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Introduction to this document

Online meetings checklist

Meetings conducted online have become the norm for many companies. Use our checklist to help keep them on track.

Type of meeting

Both board and shareholder meetings can be held online, although a company’s articles may prevent board meetings being held in this way. If the articles do not allow this, it may be appropriate to change them.

The checklist can be applied to online board and shareholder meetings. In the case of shareholder meetings, there are additional formal requirements to be followed, e.g. regarding notice, see our Shareholder Meetings document.

Organisation

Online meetings can be more difficult to manage than in-person ones, perhaps due to the lack of formality if participants are in their own homes, or because of sound delays or technical hitches, or the fact that it can be more difficult to concentrate on a screen than on real people.

The key to resolving most of these issues is organisation. Meeting conveners need to research the technology, try it out in advance of the meeting to make sure they are familiar with the meeting platform’s features and can resolve any technical difficulties.

Keeping the meeting short and to the point will help the participants focus, so it is important to make sure they have everything they need in advance to prepare for the meeting. As with in-person meetings, the chair needs to keep a tight rein on the proceedings, for example by making use of the mute facility to prevent people talking over one another. Setting out the meeting rules in advance will help the meeting to run smoothly.

Admin

Notice should still be given of a remote meeting in the normal way, following any requirements for the relevant type of meeting set out in the articles or statute. The meeting will have to be minuted as usual, votes counted and any Companies House filing requirements complied with.