Rich Finstein is the president of CommPartners, an ASAE-Endorsed Business Solutions Provider for webinar and online meeting solutions for associations. CommPartners recently  published a white paper and presented a session at the 2010 ASAE Annual Conference regarding the methodology used by the American Nurses Association (ANA) to move several of their formal governance meetings to a virtual format. We asked him to contribute his experiences about the use of technology for governance in the association industry.

ANA was experiencing significant budget shortfalls last year and were pressed into finding ways to reduce costs. They typically would pay for their board to come to Washington and cover accommodations and meals. Moving to a virtual format had the potential to save them over a hundred thousand dollars for two meetings held in the fall of last year. The economics were promising, however serious questions had to be answered:

1. Could they have formal deliberations that included Roberts Rules of Order?
2. Could they handle emotionally charged issues in virtual format? How would participants react when they were not face to face?
3. What would be the impact on morale of the board? Would they welcome this change?
4. What resources were needed to manage this process?

In the learning lab at ASAE, attendees shared these same concerns but questioned mostly about how members related to each other face to face and if they would feel free to express the same sentiments remotely. In other words, would the same passionate conversations take place? Some audience members shared experiences where board participants became quiet in remote meetings when they should have been more heated deliberations. It goes to the question of human behavior and whether using technology can truly replicate onsite conversations. Finally, others expressed concern that their statements were being recorded when they didn’t want their words “on the record.”

The ANA realized that there were inherent challenges. They used an online program that intuitively handled the formal deliberations that Robert’s Rules requires. They also communicated effectively before and during the event and provided multiple orientation sessions to ensure everyone was comfortable with the process. The end result was a well-received virtual meeting, and they are planning to implement the virtual format again this year for two governance conferences.

In our discussion at the ASAE Meeting, attendees realized the value of allowing board members to stay at home and meet using technology. There was a consensus that meeting has to include right discussion topics that are less emotionally charged and more procedural. We also agreed that it is important to look at every required component of an onsite governance meeting and ensure you have addressed it in the remote format.

Click here for the full ANA Case Study.