Considering your board meeting options? Here’s how to decide what’s right for your organization

What you need to know

* When your member organization is considering your board meeting options, there are a number of things to consider, two key things to take into account are the logistics of the meetings, and the overall perception of your organization.

* Virtual and hybrid meetings are now very common and are seen as cost-effective, flexible and convenient.

* DirectVoteLive software allows member organizations of any size to securely conduct official voting during board and committee meetings.

 

The state of member organizations has been completely upended over the past several years. Organizations that ran in-person board meetings for decades were suddenly forced to take their meetings virtual. For many, this was a revelation and a long-time coming – with many board members appreciating they can now participate from anywhere it’s convenient. Other organizations happily welcomed the opportunity to once again gather for in-person meetings.

There is no right or wrong way to run a board meeting – just the way that works best for your organization and board members.

As your organization navigates the future of board meetings and having a backup plan in the event you’re not able to meet as originally planned, here are some things to consider:

 

Virtual meetings

Virtual board meetings have now become very common. They are seen as a convenient option, organizations embracing them are often viewed as innovative, flexible and cost conscious. There are no limits to the number of participants, the staff support level is minimal and logistics are simple. All you need to run a successful virtual board meeting is a reliable internet connection and a little technical know-how.

In-person meetings

Once the staple of board service, in-person meetings have slowly taken the backseat, as remote work is becoming a norm in the modern workplace.  Requiring board members to be at meetings in person is a traditional mindset and can be seen as status quo. In-person board meetings can be cost effective if you have an existing space that can hold all participants. If you need to rent a space, or have large numbers of participants that require utilizing multiple staff members to handle logistics, in-person meetings can be expensive.

Hybrid meetings

Hybrid meetings offer participants the option to participate either in-person or virtually, often seen as the “best of both worlds.” The logistics can be more complicated and support staff is required for both the in-person and virtual elements, but if your organization is trying to maximize participation, hybrid meetings are worth the consideration.

Regardless of how your organization chooses to administer board meetings, you’ll need to prioritize security, and a tried and trusted process.

More than 220 member organizations rely on DirectVoteLive to conduct secure, official votes in real-time during virtual or hybrid meetings of any size. More than 234,000 official votes have been cast using DirectVoteLive in virtual, in-person or hybrid meetings. No matter the format, organizations are seeing high engagement in these meetings, with nearly 50 percent of participating members invited to cast their virtual vote during a meeting vote. Enabling member organizations to hold inclusive and engaging elections is why we do what we do.

DirectVoteLive is the ideal voting system for board meetings. Each host has a personalized dashboard for every meeting to quickly take roll call, begin the meeting and open voting for action items. Action items can be added in real time and reviewed and modified simply. Administrators can quickly move between groups or committees within the organization.

Only board members with credentialed access can be admitted to the meeting to cast their vote. Secure, official votes can be cast from anywhere, using any device. DirectVoteLive encrypts data at every stage of the process with 24/7 monitoring and intrusion prevention.

If you’re searching for a way to offer the convenience of hybrid or online board meetings while maintaining safe, secure, official board and committee votes, DirectVoteLive works for you. Have questions? Contact us any time, we’re here to help. Still considering? Here are what some of our clients have to say about us!

“We had more people participate in the electronic voting than we did with in-person; that’s success to us! The fact that we’re doing it again even when we can have an in-person meeting and don’t have to have an electronic option says how satisfied we are with the process.”