Ask Me A Question – How can I get my board members to attend meetings in person?

A nonprofit Board Chair asked me how she might be able to get the Board Members back to having board meetings in person. She stated that several are still Zooming into the meetings, and this is limiting the effectiveness of much needed strategic discussion.

This is an interesting challenge I suspect most nonprofit organizations are facing right now (many of my clients are).

Video Meetings
The convenience of video conferencing technology allows those who might not be able or willing to attend a Board meeting in person the opportunity to do so.  So this is good.  Video meetings, with the right person facilitating, can be engaging and effective (but they shouldn’t last longer than 90 minutes…and this may be pushing it), but there is the challenge of keeping people from multitasking (looking down to check text messages is a regular occurrence).

So video meetings do have a few advantages.

In-person Meetings
In-person meetings allow people to engage in discussions at a deeper and broader level.  Communicating in person is, well, more personal.  In-person meetings allow board members to develop relationships with each other and with the CEO.  In-person meetings are typically more fun.

Hybrid Meetings
DON’T DO THESE!!!!  THESE ARE A NIGHTMARE.  Even with the best of technology, these are nearly impossible to keep everyone engaged and attentive.

So what might you do?

First, Board meetings should either be all in-person or should be all virtual.  Hybrid should not be an option.

Second, you may want to alternate between in-person and virtual, and leave strategic discussions for the in-person meetings.

Third, have a strategy and a reasoning for the approach you choose.

This is what I shared with my client knowing she really needed to have every board member attend meetings in person:

 

1) Explain to the board members the “Why” behind needing to meet in person. Example: We need to have very important conversations in the year ahead. These discussions will require everyone’s focus, attention and most importantly, participation. As was discussed at the retreat, we need to be unified. To facilitate these discussions, and to make them meaningful, we really need to meet as a group in person.

2) Plan ahead and tell them how this will move forward. For example, you can meet in person only (no Zoom option) every other meeting, or you can go straight into meeting in person for every meeting.

3) Call each board member individually to explain your reasoning and to gain their support. Explain that attendance and participation at board meetings is critical to the organization’s success.

4) Have darn good meetings so people want to attend! Make sure the in person meetings are engaging and strategic so that everyone will want to come back.