Board Profile
- Industry: Association
- Headquarters: Paris, France
Objectives
- Centralise board documentation
- Reduce reliance on email
- Improve collaboration across geographies
- Ensure continuity and knowledge transfer
Results
- Significant time savings across board processes
- Streamlined voting and decision-making
- Centralised, accessible document repository
- Improved onboarding for new board members
Founded in 1992, the International Assistance Group (IAG) has since become the world’s largest alliance of independent assistance companies, service providers, and correspondents. Operating across six continents in over 200 countries, IAG continues to recruit and grow a global network of quality assistance experts through its accreditation programme.
IAG operates with an international board composed of nine members, each based in a different country and working in different languages. This geographically dispersed structure created ongoing challenges in coordination, communication, and governance.
To support effective board management, the organisation sought to improve how it handled documentation, collaboration, and meeting processes — while ensuring continuity, accessibility, and consistent information over time. Louise Heywood, General Manager at IAG, shared their company’s challenges with their board operations and why they opted for Convene as their chosen board management solution.
The Goal: Improving Document Management and Streamlining Board Operations
Before implementing Convene, the International Assistance Group relied on manual and fragmented processes that made board operations time-consuming and difficult to manage — especially given its international and multilingual setup. As the organisation grew, such inefficiencies began to impact its decision-making and administrative workflow.
Fragmented Document Management
According to IAG, its documents were managed through internal filing systems and shared monthly, making the process cumbersome and inefficient. Board members primarily relied on email to receive and access materials, meaning information was scattered across inboxes or saved locally on individual devices. This made it difficult to ensure that all members were working from the latest versions or the final approved document.
Limited Accessibility & Visibility
And since IAG previously had no centralised platform, retrieving files and searching through emails needed to be done manually. Such a lack of accessibility led to unnecessary friction and slowed down collaboration, particularly during their pre-meeting preparation or time-sensitive approvals. At the same time, these issues also cause a challenge when onboarding new members who have limited visibility into historical discussions and decisions.
Manual Processes & Time-Consuming Workflows
Key workflows, including document distribution and voting, were handled manually, as shared by Heywood. Voting in particular required responses via email, which then had to be consolidated and tracked in Excel. This then adds extra administrative effort, delays in decision-making, and even increases the risk of versioning errors and missed responses.
To address such challenges, IAG decided to look for a secure, centralised board management solution that could streamline board operations and support its global structure.
Next Step: Selecting Convene for More Efficient Board Processes
IAG set out to find a solution that could simplify how its board operates while addressing the challenges of managing a geographically dispersed, multilingual team. As shared by Heywood, among their key priorities is to reduce administrative dependency on email while introducing a more structured and secure governance workflow.
Convene stood out by offering a centralised board portal that brought documents and meetings together in one place. Its flexibility allows users to upload and update materials progressively, making it easier to manage work in progress before finalising meetings. In addition, Convene’s built-in tools for communication and document distribution help streamline workflows while ensuring accessibility for board members regardless of their location or language.
Furthermore, the implementation process was smooth, supported by Convene’s responsive and proactive team. From initial onboarding to resolving technical access challenges, Convene ensured IAG’s board directors could quickly adapt to and navigate their new platform.
The Outcome: More Efficient, Consistent, and Accessible Board Operations
Since adopting Convene, the International Assistance Group has significantly improved how its board documents and operations are managed. Here’s how Convene transformed its workflows:
Enhanced Operational Efficiency and Time Savings
With Convene, documents can now be uploaded progressively and published once finalised. Hence, reducing last-minute administrative work. Voting is also completed instantly with real-time visibility, without the need for manual tracking or consolidation. Stéphanie Chedid, Partner Administration Officer at IAG, stated, “On the voting process we’ve saved time because now it’s by one click.”
Centralised Document Management and Accessibility
IAG’s board members also no longer rely on their emails to access information since all documents are now stored in one secure platform, Convene. These include meeting agendas, resolutions, approved or historical documents, and other confidential board materials. Chedid also added, “They like the fact that we have one place where they can access all the documents, all the files and all the attached documents to the agenda.”
Improved Collaboration Across Borders
Directors can now easily access documents without problems, regardless of location. Hence, resulting in more efficient collaboration despite differences in time zones or even languages. Heywood further emphasised that, “When they want to go and find something, for IAG, it’s really easy for them to know where they can find the documentation as opposed to looking through all of their emails.”
Stronger Governance, Security and Traceability
Convene, known for its enterprise-grade security, now keeps IAG’s confidential documents safe from unauthorised access and data breaches. The platform even ensures full traceability of decisions, votes, and approvals, while supporting long-term auditability of its board activities.
Better Continuity and Faster Onboarding
Lastly, IAG’s new board members can now easily access historical records so they can quickly catch up and not be halted with any turnover. Convene’s support team also provides comprehensive onboarding for the platform’s implementation, allowing the company and its board to continue their work without disruptions. Heywood remarked, “I think that is a benefit to a new board member wanting to update themselves and understand what was covered by the previous boards.”
Why the International Assistance Group Recommends Convene Board Portal
The International Assistance Group highlights Convene’s practicality, ease of use, and ability to centralise all board activities within a single, secure environment. Since implementing Convene, its board of directors has moved from being email and local storage-reliant to using a digital and centralised board management platform.
Looking ahead, as the board’s composition continues to evolve, Convene supports continuity by maintaining a complete and reliable historical record. This enables seamless knowledge transfer and strengthens governance processes over time, ensuring current and future members of IAG can stay aligned and informed.
As Heywood shared, “It’s a practical solution for sharing documents in a secure environment and preserving the history over the long term.” Her experience reflects why IAG recommends Convene — a dependable solution for secure collaboration, efficient document management, and long-term governance continuity.
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