Virtual meetings have many benefits, including saving travel time and allowing members to participate who might not otherwise be able to do so. Before rushing to hold your board meeting electronically, check to make certain you can. State law or the governing documents need to authorize meeting remotely. It’s also important to understand how virtual gatherings can differ from in-person ones.

Here are some issues to consider:

• Technology. Assume there will be technology issues, whether big or small. Members may experience the same meeting differently because of their hardware and connection speeds.
• Meeting dynamics. While in-person meetings may argue over issues, there is still a feeling that it is a meeting of one organization. Electronic meetings can feel like individuals sitting elsewhere doing their own thing.
• Transparency. Everything happens in real time at in-person meetings. If a member raises an objection, others see that. In contrast, no one really knows who’s “next in line” to speak during a virtual meeting, and if a member is unruly, the temptation exists to mute or disconnect them.
• Individual engagement. It’s hard not to pay attention in an in-person meeting. The fall-off between who is logged on for a virtual meeting and who votes on motions can be extreme. That’s likely due to what we all do while on virtual meetings—work, surf the Internet, make a sandwich, and complete other activities.
• Tone. Virtual meetings bring out the worst in some people. Discussion is impersonal and can be far more negative. Individuals talking to screens tend to be willing to say most anything.
• Voting dynamics. Electronic votes often go differently. Noncontroversial proposals have more votes against them. Or there might be more votes to take controversial positions, remove board members or officers, or reject items that would have been easily approved in person. Personality and group dynamics at in-person meetings are missing.
• “Working out” things. At in-person meetings, controversial proposals are often compromised on the floor or outside the meeting hall. Perhaps a motion to raise dues by “x” was doomed to fail, but members discussed the proposal off the record and agreed to a compromise. Being physically present allowed that to happen. It is difficult to work out differences during virtual meetings, with many proposals simply get an up or down vote.
• Sense of community. There is more to meetings than voting. Relationships get built. Friendships and trust are forged. All of that creates future leaders and builds a sense of community. Much of that happens during social events or during conversations outside the meeting. It is difficult to build such relationships and togetherness in virtual meetings.

COVID and new technologies, has caused many of us to lean heavily into virtual meetings. They have many positive benefits, and, with time, improved technology, and practice, they might become even more identical to in-person meetings. However, it’s currently worth weighing your meeting options (if you have them) when deciding how to meet to transact the association’s business.