Savings made as whg brings technology to the boardroom

Published by kerri smith for whg in Housing and also in Local Government

Hours spent collating lengthy board papers are a thing of the past at a leading Midlands' housing provider which is pioneering the latest technology.

Walsall Housing Group (whg) is the first organisation of its kind in the region to introduce Virtualboardroom®, a web-based portal which delivers significant efficiencies.

The electronic system means all minutes, reports and appendices for board and committee meetings are printed as one complete document, featuring page numbers and tabs that denote the agenda item for ease of reference.

This saves colleagues having to spend many hours individually printing each element of the papers and then collating them into the required order. The time saving is significant as whg holds around 30 board and committee meetings annually with agendas sometimes running into 200 pages plus.

The new style papers have been well received by board and committee members who say they are easier to navigate during meetings and look more professional.

Jane Preece, whg's Director of Organisational Development and Company Secretary, said: "Our colleagues' time is valuable and more wisely spent on activities that benefit our customers and achieving our business objectives.

"Switching from manually producing papers to using Virtualboardroom® has not only freed up hours of productive time but created a better, more user-friendly end product."

The technology means board and committee members will, in due course, be able to access, upload and search company documentation electronically from wherever they are in the world.

Terry Bate, a tenant member of WHG's Board, said: "Everything that went with the old style board papers was horrendous, it's easy to see that now this new system is in place and we can compare.

"The potential is great too, in terms of being able to view papers electronically, and though some of us may be wary of new technology – myself included – I know it's just a case of sitting down at the screen and working it out. Once you've don't that, you're away."

iPads and other tablet computers are an option for members as in 2011, the 'Year of the Tablet', they are being used in the workplace more and more, and at the highest levels.

Tablets, such as the iPad and Motorola XOOM, have been hailed as a viable business tool due to their portability, as well as the fact that using a tablet in a meeting is seen as less 'antisocial' than looking at a laptop.

Robin Bishop, MD of Perivan said: "We are delighted whg has chosen to implement Virtualboardroom® and look forward to working alongside them to bring technology to the forefront of their business processes.

"While board and committee papers will be printed for those who prefer hard copies, Virtualboardroom® and the tablet are a match made in heaven and we are very excited about what the future holds."