Lessons learnt: How to best manage boardroom dissent online?

Lessons learnt: How to best manage boardroom dissent online?

One of the leading bankers recently was appointed as an independent chairman after his retirement from active service in the private sector. He had led a board before but the pandemic lockdown was a challenge for him to manage things virtually for the first time in his career. His first online meeting as chairman was a couple of months ago and he is still feeling uncomfortable about it all.

Many board leaders are in the same position, having to apply the skills they've learnt in leadership to a new remote "boardroom“ environment - while also wrestling with occasional tech hassles.

Seasoned board chairs know the value of pre-meeting preparations. Running an online meeting kicks this need up a notch. What gives the highest success is preparation in advance. Then put some practice time on the video platform to get familiar with what buttons to press and how to do various tasks (showing presentations, going to chat, forming sub-groups, etc).

Enlist someone from the IT department to help with this, and invest a few hours poking around and practising tasks on your own. Do also check how you look and come across on video.

Preparation also means checking and double-checking that all "board book“ info