Adopting a paperless board portal can be a tough decision for an organization. Even though going digital has become an crucial step to remain successful, boards of directors are sometimes fearful to change their work habits, but the use of a board portal can benefit board members and organizations on many levels.
Indeed, board portals allow the corporate secretary to be more productive and board members to be more efficient. It is the entire process of board meeting management that will experience positive change. Here is the first article in a series of 3 that will cover the three key phases of a board meeting and how a board portal can enhance your board meeting management process efficiently.
STEP 1: Agenda and board pack creation
This step is a key element done upstream for an effective board meeting. During their board meetings, board members are making important decisions for their organizations and having all the information they may need can result in making effective and well-informed recommendations.
Traditional agenda creation requires long hours of preparation, gathering all the documents needed for the board meeting and binding them into reports to then sent to board members, usually by messenger. With a paperless board portal, the agenda and board pack are created digitally by the corporate secretary within a few clicks. What before, took days of preparation, would only take a few hours.
STEP 2: Delivery of board packs to board members
After creating the board meeting in the portal, the administrator must deliver all required documents securely to board members, sometimes on geographically dispersed boards! With a simple click, board members are notified by email of the new meeting and its availability online. This email invites directors to log on to the portal where a complete digital board book with its agenda and required documents is easily downloadable. Thus, board members can consult the board pack on their tablet anywhere and at any time, even without an Internet connection. With this fast process, no information is leaked out of the portal, guaranteeing the security of confidential data.
Moreover, with a paperless board portal, you can make last minute updates or add new documents and the administrator of the meeting can send updates to all directors with a simple automatic email. With this process, board members have more time to prepare for their meetings and administrators don’t have to worry about the stress of a missing element.
STEP 3: Log in to the portal for board meeting preparation
After receiving the email inviting members to log on to the portal, they can download the whole bundle of required documents to look over and prepare for the board meeting. With their own private username and password, board members can check the agenda and the board pack of the upcoming meeting on their computers, laptops or any tablets, anywhere and at any time. They can review all the meeting material and privately read and annotate documents with electronic Post-Its, which can be kept private or shared with other board members. They can also take handwritten notes and highlight some parts of the document directly from their tablets.
Another essential tool in the portal is a powerful search tool allowing directors to easily find specific information in all board books and documents, including those that are in the archives of the board’s far past, depending on the access granted to the user. Directors can access and comment on all the information even without an Internet connection, thanks to the offline mode available on tablets while they are on the go.
Because the DiliTrust Exec platform is ISO 27001 certified, all data is secured and stored on servers, that are also ISO 27001 certified. Thus, directors no longer have to carry around bulky board packs! By using any kind of tablet, board members can bring their boardroom with them everywhere and always be up-to-date with the latest board news and board meetings. By preparing for their board meetings more effectively, directors can have more knowledge on background information, leading them to make faster and more efficient recommendations.
For more information about how a board meeting runs effectively using a board portal, make sure to stay tuned for the next part in the series, coming soon. Don’t miss our next update!
