Online Workshop:
Successful Online Collaboration for Boards

LESSON 2: Key components of the online area

While active chat events and discussion forums (message boards) will complement a face-to-face gathering when the discussion needs to spill over, or might be useful to bring out-of-town members into the discussion, they may not be the focus for less "tech savvy" members.

Your key resources will be your e-library of documents/publications, your online directory, messages from the Chair, Executive Director, or Dean, frequently updated announcements, and mission critical response forms.

Below are some components to consider when building your password-protected online area.

• Welcome message
  Introductory and instructional text upon entry to the website
• Announcement area
  Post the most recent announcement, news, or action items
• Directory
  Create a searchable directory of all board members. See Step #3 'Building Content' for tips about this area.
• Email messaging and tracking
  Email all board members with both plain text and HTML for e-news. Track the status of your messages by seeing who opened the email and who clicked back to the password-protected website from the email.
• Calendar
  Post key meeting dates and events.
• Discussion and Chat
  Continue face-to-face discussion at meetings, or participate in an online pre-meeting discussion which may also be used as emergency communication when it's impossible to get the entire group together in person.

Also:

• Feedback and Help
  A contact form should be available on all pages for those users who are less tech-savvy.
• Search
  Have a site search that will quickly return documents, discussion topics, calendar items, announcements, and more.

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