In a small community there is a volunteer firefighting association. The board me
ID: 352575 • Letter: I
Question
In a small community there is a volunteer firefighting association. The board members of this association are volunteers who own property in the community. The board meets quarterly to review major operations activities in the prior quarter, compare expenses to budget, and find solutions to any problems that have occurred. Minutes are written and approved at each board meeting. At the annual meeting, the board presents a budget for the next year and prepares an annual report. Minutes of the annual meeting are also prepared and approved.
Recently, several willing and highly-qualified potential board members have been unable to physically attend quarterly meetings. As a result, they have been unable to serve. To overcome this challenge, the board wishes to hold virtual board meetings.
In an essay, use the 5-component model to recommend a collaboration information system for the association’s meetings. Specify the work that must be done for each component. Ensure your system has features and functions to facilitate communication, content-sharing, and task management.
Explanation / Answer
Below is the 5 component model to incorporate a collaboration information system for the association’s meetings:
1. Hardware: The association must invest in hardware for conducting virtual board meetings. They must invest in buying projectors, personal computer sets, laptops, speakers etc. to conduct smooth and hassle free virtual board meeting. Also they must ensure that the internet connection speed is good so that there is no lag in video transmission. Proper presentations must be put into the systems and projected on the screen so that the board members are able to attend the meetings properly.
2. Software: A lot of softwares are available to ensure virtual board meetings are held properly. For eg. ezTalks Cloud Meeting, Zoho Meeting, join.me, GoToMeeting, ClickMeeting, Skype, WatchItToo, Infinite etc. The association must invest in getting such softwares and also ensure that all the virtual attendees have also installed such softwares to conduct meetings.
3. Data: The data must include the meeting presentation, data about major operations activities, expenses sheet, budget sheet, recommendations, meeting minutes, quarterly reports, annual reports etc. that must be stored and data records must be maintained quarterly and yearly. Also charts and graphs must be prepared to compare quarter to quarter or year to year growth rates etc.
4. Procedures: Procedures to be followed during the meeting must be outlined properly by the board members and talked through with everyone who is a part of the meeting so that consensus is obtained. Properly outlined procedures form a core strategy for the board to follow for upcoming meetings as well.
5. People: The network of people must not only include the board members but also include the senior representatives, software professionals, data maintenance team, network support team etc. in order to ensure that the meeting is run properly and there are no glitches.