Remote work is the future. According to Global Workplace Analytics in 2019, 70% of the workforce will be working remotely in some capacity by 2025—that’s from at least five times of remote work a month to a fully remote set-up. With the pandemic forcing the majority of the world to be locked inside their homes, it seems like this forecast will materialize sooner than expected. Consequently, we’re relying more on technology to bring people in the workplace closer together. Virtual meetings have become an inevitable part of operations even though not everyone is a fan of it.
In this article, we identify virtual meetings as either teleconferencing (audio only) or video conferencing (with video) conducted over the internet. If you want to learn how to run effective and successful virtual meetings for your team, then read on for practical tips to facilitate more effective virtual meetings.
Technology has made it possible for employees to be able to close geographical distances in a remote setup. This entails that before you can facilitate a virtual meeting, there are technical requirements that you and your team are required to meet.
First of all, ask yourself, is this concern worthy of an hour-long meeting or is this something that can be decided on through an email, a memo, or a comprehensive presentation?
Some decisions and tasks can be done through an email, a memo, or a one-on-one call, so it is best to think first who would be the persons involved and what would be your meeting’s agenda should you hold a virtual meeting for the entire team.
If a meeting must take place, the next step is to schedule it and make sure that it’s an event that can be plugged into everyone’s calendar. Find a mutual time that works for all the persons-in-charge or decision-makers.
To officially book the attendees’ time, send a calendar invite including the link to your meeting room in your preferred conferencing app. Lastly in this area, enable reminders from a day to an hour before the meeting so no one will miss the scheduled event.
Why are you setting a meeting? Direction is important in every task even in meetings. Send a list of things that will be covered ahead of time. This can be done via email or along with the calendar invite. With this pre-meeting setting of agenda, the people involved can prepare and you can save time discussing only things that are intended to be discussed. Without an agenda, there’s a risk of not being able to cover other priorities or covering things that are not actually relevant for the time being.
In short, set the agenda and stick to it as much as possible!
Respect everyone’s time and impose a rule that meetings have to begin and end on time. As the facilitator, it’s your job to ensure that the meeting runs smoothly. You have the authority to control the flow and direct the course of the meeting.
To be able to facilitate effectively, always refer to the agenda to stay on track and to know the order of the presenters. With any meeting, it’s important to establish a space wherein people can stay focused and avoid distractions.
Productive meetings have the potential to bear the best ideas and solutions. Make sure you or someone else from the group takes them down. It’s important to jot down notes of the things that were talked about and agreed upon. Taking down minutes during the meeting will make it easier to provide a recap after. With detailed minutes, everyone in the team can revisit ideas and polish solutions.
Having the cam on will increase the chances of attendants actively listening. Many remote workers multi-task as they attend meetings. With the cam on, more attention will be allotted to the speaker or presenter. With the camera on, it’s easier to pick up on visual cues such as body language and facial expressions. This fosters better and clearer communication within the team.
Besides clarity, having the camera on during meetings can help establish emotional connections. Seeing your coworkers’ faces despite the distance can somehow close the gap.
However, even if it’s advisable to turn the camera on, there are instances when it’s not possible. Having it on may not be an option for those without stable internet because videos take up so much connection bandwidth.
Moreover, you must also be aware of webcam fatigue or the exhaustion that comes from having multiple meetings with the camera on. As people are working from home, there’s a crossover of the stress coming from work and household responsibilities; you don’t want to add to that stress by obliging people to fix up for a meeting. As a response to this, you can encourage everyone to turn their cameras on but never force anyone to do so.
Summarizing all the tips, as a facilitator of virtual meetings, you have to be prepared, and you have to be mindful of the agenda, time, and people in your conference. Meeting fatigue is a real phenomenon so you also have to be compassionate to the people you work with and really decipher if a virtual meetup must be held in order to make a decision or come up with the desired output.
If a virtual meeting must take place, follow the tips above to be able to run a smooth and productive virtual meeting!
Do you want to make your virtual meetings even more engaging? Consider incorporating exercises from storytelling. For storytelling workshops, coaching, and free resources, check out our website.