As the coronavirus epidemic gets worse, nonprofit boards will need to work harder to generate community support and work together. In addition, with the majority of board members working remotely due to social distancing suggestions, establishing effective online board communications is crucial.

Virtual meetings are synchronous, making it difficult to get board members involved. Meeting organizers should design an environment that encourages participation. Using software for virtual boardrooms that has built-in features, like instant messaging, document management and conferencing, is a method to achieve this.

It’s important to give all pertinent documents to participants in advance when a conference is held in a virtual environment. This will corporate governance ensure that everyone is seeing the same document and eliminate confusion during the meeting. It is also recommended to use a platform which is reliable and secure. Free video conferencing tools like Skype, for instance, may not be as secure as paid ones that come with more advanced security features like password protection and encryption.

Another way to improve the effectiveness of virtual meetings is to set expectations at the beginning of each session and make sure that the attendees are aware of the correct protocol for communicating. Also, meeting organizers should periodically check in with remote attendees to see whether they have any questions or comments.