It has been roughly three months since England’s Covid restrictions eased, but with talk about possibly reintroducing some restrictions this winter to prevent unsustainable pressure on the NHS, how are trustees feeling about shifting to in-person meetings?

Different organisations have different rules regarding in-person, virtual, and hybrid working. But all boards have the same shared experience of suddenly shifting online when the pandemic first hit a year and a half ago, and now adjusting to slowly easing out of working entirely remotely. 

“I think initially there was some getting used to. Some of the trustees maybe didn’t have the right equipment and the right set up and everybody was learning, but I think after the first few months it’s gone remarkably smoothly,” says trustee director at LawDeb, Alan Baker. 

Even for meetings that will continue being virtual, some have started to take those meetings in-office which, after months of investing in a work-from-home space, has not been ideal for all. “If you’re having virtual meetings there’s a question of whether trustees are going into their office or taking them in their own home. That’s a challenge as well - where you’ve worked to get a good set up it’s easier to take meetings from home than in the office,” says Baker.

One of the positives of virtual meetings has been its efficiency. Many have found that having a virtual meeting has encouraged more structure. 

“Agendas have got tighter. It’s been clearer what the objectives are for particular sections on the agenda, so it’s sort of driven an improvement in process,” says Baker. “In terms of the logistics of getting stuff done, they’ve been very effective. I think both in terms of trustee meetings and meeting up with advisers, it’s been arguably very efficient.”

However, one of the negatives has been the lack of social interaction. “From my experience the most useful thing about face-to-face meetings is you do have that opportunity before and after the meeting to chat informally, and that does make a difference,” says Simon Bond, a trustee at the Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund.

Most experts agree that 70-90% of all communication is non-verbal and plays an important part in meetings. Part of this is lost through screens. “Remote meetings work reasonably well, but of course what you’re not really aware of is you’re missing non-verbal communication,” notes Bond.

It is also important for maintaining friendships on the board. Baker says that although virtual meetings have become very efficient, they also feel more transactional.

He says that his board recently had its first social chat for almost two years: “I think that was really helpful to just reinforce good relationships within the board to give people a chance to talk and mull things over not whilst the sort of clock is running on a virtual meeting,” 

“Another aspect is [that] at the moment, some of the meetings are beginning to become face-to-face but perhaps just for trustees and core advisers, whereas some advisers would still be coming in on video, and that’s working surprisingly well,” says Baker.

Hybrid working means that some employees don’t have to travel in for meetings that may work better over the phone. “A balance is appropriate. I don’t think all meetings need to be face-to-face, but I think it does help for the board to meet at some point during the year, whether it’s once or twice or every quarter, to reinforce those relationships,” Baker says.

However, Bond believes that having some board members in person and others online in the same meeting is more difficult than on Zoom: “With hybrid meetings you often have issues with sound quality. They can all be online if that’s easier.”

 

Looking forward, it is hard to tell what the future of trustee meetings will look like, as there are still uncertainties over how the pandemic will continue to play out. “I think the future is going to be hybrid meetings where some people will be in the room and others online, particularly for pensions. It makes sense for people to join online [rather] than having to travel from the north to the south to attend a meeting,” says Bond.