As climate change becomes a more and more pressing issue, the phrase 'Net Zero' comes up increasingly often. In 2019, the UK Government committed to achieving this target by 2050.

Net Zero means there is an equal balance of carbon going in and out of the atmosphere. Many institutions globally have come to view this as the standard for measuring their commitment to climate goals. 

Sustainability has become not just an important plan, but a vital goal and mission for organisations. With ESG initiatives driving changes, the concept of carbon neutrality and net zero is becoming more of a reality.


What Does Net Zero Mean?

Net Zero means the balance of carbon going in and out of the atmosphere. It also refers to the global target of negating the amount of greenhouse gases created by human activity. 

Net Zero can be achieved through reducing emissions and absorbing existing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, but this is no small feat.

Net Zero doesn't mean an organisation is not releasing any carbon into the atmosphere. It only means that the carbon they emit is balanced by the carbon they take out of the atmosphere. As a result, Net Zero strategies involve measures that reduce this carbon such as planting trees or reducing carbon footprint.

Global warming and climate change will have an impact across every industry. Reducing the amount of damage done to the environment is not only an ethical issue, but a practical one. 

Committing to Net Zero is one of the most significant steps an organisation can take in protecting themselves in the future.


How Does ESG Contribute To Net Zero?

ESG, or Environmental, Social and Governance, is a metric used to evaluate organisations on their sustainability efforts. It is becoming an increasingly important aspect of business to investors, as concerns about climate change rise.

Environmental, the E in ESG, refers to the impact an organisation makes on climate change through its greenhouse gas emissions, waste management and energy efficiency.

Social, the S in ESG, refers to human rights, labour standards and issues such as workplace safety and security. 

Governance, the G in ESG, refers to the system used to define rights, expectations, and responsibilities between different stakeholders, as well as the rules and policies in place to ensure this standard of behaviour. 

With sustainability surfacing as a global objective, many investors are demanding ESG plans that outline a path to meeting net-zero carbon emission targets. ESG plans and policies help to navigate a way to net zero. They set crucial targets and hold institutions to sustainability standards.


What Can Your Organisation Do To Help Achieve Net Zero?

Reducing the dependency and use of fossil fuels can help organisations achieve those important ESG goals like Net Zero. Still, it can be more complex than simply switching to renewable energy. 

No matter the challenge, reaching Net Zero emissions goals comes down to gathering and understanding the data.

In order to reach Net Zero, it is crucial for organisations to monitor and evaluate all carbon-emitting assets. Without this data, it is impossible to efficiently control energy usage and environmental footprint.

This is where ESG comes in as a helpful solution. ESG reports are designed to provide your organisation with the information and data about its environmental impact. This can then help you come up with the right strategy and plan to reach your net zero goals.

On the 19th September 2023, Convene was an exhibitor at the NHS Governance ‘The Future’ Conference. We’d like to thank all those in attendance for making it such an informative discussion on the world of governance within the NHS.

On the 6th and 7th September, Convene ESG exhibited at Reuter’s 2023 Sustainability Reporting Europe Conference. We’d like to thank Reuters IMPACT Congress London, as well as all speakers, sponsors and attendees for participating in such an important and enlightening conference.


The conference focused on the upcoming CSRD regulations, and how organisations can be prepared to tackle it, and ‘collect, manage and disclose data fit for the CSRD’. It highlighted that many companies are not on track to comply with the CSRD, and emphasised that businesses should prepare themselves for compliance quickly, to avoid the risks of negative publicity and financial penalties.

The conference set out to help companies understand how to utilise systems, processes and frameworks to provide consistent and reliable data. It also sought to explore how sustainability can work together with finance, risk, communication, and legal teams, and how companies can meet regulatory requirements without losing focus as to why reports are necessary. 

The varied talks and discussions took place on four main stages, each focusing on important aspects of ESG regulations, including a Sustainability Reporting stage, a Reuters Impact stage, an ESG Investment stage, and a Net Zero stage.

On the first day of the conference, there were several keynote events including a talk on the CSRD’s compatibility with both the GRI and ISSB from policy makers, exploring how to navigate the regulatory changes for 2023 and beyond. There were also keynotes on using business strategy with sustainability data, and on how to collect consistent, comparable and quality data. 

There was a keynote talk about how finance drives sustainable business practices, and the importance of sustainability executives working with their financial counterparts. This was a repeated theme throughout the conference; the need for integration between finance and sustainability. 

There were panels on identifying the gaps in your current reporting practices, as well as setting up an effective sustainability reporting program. There were also panels furthering the conversation of sustainability and finance working together, and supplying additional information about how to structure annual reports.

An interesting and important workshop on the GRI and the practical ways that companies can prepare for the CSRD and leverage GRI reporting. 

Additionally there were presentations on operationalising sustainability and driving performance beyond just regulatory compliance. Presentations also looked at increasing transparency through digitable access to data, as a company's information should not just hold them accountable but also be accessible. 

The day ended with a workshop focusing on the future of the industry, looking to discuss the sessions of the day as well as how companies need to be adaptable in the face of instability and possible crises.

Nei prossimi anni l'UE introdurrà una legislazione più rigorosa in materia di ESG, sia per le grandi aziende che per le PMI, che dovranno presentare relazioni. È fondamentale che la vostra organizzazione anticipi queste normative e riduca l'impatto negativo implementando strategie di monitoraggio, raccolta dati e reporting accurate. Porre l'ESG in cima alla vostra agenda vi offre un vantaggio rispetto alle aziende che non hanno ancora alcun obbligo di rendicontazione quando si tratta di conformarsi ai quadri normativi esistenti e a quelli nuovi, nonché di attrarre finanziamenti sostenibili e di compiacere gli stakeholder. 

La Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) è la nuova normativa dell'UE che impone alle aziende di pubblicare regolarmente rapporti sulle loro attività ESG. È stata concepita per incoraggiare le aziende a sviluppare approcci più responsabili al business e per aiutare gli stakeholder a valutare le loro prestazioni non finanziarie. Per la prima volta, la Commissione europea definisce un quadro di rendicontazione unificato per i dati non finanziari.

The EU is set to introduce more rigorous legislation on ESG over the coming years, for both large companies and SMEs to report against. It’s crucial for your organisation to anticipate these regulations, and reduce any negative impact by implementing thorough monitoring, data collection and reporting strategies. Putting ESG at the top of your agenda provides you with an advantage over companies that have no reporting obligation yet when it comes to complying with existing and new frameworks as well as attracting sustainable finance and pleasing stakeholders. 

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is the new EU legislation requiring companies to release regular reports on their ESG efforts. It is designed to encourage companies to develop more responsible approaches to business, and helps stakeholders evaluate their non-financial performance. For the first time, the European Commission is defining a unified reporting framework for non-financial data.

For many listed companies, investing in technology and software that promises security, reliability and streamlined communication is crucial in ensuring good governance and transparency with the public.

Listed companies are public companies, which means they must issue shares of its stock through an exchange, and adhere to the exchanges standards of corporate governance.

At Convene, our Board portal is designed to aid in achieving these good governance practices, and enables any publicly listed organisation to ensure their organisation has secure and seamless communication.

Here’s why listed companies choose Convene.


Streamlines Business Meetings

Listed companies do not always have time to waste on admin tasks that can be simplified by software. Convene is designed to improve your meeting process from start to finish and create more dynamic meetings.

The complex issues handled by companies during Board meetings mean that directors don’t need the added complication of confusing software. 

The advantages of Convene’s software were noted by Chris Spanias, Solution Architect at Tesco Bank. In his words: ‘Convene has saved our admins time and increased efficiency when it comes to organising meetings.’

From the intuitive Agenda Builder to our auto-generated meeting minutes feature, Convene can simplify meeting administration. This means your team can reduce the time they spend on repetitive tasks and focus their attention on the important aspects of your meetings.

Convene is designed to streamline communication in your business meetings, increasing efficiency in meetings and ensuring collaboration is as easy as possible, especially when remote. 

In an age increasingly regulated by remote interactions, it is essential your software is purpose-built for corporate governance.

As Afonso Cardoso de Menezes, Company Secretary of Bison Bank observed: ‘Convene facilitates and encourages vital international collaboration which is critical for success.’

Afonso crucially noted that: ‘Information is now accessible to Board members internationally in an instant.’ Fluent communication is at the heart of running a company, and our software streamlines this exchange.


Security And Data Protection

On top of all of this, Convene’s state-of-the-art security is designed to respond to evolving cybersecurity threats. With Convene, listed companies can get the best protection for their confidential data.

In the words of Chris Spanias, ‘Convene has the necessary security compliance standards and that was a prerequisite for us’. 

With AES 256-bit encryption and CMMI Level 5 accreditation, publicly listed companies can feel confident their data is protected by Convene. The fully GDPR-compliant system offers 24/7 protection and support for all your security needs.

At Convene, we understand how important it is for companies to trust the software they use. Convene’s data protection makes a quantifiable improvement to Board meeting security.


Balances Cost And Functionality

With so many useful features, you might expect our Board portal to mean budgetary sacrifices. In fact, Convene provides a premium service for a reasonable price, and doesn’t sacrifice functionality in the process.

The features are also more than worth it in the long term. As Chris Spanias noted: ‘Once they switched over to Convene, our Board stopped using paper. [Our] study found that we save so much money on printing and paper alone that Convene has almost paid for itself every year’.


Ease Of Use And Reliability 

Convene’s intuitive features make the software one of the most accessible solutions available. The interface is so easy-to-use that even the most technophobic Board members feel comfortable. 

In the words of Christina Giannopoulou, the user-friendly nature of Convene was one of the main draws for Piraeus Bank. She told us that: ‘It was important for our members to be able to access information easily and to share important documents during meetings. We really liked the user interface of the Convene application, and we found it very user-friendly.’

At Convene, we are dedicated to providing easy-to-use and reliable Board portal software, so your company can upgrade your meetings without worrying about accessibility for your Board members. Convene offers unlimited training, so even those who are less 'tech-savvy' are supported during implementation. 


Enhance Your Governance With Convene: Smart, Simple, Secure

Convene is an award-winning Board Portal designed to digitise and streamline your meeting processes from start-to-finish. 

Now available fully integrated with Microsoft Teams, our comprehensive software has numerous features to support your listed company and its public operations:

For governments, and their important meetings, a Board portal is a crucial piece of software to help streamline operations. Effective meeting management systems allow public sector organisations to run more efficiently, simplify more complex tasks and boost their transparency.

With many different Board portals on the market, it's important to establish what features will be most beneficial for your meetings.

There are many features you should consider when looking for a new Board portal for governments. We’ve collated the five most critical ones for your organisation to consider.

But first, what even is a Board portal?


What is a Board Portal?

A Board portal is a solution for running seamless meetings in the digital age. 

Board management software utilises communication and collaboration tools to help simplify Board material preparation, reports, and many other meeting-related tasks.

Board portals also facilitate a secured environment for sharing confidential documents and information. 

Board meeting software collapses the entire meeting process, aiming to elevate transparency, practise corporate compliance, and increase efficiency. It removes the need for tasks like printing documents, sending emails manually, and physically compiling annotations.

At Convene, our Award Winning Board portal is designed to help governments to run effectively and efficiently. Convene is here to assist in establishing good governance and communication in your committee meetings.


Features of a Board Portal

If you want to effectively manage different aspects of government, it is important to invest in the appropriate tools. Here are essential Board portal features that will assist you in achieving your objectives effortlessly.


1. Agenda Builder

This feature enables your team to be on the same page before, during, and after committee meetings. 

An Agenda Builder allows you to drag and drop documents into the agenda and update Board packs instantly. This way you can find all the information needed for meetings at once.

Once the agenda has been created, meeting organisers can also choose which participants can access the agenda files. This helps to increase security and confidentiality.

Organisers can assign action items when creating the agenda. When adding the action, they can assign the designated person/s for the task and set the deadline.

With a feature like an Agenda Builder, your committee meetings can have a clear plan and schedule. This means that your meeting process is even more streamlined. 


2. Annotations

Running remote meetings requires the ability to collaborate seamlessly with a range of annotation tools. Attendees should be able to make notes, highlight sections or draw on the Board papers.

Annotation tools should be easy to use for all participants. This not only aids the communication process, but also allows all in attendance to record their ideas within the Board portal.

Moreover, annotations offer an additional layer of accountability for your participants. Once a Board pack is annotated, you have a digital trail which helps track what was happening in particular meetings. 

Annotations made on paper can simply get lost - especially when meetings are remote. This makes them a crucial Board portal feature for both accountability and productivity.


3. In-meeting Voting

Physical meetings often require travelling, accommodation costs, and significant amounts of time. For this reason, Board portals must be able to facilitate the decision making process.

A quality Board portal should allow you to create a survey which can be voted on during or prior to the meeting. The voting system should be a secret ballot, or a show of hands. This improves accountability as well as speeding up the decision making process.

Convene allows participants to vote anonymously as well as remotely, meaning that if a member cannot attend the meeting they can still participate.


4. Document Library

For any organisation, there will be a never ending amount of documents that might be needed in a committee meeting. With a Document Library, all meeting packs, Board documents, and meeting minutes are kept securely in the same place. 

This helps keep your remote meeting on track and running seamlessly, while also improving accountability and transparency. With everything stored in one place, Board members can see all the documents they might need.

Convene has an inbuilt retention schedule if you need to ensure your records are compliant with specific corporate records management standards, further establishing your data security. Convene’s document library is protected by 256-AES bit encryption, which is the safest technology available. 

Our Board portal also allows administrators to manage access rights during the meeting. This means attendees can only look at specific documents if they have the correct security clearance..

This is why a secure and efficient Document Library is another important feature of any Board portal.


5. Audit Trail

Automated Audit Trails are another way a Board portal promotes a culture of transparency and accountability within your committee meetings. 

Audit trails make sure nothing goes unnoticed or forgotten, as every action is monitored and tracked. Tracking the actions of users means they cannot misuse any data or sensitive information, as they know that any breach or misuse can be traced back to them.

With a Board portal, audit trails are now easily automated and stored digitally. This saves admin time and allows for more storage of old audits, as well as enhancing security and transparency. 

With Convene, administrators have access to an audit trail log, which keeps a record of user actions, such as login, creation, modification, exporting, or deletion, as well as the date and time at which these transactions occurred. Convene allows users to export the records from the system as a PDF report.  Records that can be exported include meetings, review and approvals, and resolutions.

Audit trails are a critical way to ensure safety and transparency for your government, and having an automated system within a Board portal enables this security.


Enhance Your Board Portal Governance with Convene

Board portal software should simplify your meetings, not complicate them. Join hundreds of organisations around the world in embracing a smart, simple and secure future with Convene.

Every step of your meeting process should be as smooth as possible; with the right software that has the right features, the complex task of governance can be much easier. 

Convene Board portal features include:

On the 5th and 6th July, Convene sponsored the CGI Governance Conference 2023. We’d like to thank the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland for putting on an insightful conference, and all those who attended for making it such a memorable event.

The conference gives attendees a chance to enhance their knowledge and insight into the world of leading governance professionals, through a series of speeches, talks, panel discussions and interactive workshops from a varied range of perspectives. 

In recent years, the world has been increasingly unstable and the future far more uncertain, and so this year’s conference explored topical discussions about what the future of the working world might look like, the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion at all levels and the “crucial role that governance professionals play within these areas”.

On the first day of the conference, panel discussions revolved around proposed Government & FRC changes and how this will affect organisations, and the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion and how to maintain these ideals throughout an organisation.

Over the 27th, 28th and 29th June 2023, Convene sponsored the Unlock Net Zero stage at the Housing 2023 conference, Europe's largest housing festival and annual conference. We’d like to thank the Chartered Institute of Housing for setting up an incredibly engaging and collaborative event, as well as all our fellow attendees for making it such a memorable conference.

The conference provided us the chance to learn about, engage with and keep ahead of industry trends, as well as the opportunity to collaborate and converse with many people within the sector.

This year the conference looked to explore governance, risk, tenant voice, changing and resetting business plans, the importance of social care, health and housing integration, professionalism, reputation, the cost of living crisis amongst many other topics over the three days.

As Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing grows, consumers and investors alike look to engage with more sustainable businesses. With sustainability plans and strategies becoming a key part of an organisation’s future goals, it is important that Boards of directors be on the lookout for ESG risks. 

ESG risks may vary in their components, but they share a common factor: they greatly affect a company’s profitability and sustainability in the long run.

On the 22nd June 2023, Convene ESG exhibited at the Housing Governance Conference at the Royal College of Physicians, organised by the National Housing Federation. We want to thank all of the speakers and attendees for their engagement both online and in person, as well as the NHF for putting on a fantastic conference.

The conference is the sector’s only event specifically for Governance Teams and Company Secretaries to learn the latest legal, policy and regulatory updates and analyse their impacts.

The focus was on improving governance skills and performance, allowing delegates a space to reflect on how their organisation responds to crisis, and what skills and knowledge is needed to better prepare for the future.

The main goal of the conference was to establish what good governance looks like, at a time when the social housing sector is under enormous pressure. With governance teams finding themselves pulled in many different directions, Boards need to know they are meeting the requirements of the regulator, and of residents.

The topics that were discussed in the conference looked to emphasise the importance of flexibility and adaptation within the housing sector. There were several important talks throughout the day, including discussions on the use of data, resident voices, culture, Board succession, facilitating EDI conversations and more.

With ESG regulations on the horizon for many industries and sectors in the UK, and investors and consumers alike requiring organisations to have good ESG practices, it is important to understand how these efforts can be undermined.

The ‘E’ in ESG is particularly under fire, as an increase in greenwashing activity in recent years means that environmental efforts are being falsified. This makes it even harder to know exactly what sustainable improvements are being made, and who to hold accountable for this.

Housing Associations should care about greenwashing practices because environmental efforts being undermined can be damaging to the sector, its markets and the economy, as well as the planet.

However, before we dive into why you should take notice of greenwashing, let us first explore what greenwashing is and what it can look like.


What Is Greenwashing?

Greenwashing is the attempt to make a product, practice or even an entire organisation appear more environmentally friendly, ‘green’, and sustainable than it really is. 

The lines between genuine reporting on ESG efforts and greenwashing can be a little blurred, due to the evolving nature of the ESG landscape and its regulations, so it’s crucial to understand what actually constitutes greenwashing. 

Forms of greenwashing include:

The responsibilities of Board administrators, members and secretaries are immense when prepping for a Board meeting. Board meeting materials must be prepared enough in advance so Board Members are given time to read them, as well as for edits to be made to Board packs and documents.

This is why it is crucial to be well-prepared for your meetings, as if the preparation is thorough, the meeting will be more productive. Preparing for Board meetings well enough in advance helps the entirety of the Board come to the meeting prepared as well. This means your meetings can be as effective as possible and meet your objectives.

To help you learn how best to prepare for a Board meeting, this blog will take you through the necessary steps and how a Board portal could help your overall Board meeting process. 


1. Schedule the Meeting 

The first part of your Board meeting preparation is deciding when and where the meeting will take place. In addition to this, you will also have to consider a location, and confirm that a potential meeting space is available, accessible, and has any equipment that your organisation might need.

If your Board meeting is going to be remote, administrators need to create the necessary channels for the meeting and add in the relevant participants within the platform your organisation uses. Calendar features can help to schedule meetings that align with the schedules of internal participants, and reminders can be sent out automatically.


2. Develop The Agenda

A clear and solid agenda is a framework for running efficient and productive meetings, and should be developed and prepared for as early as possible. Reviewing the previous meeting’s minutes is a good way to understand the objectives of the Board meeting ahead. 

The agenda should focus on actionable and relevant matters for the Board to discuss in the meeting, and there should be sufficient information on each of these action items. 

Each matter should have a specific timeline and purpose, such as providing information, gathering data, or reaching a decision, to help keep the Board on track and ensure the best use of their time when tackling problems.


3. Contact Necessary Participants

In the previous Board meeting minutes there should be the action tasks assigned to separate Board members from the last meeting. Contact those individuals to check in on progress so you know what to address in the upcoming meeting. This acts as both a reminder and a way to offer additional support for the assigned tasks.

Additionally when sending meeting materials, they should be sent at least a week in advance to the necessary participants. Board Members are often busy and may serve on multiple Boards and teams so it is important to also give them the time to prepare, as well as yourself.
 

4. Compile All Necessary Documents

You should prepare your Board packet well in advance of the meeting, to give yourself a good amount of time to make additions and change

A Board packet is a collection of documents providing all the information Board Members will need for your meeting in a single place.

The basic meeting materials will include:

In recent years, many large companies have been subject to shareholder activism, which has been a very visible part of the global markets and continues to evolve. Shareholder activists have been making news for their attempts to challenge some of the largest corporations in the world.

In the past, activists were seen in a very negative light; they were often thought of as people who would take over a company for their own benefit without regard for anyone else's interests. Now, however, it is a lot more complex. It is no longer as simple to consider activism as an immediate threat, but rather a more varied phenomenon.

Convene in Teams (CiT) offers you seamless integration and additional features in Teams to enhance your overall meeting experience, which in turn can greatly benefit your business.

Being able to run remote meetings with the quality of in-person meetings is vital in making sure your team can communicate and collaborate effectively.

From every stage of your planning, preparation, and participation, CiT provides a better meeting experience by embedding Convene’s powerful end-to-end meeting features within MS Teams, eliminating the hassle of switching between applications and maintaining separate tools.

Here’s how some of the key features of CiT can strengthen your online meeting process and benefit your business in the short and long term.


1. Notes and Annotations

During a meeting, it is important that your team is able to make notes and annotations on documents all while staying within your meeting application. With CiT, you can share annotations in real time to collaborate with fellow participants on the meeting documents while engaging in the video call. 

Participants can also take meeting minutes and notes for documentation and reference all while on the call, enabling productive discussions and helping your team and business in its collaboration and communication.

Additionally, CiT makes it possible to edit documents in real-time during active meetings. Once opened, documents can be annotated, edited, and commented upon by meeting participants. This can be done without ending or pausing an ongoing video meeting, to help your meeting process and workflow.


2. Document Collaboration

Organising structured meetings requires accessing and compiling various documents from different departments and resources. With CiT, access all your resources on one platform anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

CiT eliminates the hassle of going through SharePoint or other resource libraries to find and compile relevant meeting documents. CiT is the one searchable platform you need to access everything — meeting files, agenda packs, decision records, and minutes.

Meeting participants can also prepare for structured meetings. Having all the meeting documents in one location can equip participants with all the information they need to discuss during the meeting — for a well-informed and productive collaboration.


3. Review Rooms

Convene in Teams offers the Review Room, where your meeting participants can collaborate and communicate on documents even without video-conferencing. 

With Review Rooms, you can meet without having meetings; your participants access a document pack and collaborate without needing to be on a video call.

Review Rooms are a secure, access-controlled virtual workspace built around collections of documents. Participants may be granted access based on their level of involvement in a project or their need to know. 

As part of the document collaboration tools, participants can review and privately or publicly annotate documents, take notes, and suggest important changes to files. Users will also receive notifications when changes are accepted or rejected and when other important edits are made or suggested.

This ability to collaborate without needing to be in an official meeting will greatly help your team and your business maintain communication no matter what, no matter where.


4. Audit Trails

With the number of documents and meetings administrators are handling, it is difficult to track all actions done during meetings and on documents.

CiT helps meeting administrators automate action tracking. It can transparently track and monitor activities with its comprehensive audit trail. Not only does it help uphold transparency, but it also provides records that can help identify irregular and suspicious activities.

With CiT, meetings are permanently documented, giving you a tangible reference source for all meeting events, with all notes and action items made during meetings intact.