Thanks to the technological wonders of the modern age, you no longer have to be in the same room to have a productive meeting.
You can just dial up your colleague and have a quick conversation right there on your screen.
But if you need something more formal, there are eight things you'll need to get right to make your virtual meeting a roaring success.
1. Get the Right Tech
What do you need? Video? Screen sharing? Polling? Work it out! Then, pick software that does what you need and test it in advance.
Log in well before your meeting starts, in case there are updates to install. And, tell everyone else to do the same.
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2. Send an Agenda
Expecting everyone to contribute? Let them know in advance what you'll be discussing. This is especially important for people who aren't native speakers of your language. They need time to think and translate. Comprende?
3. Watch All the Clocks
It might be lunchtime where you are, but what if it's the middle of the night where your colleague is? Think about each person's timezone and, if anyone has to stay up late or get up early, vary the time of regular meetings to share the load. It's nice to be nice!
4. Engage! Engage!
No "Silent Susans" in your meetings. Make sure everyone stays involved by asking them relevant questions. In bigger meetings, use some of those nifty tools you picked out earlier, like polling and whiteboards, to interact and keep your attendees engaged.
5. No Muting (Unless...)
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Muting your microphone? How rude! Unless you're in a noisy office or have a jackhammer in the room, keep your microphone – and your brain – switched on.
You there! Pay attention! You can't just check your emails during the meeting! Would you do that in person? Then don't do it in virtual meetings!
7. How Do You Look?
Going on video? Think about what you're wearing. What else is visible behind you? Nobody wants to see your dirty laundry. Clean up!
8. Mind What You Share
If you're going to share your screen, have the documents and programs you're going to need ready to go. Think about what else you have on screen, too. Close or mute instant messaging apps. And people can read those browser tabs you know...
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Follow these eight tips to make sure your virtual meetings are the talk of the town!
Reflective questions:
Once you've watched the video, you may wish to reflect on its content by considering the following questions:
- What preparation do you do prior to running a virtual meeting?
- How effectively do you use technology in virtual meetings?
- When have you had a good experience of a virtual meeting run by someone else? What made it good?
- When have you had a bad experience with a virtual meeting? What was bad about it? What would have improved it?
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