Comprehensive Guide to Board Portals and Digital Board Packs

Small companies and large enterprises have a board of directors that leads its strategy. This demands bringing together experienced team members. There are many steps in the process of holding meetings and making decisions.

There is a quorum for board meetings, a minimum number of board members that must be present for a board meeting to be carried out.

A board portal plays an important role in making the work efficient and effective. This cooperative tool adjusts all stakeholders on the board. Let’s discover what board software is and how it can transform the process of board and committee meetings.

What is a board portal?

A board portal is a secure digital space, designed to streamline and enhance the communication, collaboration, and data-sharing processes.

Board portal software is also known as board management software or board meeting software. It offers a centralized environment for managing all board-related activities and files.

It becomes an essential communicational tool between all stakeholders. It keeps communication in a secure space and centralizes all board activities in one place.

A board of directors software streamlines the meeting preparation and improves communication between board members and executives.

Board governance software is a digital tool for a board of directors and their admins, created to assist in managing board-related tasks.

The use cases of board portals

Public and private companies use board software to run meetings and to improve workflow at every stage of the meeting process.

Stages of the meeting process

Every board portal provides a streamlined experience for the three stages of a board meeting:

1. Pre-meeting. With the help of a board portal administrations create and organize packs for board meetings. Board papers that directors receive before the board meeting are called a board pack. Using a board portal allows quicker workflows in circulating the digital board packs to the board members. Administrators arrange documents, evaluate director availability, and modify information in real-time.
2. During meeting. Directors can sign papers, assign tasks, set deadlines, and follow up on outstanding questions. Secretaries can take meeting minutes and record resolutions and action items. All meeting capabilities are available on one streamlined platform.
3. Post-meeting. Board software allows secretaries to generate draft minutes, store files within the portal’s secure repository, and archive meeting information.

Use cases of a board portal

• Manage meeting preparation. Board admins can use agenda builder to put together agenda items in minutes and prioritize the most important topics. They also can schedule meetings and invite members within the portal.
• Collaborate in real-time. Board members connect in the cloud through board portal software and can collaborate on documents and the changes will update automatically in all users’ profiles.
• Work remotely. Board portals are available on mobile devices, so board members remain connected to their work.
• Share documents safely. The digital board meeting portal offers a central repository for securely storing and sharing all board files.

Main features of the board portal software

The virtual board meeting software aims to save board members’ time and enhance the quality of board meetings and the security of board data. Here is a list of key features of board portals:

1. File sharing and document management. Board portals provide sensitive data sharing in a secure environment. The software allows the sharing of important files with board members.
2. Access controls and permissions. Each member has appropriate access to the board portal’s files while securing sensitive data.
3. Digital signature. The platform allows signing documents with legally valid electronic signatures.
4. Notes and annotations. Making notes on documents and sharing them easily with other board members is possible.
5. Support. Each board portal software has a dedicated support team ready to help adjust any issues and answer questions.
6. Videoconferencing. The software helps to organize hybrid or virtual meetings connecting directly to the virtual boardroom.
7. Voting. With the platform board members can use manual, live, or anonymous voting and generate voting summaries.

Board portal security

Board portal software offers a high level of security by providing a secure centralized platform for sensitive data to be stored and shared. A good board meeting software should have a list of security features that will make the platform reliable:

• Cloud security. Board portals provide secure data centers to store board data.
• Encryption. There are two types of encryption with board portal software: how data is stored when not being accessed (AES-256), and how data is encrypted when sent from a server to a device (RSA 4096-bit).
• External audits and compliance. A board portal software provider should undergo extensive external audits, focused on security, confidentiality, privacy, and availability.

How to choose the best board portal

There are main steps in choosing the best board portal for the needs of your organization:

1. Assess your needs. Every organization has specific needs, so find the board that will cover all your requirements.
2. Compare products. There are main factors to compare: ease of use, value, support, security, and overall features.
3. Ask the right questions. These questions should cover all general themes that apply to the needs of the organization.
4. Build a business case. A business case will give you confidence that you’ve chosen the software that is an advantage and a perfect investment for your company.

Benefits of adopting board portals

Board software is a powerful tool for running board meetings. Here are the benefits of adopting board software:

1. Improves compliance. Compliance is the main element of the board’s work. The software keeps corporate data protected by using multi-factor authentication for logging in.
2. Increases efficiency. Board portals help to reduce time spent on creating agenda items and minutes. Changes suggested by directors can be actioned immediately by board admins, which makes meetings more productive.
3. Better decision-making. Better collaboration makes better decision-making. All board members prepare for the meetings via the software and make better-informed decisions for the organization’s benefit.

Conclusion

Board portal software makes the process of board meetings productive and efficient. Regarding the main features of board software and its benefits, each organization can choose the best board meeting software that will cover all its needs.