Corporate governance is a process in which the company leadership (board of directors) makes efforts to steer the organization towards the intended path. In simple words, the board of directors works collectively to make sure that the organization achieves its short-term and long-term goals.

The crux of effective corporate governance is to maximize the collaboration between board members with strategic board management, to promote transparency, improve decision-making, and secure important board data. This is where board technologies like board portal software become crucial.

A vast majority of the corporate sector already uses board portal software in its corporate management duties due to its supreme digital security and other resourceful features. If you have not heard about board software, here is a detailed guide for you.

What is a board of directors portal?

Board of directors portal or board of directors software is an online, cloud-based solution to cater to the data management and communication needs of corporate boards and senior leadership.

It is an online board meeting management software that streamlines board room meetings, project management, and internal or external board communication.

The uniqueness of board management software lies in its broad range of features to cater to all board management needs. On top of that, virtual boardroom software is safer and more secure than any other free meeting tool.

How does virtual board meeting software help uphold board management practices?

Virtual boardroom software gained prominence during the COVID-19 lockdowns that forced organizations around the globe to switch to digital routes for conducting business.

The benefits of using the digital board meeting portal outweighed any other option, and even after uplifting the lockdowns, organizations persist with boardroom technology. Here is why:

Secure and audit-ready board documents

Boardroom is a digital repository where boards can store tonnes of sensitive documents, and they are easily accessible 24/7. The best part is that although board data is remotely accessible from anywhere, the level of security is just impeccable. Here is how virtual boardrooms protect your board data.

1. Restricts unauthorized entrants

Board portals’ security system starts with ensuring authorized logins. That said, only users with correct credentials can access the portal. To strengthen this section, board portals provide features like two-step verification. It requires the users to log in via a correct password and a one-time secret code shared on the user’s given contact number or email address.

2. Limits users’ access

Breaking the initial security barrier in board portals may not be enough for an intruder. That is because the internal security system in board software is even better. For example, being a boardroom administrator, you can give every user customized access according to their roles and responsibilities.

You can restrict them from accessing, sharing, removing, editing, or downloading a file or a folder. You can also limit any user’s access to a specific page or segment of a document.

Also, premium-grade boardrooms like iDeals Boards have a 256-bit SSL data encryption feature. It allows you to store and share files in encrypted form.

3. Safeguards secretive documents

Protecting boardroom documents during external audits or transactions is a tough job. Although features like fence-view or view-only mode are not common in other board meeting tools, you can easily find them in high-end board portals.

Fence-view feature offers multiple benefits. For example, applying it to any document ensures that nobody can edit, share, or delete that file. Users cannot even take screenshots of that file. Lastly, it allows you to hide or blur any sentence, line, or paragraph in your document. That way, the reader can only see what you want them to see.

Other notable security features in the board of directors portal include:

• Document shredding or self-destructive documents
• Digital watermarks
• Access revocation
• Granular access

Streamlined and productive board meetings

How to improve boardroom efficiency is a common question in the corporate sector. On average, executives spend 23 hours a week in meetings, while an employee spends 31 hours (on average) a week. 50% of that time is considered waste. In simple words, half of the meetings are unproductive, which is a waste of not only time but resources as well.

Here is how virtual board portal software can minimize this wastage.

1. Easy preparation of board meeting material

One way to measure a board’s efficiency is to assess how well the board management keeps its important documents like board meeting agendas, minutes, and board books.

Thanks to the digital board meeting portal, board meeting organizers can prepare these documents with ease and make them readily available to other board members.

Virtual boardrooms usually provide built-in templates for board meeting agendas, minutes, and even board books. You can edit those templates according to your needs as well. These templates are prepared according to an industry’s specific needs by following best practices.

2. In-app meeting tools

When you have board portal software, you don’t need to use different applications to conduct board meetings. The board software not only streamlines meeting material preparation but also provides high-end meeting tools.

For example, boardrooms have built-in, secure audio and video calling tools that also allow screen sharing. Tens of users can join board meetings from anywhere. The presenter mode can be used by those who want to give a presentation online.

What’s more, meeting participants can also cast votes or simply use the “raise hand” feature in favor of or against a motion initiated in the meeting.

3. Streamlined post-meeting activities

Meeting organizers can automate the notes-taking process during the meeting and then share them later with all participants. Apart from that, the corporate secretary can get the meeting minutes signed by the meeting chair and share a copy with everyone.

Board management software gives board members the luxury of managing post-meeting activities with ease. They can easily:

• Access meeting minutes, agenda, and board book
• Communicate with other board members with mutual responsibility and track their performance
• Document their own activities and do the same for their partners

Boost efficiency and promote transparency

Virtual board meeting software significantly reduces the time needed to perform different activities in the boardroom. Here is how.

1. Easy data importing or uploading

If you intend to import your board data from another platform, the board portal can do that. All you need to do is just initiate the import process, and the boardroom will do the rest; everything will be unchanged. Also, you don’t have to import or upload folders one by one. You can upload or import hundreds of files and folders in one go.

2. Easy data categorization and retrieval

Board software lets you upload and organize data in any manner you prefer. You can create as many folders and subfolders as you want.

Data retrieval or search process is just effortless. When you upload files, they are indexed automatically, which makes it easy to find them later. You can also add search tags to files and folders to retrieve them later with ease.

What’s more, the full-text search feature in virtual board portal software gives you the option to find a folder or a document by simply using a keyword or phrase.

3. Promotes transparency

Every single activity in the board portal is recorded by the software—thanks to the audit log feature. Virtual board software keeps a record of who is doing what, where, and when. Audit logs make it simple to find irregularities in boardroom activities, thus catching the culprit with solid proof.

What to consider when choosing a virtual board portal?

Here are the key factors to consider when choosing a virtual boardroom.

1. Compliance

One of the most important things to consider here is to see if the boardroom vendor complies with your concerned regulatory authority. For example, a healthcare boardroom services provider in the USA must be HIPAA-certified. Similarly, financial companies must look for FINRA compliance. Also, ISO and SOC-compliant vendors are highly recommended.

2. Compatibility

Before choosing any boardroom software vendor, make sure that their product is compatible with your current operating system. It is better to choose a service provider that offers compatibility with multiple operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, and iOS. Also, make sure that the software is easily integrated with other tools like Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft Office, etc.

3. Security

Security remains the top priority when choosing a virtual boardroom portal. The level of security you need depends on how you intend to use the platform. For example, if you have to share data with external parties, it is better to have the fence-view mode feature. Other important features are mentioned above.

Summing Strategic Board Management up

Strategic board management with virtual board management software is a cloud-based online board meeting management and data-sharing tool used by commercial organizations, clubs, unions, nonprofits, and government institutions.

It streamlines different board processes such as:

• Internal and external communication
• Board document management
• Board meeting management

Boardrooms are not only compliant and secure meeting management tools, but they are also cost-efficient because they minimize paper and printing costs and other meeting expense.

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