Finding a way
The health and safety issues arising from the Covid-19 pandemic forced hundreds of companies to switch to holding virtual AGMs for their shareholders during the 2020 proxy season. At the same time, boards have needed to find new ways to work together and have in many cases also moved from in-person gatherings to online ones.
The videoconferencing format was used by relatively few boards before the crisis began and has rapidly become a key part of board operations. As such, governance teams and directors have had to become familiar with the technology and the meeting dynamics that come with it. In this special report we present data and feedback giving some important insights into how industry peers are tackling this challenge and suggesting what may come next. Questions asked of corporate secretaries and other governance professionals include:
How did your board conduct its meetings in 2019 and in 2020?
Has the number of meetings increased or decreased since the outbreak of Covid-19?
What has been the experience of using videoconference calls for board meetings?
What are the benefits and challenges of in-person meetings, telephone conference calls and videoconference calls?
How have you used board portals before and since the pandemic?