Managing a workroom in BoardEffect

Workrooms are central work areas in BoardEffect where workroom administrators can prepare and manage meetings, resources, and collaborations specific to a Board or Committee.

Open a workroom

1. On the main navigation menu, select Workrooms.

   The list of all available Boards and Committee workrooms displays.

   Note

   • The list of Board or Committee workrooms that displays on the Workrooms menu on the navigation menu depends on your workroom membership and is controlled in Site Settings. System Admins can add or remove a workroom in Manage Workrooms and Groups.

   • Workrooms that are not part of any work group appear under the Other section. However, if you are not part of any grouped workrooms, you can view the list of ungrouped workrooms directly in the Workrooms dropdown menu.

2. Select the relevant Board or Committee to open its workroom. The workroom home page displays.

3. The workroom home page is organized in the following tabs:

   • Home (Workroom home)

   • Events (Calendar of events)

   • Library (Workroom library)

   • Collaborate (Tools to collaborate)

   • Members (Workroom members)

4. The other main sections of the workroom home page include the News and Upcoming Events specific to the Board or Committee workroom.

The workroom home page

The workroom home page includes the following tabs:

• Home – Select this tab to add a welcome message or add news relevant to the members of your Board or Committee. You can also return to the workroom home page from any page within the Board or Committee workroom when you select the Home tab.

  Note

  In addition to the Workroom updates, Welcome message, and News, the availability of the other sections in workroom home page is controlled by pending action items that you, other workroom administrators, or members have added under the Collaborate tab.

  The Events section in the Home tab enables you to access, review, and manage events. An indicator displays the number of upcoming events. This section has the following components:

  • Open calendar Select to open the calendar that displays past, current, and upcoming events. This option appears even when there is no future event that you need to review.

  • More Select this dropdown menu to export events or subscribe to events. This option appears even when there is no future event that you need to review.

  • Event card Displays the details of an upcoming event. On an event card, you can do the following:

    • Select Book, or Books if there are multiple books, to open the Meeting Book Viewer page.

      Note

      If you have not opened this book before, you must download it to access it for the first time.

    • Select Book builder to update the meeting book. Only System Admins and editors can update a meeting book.

    • Select the More options icon to manage event items, export the event to Outlook or Google calendar, and edit, copy, or delete the event.

• Events – Select this tab to view and manage upcoming and recent events for a Board or Committee. Here, you can create a new event. You can also copy, export, or delete an event. Additionally, you can open the calendar of events, or open and add attachments related to an event.

  To learn more, see Creating and managing an event in a BoardEffect workroom.

• Library – Select this tab to view and manage the workroom library specific to a Board or Committee. The workroom library holds required and supporting meeting-related documents which are organized into the following categories: Meeting books, Handbooks, Book templates, and Other files.

  For each category, file-management options are available to add a new item or edit, copy, delete, or archive an item. Additionally, you can add or remove a library item from an event.

  You can also set whether the library item is visible to the workroom.

  You can view the item in Meeting Book Viewer or download it as PDF.

  You can also search the library items by name, event date, or the date an item was created or published.

  You can also go to Minutes and begin creating drafts or finalize minutes. When you select Minutes in a workroom library, you have the option to choose the workroom where you need access the minutes.

• Collaborate – Select this tab to access and manage the workroom collaboration tools specific to a Board or Committee. The following tools are available: Surveys, Survey Templates, Polls, Schedulers, Discussions, and Tasks. By selecting the relevant tool, you can gather feedback and suggestions, collaborate on scheduling future meetings, and create tasks or action items for the members.

  You can manage each tool and can create a new item, edit, copy, delete or archive an item. Additionally, you can add or remove members for whom the item is available or required, and, if applicable, set whether the collaboration item is visible to the workroom. You can also monitor the submissions, and, in case of Discussions, search the discussion board.

  Note

  The action items that you create here control what sections display in workroom home page for the workroom members.

• Members – Select this tab to view and manage the members list specific to a Board or Committee workroom. Here, you can add or remove members that serve on a Board or Committee. You can also send a message to members individually or grouped by categories.

  The members list displays each member's name, email address, and their role on the Board or Committee. If a member serves as Chair or is assigned workroom administrator or system administrator role, a corresponding icon displays in the Member role column. Use this section of the workroom to manage roles for chair, workroom or system administrator.

  Additionally, you can edit a member's user profile from here, including full profile details, resetting password, and deactivating user.

Manage workroom members

You can create or edit the members list of a workroom by selecting the Members tab on the Workroom home page. Here, you can update an individual member's profile and manage workroom memberships. Additionally, you can send a message to workroom members.

1. On the main navigation menu, select Workrooms and select the relevant Board or Committee from the list. The workroom home page opens.

2. Select the Members tab.

3. To add or remove members for a Board or Committee workroom, select Manage members.

4. To send a secure message to members individually or grouped by categories, select Message members.

5. The Members tab also contains the members list displaying each member's name and email address.

6. The members list also shows a member's role on the Board or Committee. If a member serves as Chair or is assigned workroom administrator or system administrator role, a corresponding icon displays in the Member role column as follows:

   •  Chair – Chairs the meeting.

   • Workroom administrator – Can create and manage activities in a workroom, including news, events, collaboration tools, and members list, depending on permission settings.

   • System administrator – Can oversee all activities and permissions in a workroom and in BoardEffect, including Site Settings.

     If a member is hidden from other workroom members, the Hidden icon displays on the member's row under Status.

7. To assign or edit a member's role in a workroom, select the More options icon to the far right of a member's row. You can edit a member's user profile by choosing one of the following:

   • Edit profile

   • Permissions

   • Message user

   • Set user as Workroom Admin

   • Set user as Chair

   • Show or hide user from workroom

   • Deactivate user

Edit a workroom member profile

You can edit a member's profile from the members list in a workroom.

Edit profile settings

1. Select the Members tab in a workroom.

2. In the members list, select the More options icon on the far right of a member's row and select Edit profile.

3. The user details are displayed in tabs on the Edit profile window.

   By default, the Basic information tab is displayed. Here, you can also add a Communication email specifically for user notifications. This ensures that all notifications are sent to the communication email address instead of the login email address.

4. Use the other tabs to update Contact information, assignments to Workrooms, Term info, and Additional, details, such as giving level, demographics, custom fields for your organization and user categories. Use the Integrations tab to connect the user account with a user's GoToMeeting account. Under More, you can upload a member photo or resume.

Set permissions

1. Select the Members tab in a workroom.

2. In the members list, select the More options icon on the far right of a member's row and select Permissions.

   In the Access and permissions window, you have the following checkbox options:

   • System administrator - User has full access and control of the entire BoardEffect site.

   • Mobile Only - User can only access materials from a mobile device.

   • Manage Files - Provides full access and administrator rights to the Resource Library.

   • User is Visible - Shows the user profile and activity to other members in designated workrooms.

   • User is Hidden - Hides the user profile and activity from others, except in designated workrooms.

   • Private Directory - Displays user profile information in the Private Directory of workrooms where the user is assigned. The user can only see those users in the Directory who are assigned to the same workrooms.

   • Deactivate Messaging - User cannot message other users directly from the BoardEffect platform.

   • Deactivate Resources - User cannot access the Resource Library.

   • View Only Books - User can only view Meeting Books in web viewer.

   • Edit membership Can edit workroom membership & deactivate profile

3. Expand the workroom panel to manage the following options:

   1. Member visible in this workroom

   2. Member hidden in this workroom

4. Select the Members button to display the individual members in this workroom.

5. Select Deactivate profile when the member no longer serves on any of the Boards or Committees. This will prevent the user from logging in to BoardEffect, but will keep the user profile in the system, so you can reactivate it at a future date, if needed.

Set workroom roles

1. Select the Members tab in a workroom.

2. In the members list, select the More options icon on the far right of a member's row.

3. Depending on the assigned role, choose one of the following options:

   • Set user as Workroom Admin - Member becomes workroom administrator for the designated workroom. If this role is already set for the user, then this menu label will be Remove as Workroom Admin.

   • Set user as Chair - Member becomes Chair for the designated workroom. If this role is already set for the user, then this menu label will be Remove as Chair.

   • Hide user from workroom - Hides member from other member's view in the designated workroom. If the user is already hidden, then this menu label will be Show user in workroom.

Deactivate a user profile

There are several ways to deactivate a user profile.

1. Select the Members tab in a workroom.

2. In the members list, select the More options icon on the far right of a member's row and select Deactivate user.

   Alternatively, select Permissions from the More options menu and select Deactivate profile.

   On the Access and permissions window, there is also an option to deactivate the user in the More options menu next to the member's name.

Message the members of a workroom

You can send a group message to selected users who have access to a specific workroom or send a message to an individual user only. Use the message feature to notify users about announcements or new materials in the workroom.

1. Select the Members tab in a workroom.

2. Select Message members.

3. To add recipients, enter their email address in the Email address field, and then select Add.

   • To add a group of users, select the User Categories dropdown menu, and select the group name.

   • To search for a specific user, enter their first and/or last name in the Search field. The user should then be displayed for selection under the Search field.

4. To remove a user from the To: field, select the Clear icon next to their name.

5. Select Next to create the message.

   1. Enter the message subject in the Subject field.

   2. Enter the message and select Send.

   Note

   After you message the workroom, you will receive an email that confirms the message was delivered.

6. You can also message individual members in the workroom list by selecting the More options icon on the far right of a member's row and selecting Message user.

News, upcoming events, and activities

This area is similar to the Main Display area of the home page, except that it only holds information and activities related to the workroom that has been selected on the Workrooms menu.

Add a news announcement to the workroom home page

Use the workroom News section to create and share announcements on the workroom page. Only users who have access to the workroom can view the announcement.

1. Select the Home tab in a workroom.

2. Select +Add news on the News panel.

3. Add a title in the Title field.

4. Enter your message in the Body field. You can also copy and paste a message.

   Use the formatting options to change the layout and design of your message.

5. Configure your announcement by selecting the checkbox next to the following options:

   • Expiration Date/Time: select a date to remove your announcement from the workroom.
   • Move to Priority Position: list your announcement at the top of the workroom News section. By default, announcements are organized by date (newest-oldest).
   • Add to Daily Digest: include your announcement in the Daily Digest email communication.
   • Share with all workrooms: add the announcement in the workroom News section of every workroom.

6. To post your announcement, click Submit.