If your nonprofit relies on face to face meetings for all of its training sessions, webinars and discussions, then you may want to consider adding virtual meetings to the mix. Virtual meetings are particularly efficient if some of your team live out of state or have a long commute, and trying to get everyone in the office at the same time is not very cost effective. Rather than try to pinpoint everyone down in the same location, a virtual meeting can prevent a lot of the hassle for everyone.

Virtual meetings are very similar to face to face meetings in the fact that an agenda should be prepared ahead of time. This will enable your team to plan what they are going to discuss in advance. As with any meeting, all speakers should come prepared and ready to talk about the topics on hand. This will mean that everyone’s time is well spent and no one is sitting around waiting for people to catch up on specific topics. The meetings can be more involved if everyone comes with their ideas, questions and opinions on the subjects tabled in the agenda. Knowing your objectives at the outset will ensure it operates smoothly.

You will find that meetings run better when there are people assigned to assist with the task. Have an administrator or technical assistant on hand to accept the connections and confirm that everyone is ready to speak at the agreed time. Technical hitches can and do happen. Therefore, it is necessary to have someone at the ready to talk everyone through the situation if they are experiencing any communication issues. Requesting that people log in 10-15 minutes before the start time will help problem solve any connectivity and sound issues.

Visuals may need to be used to reinforce the message, and these can be forwarded along with the agenda, ahead of time. It is necessary to have someone in charge of the meeting to help keep it on track. They can be nominated as the official clock watcher who will alert when a topic or situation may need a follow-up meeting of its own.

If your NFP is new to the idea of holding virtual meetings, then it might be necessary to send out a few rules of thumb to everyone. The entire team will need to be 100% present during the conversation and avoid multitasking so as not to waste anyone’s time.

Remember that all decisions from the meeting will need to be noted and sent to each participant once the meeting has ended. This way everyone is clear about their responsibilities and what they need to do before the next discussion.

Of course, there will still be a need for people to meet in person regularly from time to time. But as virtual meetings are clearly a way to enhance your NFP’s productivity, it is a workable and positive solution to guarantee that everyone’s time is well spent.