Board meetings in the new digital era
The Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped how organisations collaborate and navigate their workplaces. Stay-at-home mandates have sped up global digitalisation efforts, catapulting the world into a new digital era of increasingly remote and hybrid work setups. This extends all the way up to the board level. So, what now? Moving forward, it will be essential to use the right tools in order to maintain successful board collaboration.
Virtual meetings are here to stay
As we know, people have been forced to work from home in unprecedented numbers in response to harsh local restrictions and lockdowns brought on by the pandemic. As time goes on, it has become increasingly clear that remote meetings are more than just a temporary trend. In fact, a lot of people now seem to prefer them over traditional meeting arrangements and want to keep working from home, citing benefits like everyday cost savings and being able to spend more time with family members.
According to a recent study by PwC, 70% out of 32,500 participants reported that they want a mix of remote and in-person work arrangements. When asked what their ideal work environment would look like, the traditional face-to-face work environment received the lowest score out of the available options. Many employers are therefore adopting a hybrid work model, offering their employees the flexibility of working remotely some days of the week. It is safe to conclude that remote meetings will remain important moving forward.
Rise of digital collaboration tools
Digital collaboration tools saw a huge upswing in usage during this time. The new wave of remote work meant board members had to switch to digital platforms to facilitate meetings and perform necessary governing functions like signing documents, voting for important decisions and distributing sensitive materials amongst the board. In the aforementioned PwC study, 80% of the respondents claimed they are confident that they can adapt to new technologies entering their workplace. Again, the trend is clear—digital collaboration tools will remain a key component in the hybrid workplace.
Board meetings are especially comprehensive and tend to cover a large scope. Remote discussions of company-wide issues, the overall business strategy and leadership of the organisation require complex and reliable platforms. Board Portal is designed specifically for board collaboration and helps you keep all of your documents gathered in one place, even when your board members are not. The platform offers maximum flexibility for the hybrid workplace. All portals can be accessed at any time on the web or using the TeamEngine app with offline access.
Increased demand for information security
Using cloud-based services can be scary when you are unsure of where your information is stored. A common concern when replacing physical meetings with virtual ones, is the risk of unwanted cyber attacks. These are legitimate concerns. With remote working arrangements comes an enhanced need for information security . It is important to be mindful when lending your sensitive data to software companies, and to look for things like external stamps of approval to ensure that the application you are using is operating according to international security standards.
TeamEngine is ISO 27001 certified and our collaboration software is developed with information security as a core focus. All portal data is encrypted with modern cryptography in compliance with the security industry’s most recent recommendations, so you never have to worry about your personal information ending up in the wrong hands. Your board administrators can easily add or remove members and customise access group settings to choose which board members have access to particular modules and materials.
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