Why board document management is so important for businesses

The board of directors has many different responsibilities, from outlining business policies to ensuring that objectives are met and senior management members fulfill their duties. Accompanying every board meeting, new policy, or senior personnel change, are stacks of documents detailing everything from agenda items to highly sensitive legal information.

Good board document management is critical for directors and businesses. Given the current cybersecurity landscape, it has never been more important to ensure that board documents remain safe. Aside from glaring security concerns, board document management also keeps directors engaged, reduces time spent on tasks, and helps companies stay compliant.

In this article, we’ve taken a closer look at the reasons why board document management is integral as well as examining how software like BoardWorks™ can help your business to better manage and oversee board documents.

What is good board document management?

Good document management in business is essential for board members and administrators. It safeguards sensitive information and helps board members and secretaries stay informed and organized. Effective board document management consists of a few factors:

·       Storing documents in a safe and secure location where unapproved third parties cannot access them.

·       Enabling users to easily locate documents.

·       Keeping on top of document revisions and amendments.

·       Staying compliant with legal requirements (such as storing board meeting minutes in the US and other jurisdictions.)

Using board administration software provides an innovative solution for managing documents. It allows users to oversee all documentation in one place and sidestep potential issues that mismanagement could bring.

How board portal software like BoardWorks helps businesses manage documents

Secure storage and increased engagement during meetings are just a couple of the advantages that come when using board software for document management. We’ve outlined the main benefits below.

Secure storage

Board of directors’ documents often contain sensitive information. From legal materials such as contracts to financial reports and board resolution outlines, many details within these documents must remain private.

By utilizing software, you’ll better protect confidential business matters. For example, BoardWorks allows directors to set up multi-factor authentication and security questions to secure their accounts, meaning only they can access the portal containing board-related documents. Moreover, BoardWorks’ advanced security features ensure that board documents aren’t stored insecurely on shared servers or locally on personal devices.

With BoardWorks, administrators can remotely wipe annotations on documents such as agendas and restrict users from opening materials outside of the portal. All these features ensure that the board documents are securely managed in one, secure place and don’t fall into the wrong hands. Best of all, Computershare invests millions of dollars per year in cybersecurity for its services, ensuring that solutions like BoardWorks are fitted with the highest standards of security.

Easily accessible

By storing board or nonprofit governance documents in one secure platform, members can easily access them at any point in time. Instead of sifting through physical folders containing piles of paper documents, users can log onto the BoardWorks portal and find a specific document within seconds using the search feature.

Stay compliant

In the US and other jurisdictions, it’s a legal requirement for companies to keep board meeting agendas and notes. In doing so, companies can prove they are compliant with legal rules and use meeting materials as evidence in any legal matters that may arise.

With BoardWorks, businesses can ensure they remain compliant, by storing all relevant materials in a secure place and minimizing the risk of losing important paper documents. You’ll also eliminate the possibility of physical damage which could render your documents unusable.

Better governance

By managing board documents on a platform like BoardWorks, businesses can improve overall board governance. Sharing materials virtually allows directors to stay informed on business updates, collaborate on various documents, and sign off on policies and other documents virtually.

With documents more accessible than ever, board members can stay informed regarding all areas of the business which in turn will ensure more informed processes and practices are created.

Improve time management

Board portals are great time-saving tools for board meeting document management and assembly. For example, when preparing board books, you can upload documents to BoardWorks, and throw these all together into one document. Admin users can utilize board document management tools to build complete meeting agendas that include contents and headers. Since everything is stored in one place administrators can also check minutes from the last meeting and ensure these are reflected within the upcoming agenda.

After creating board books and agendas, you can share these with directors via the BoardWorks portal. Not only does this reduce costs in terms of printing, binding, and mailing board books to directors, but it also ensures that board directors receive documents with plenty of time to review them before meetings. 

Increased board meeting engagement

Using software for board document management can increase engagement among directors during meetings. BoardWorks enables directors to easily locate documents in one place and view these on their iPads or mobile phones, meaning if something is mentioned during a meeting, they can quickly pull up the relevant document.

Agendas that contain links to URLs, old board books, and previous meeting agendas provide reference to relevant documents, ensuring that directors understand meeting matters at all times.

Book a BoardWorks demo today

Interested in elevating your board document management processes? One of the easiest ways to do so is by investing in software like BoardWorks. Store all your board of directors’ documents in one location and ensure that these are protected by layers of secure technology.

Schedule a demo with one of our BoardWorks team members today to get a first-hand look at how our insightful board portal software can help with your document management.