When it comes to building and growing a business, regular governance meetings are key. Driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, the past two years have seen a shift towards digitized governance meetings with clear benefits for directors and organizers alike. Digitization means meetings can be held whatever the current public health situation. It also facilitates hybrid meetings and helps secure the exchange of sensitive and/or strategic data.
The governance meeting digitization process consists of four simple steps:
Step 1: Organizing a governance session
Organizing a governance session generally involves processing a significant number of documents that must be personalized then sent to multiple recipients in different locations.
A scalable database containing all the relevant information for monitoring each meeting (such as dates of previous sessions, access to specialized documents, records of any decisions made and an updated list of voting members) will make this complex process significantly more straightforward.
All you need to do is create a session via a simple, automated step-by-step process, which takes past sessions into consideration and can be configured at any time with no risk of errors or omissions.
Aside from the time saved and the enhanced efficiency, this process also adds value at both an individual and team level while strengthening your ability to lead.
Step 2: Leading a governance session
With so many different roles and branches within any one organization, directors may be invited to a variety of sessions throughout the year. To increase efficiency and ensure security, an extra-secure online space specifically for directors allows them to access all the resources required to respond to and interact with intermediaries in a timely manner.
This provides them with the tools to make decisions while vastly reducing their administrative burden so that they can focus fully on their strategic role. In this dedicated space, they can review agendas, annotate documents and view their schedule for an overview of upcoming sessions.
Step 3: Digitizing meetings with videoconferencing
Fully digitized sessions (or partially digitized in the case of hybrid meetings) can be held in the same secure online space where participants can follow the videoconference and cast votes in real time.
The highly secure space that they log into has been specially designed for this type of meeting.
In the age of flexible working, hybrid meetings are also a possibility. Those working remotely can log in on a laptop or tablet, join the videoconference, see the other meeting participants and vote on specific resolutions. Conversely, those physically present can record their attendance via electronic signature on a tablet or laptop. A QR code on the invitations can be used to register these participants and to access useful data from the day of the meeting.
Step 4: Securing your data
Beyond the requisite GDPR requirements, all data made available online must be secured at all stages of the management cycle of any given governance session. Add extra protective filters at every level of your secure online environment:
- Platform security: opt for a hosting provider based in France that operates under French jurisdiction and is ISO 27001 certified. In this way, you can make daily backups in another DataCentre and ensure your platform is secure in case of disaster thanks to continuous monitoring and external security audits.
- Access security: set up two-factor user authentication, traceability of access and operations, an access management policy based on operational needs and a confidentiality agreement to be signed by all co-workers.
- Data security: create a dedicated environment and database for each client and select a solution that encrypts sensitive data. Finally, ensure client data can only be accessed with the client's express permission.
