loud and clear, no matter where your fellow directors are located. Try it out for free today and see for yourself how much of an impact you can make with Whoosh!