As we approach our fourth month in lockdown, remote meeting fatigue is setting in. The distractions and inefficiencies of live meetings have disappeared, forcing us to maintain a new kind of working stamina and leaving many dreading the next calendar invite. And yet this new way of working is here to stay, so what are the positives?

The shift to remote meetings at any organisational level presents an opportunity to break unhelpful habits and run more focused and productive meetings which, in turn, will make your board, leadership and wider business decisions more focused and productive.

That said, there are some roadblocks requiring navigation first. It is worth tackling these now to maintain effective meetings, decisions and outcomes moving forward.

It all starts with putting the right technology in place

• One version of the truth. 'The downsides of working over email, Sharepoint and similar collaboration tools is that documents are not secure, nor are they available offline. It is also extremely difficult to maintain a single version of the truth. Ensuring everyone has last-minute amendments and is looking at the same page or chart is now much trickier. Specialist digital tools built to support meetings are the hygiene factor to thriving remotely.
• Secure your meeting. This extraordinary situation leaves us more vulnerable to malicious actors. The more tools you use, the more risks you face, and usually the more cost. Consider platforms which simplify and centralise, combining functionalities you need in one (document distribution, e-signatures and video conferencing, for example). Secure the distribution of meeting links within the packs themselves and educate your teams on best practice. Ask yourself the difficult questions - who can access these papers? Can they be downloaded? Do we have control over who can edit them? Is there an audit trail of that?

Seize the opportunity to run more effective meetings

• Keep the agenda focused on what matters. Why read through the minutes of the last meeting in their totality as we always have done, when we can collaborate on edits remotely beforehand? Dive straight into the crucial strategic discussions needed to survive the crisis and build back better than before.
• Make each word count. Digital papers are an essential component of effective virtual meetings, but it is too easy to include reams of data and detail. Encourage authors to keep papers short and to the point. Provide strong guidelines and clear briefs, make the most of templates and executive summaries and clearly outline the ?ask? of the forum in question to guide debate and decision.
• Know when to quit. Set timings in the agenda to keep frustrations to a minimum, switch cameras on to ensure engagement and let everyone have their moment.
• Don't forget the minute-taker. Check in with the minute-taker that they are ready to move on to the next item, Remote minuting isn't easy and internet connections aren't infallible. Use the tools at your disposal to check and mark-up minutes remotely with each speaker, without having to eat up valuable meeting time.

Learn from each virtual meeting. Ask for feedback from members to get a sense of how they feel about the quality of materials, the new tools used and the value of the meeting itself.

Organising and running effective remote meetings can seem like a daunting task at first, but as we all settle into this new reality we need to make sure we have the right technology in place and some forward planning tools to set them up for success.

Stay at the cutting edge of leadership thinking and join board members, executives and governance experts from across the globe debating vital topics like these at the Board Intelligence Coffeehouse.