6 tips for running a successful virtual meeting
Before the emergence of COVID-19, there was a growing need to include remote participants in meetings. However, in 2020 this has accelerated significantly. In March, MS Teams recorded 2.7 billion meeting minutes, an increase of 200%, clearly demonstrating the new reliance on video technology and virtual meetings required during lockdown.
There are unique challenges in both hosting and attending virtual meetings and there have been emerging reports on virtual meeting burn out. People can’t use the same social cues as we do in 1:1 meeting, and this can make concentrating on the content more difficult.
There are some keyways in which you can manage meetings to help make them simpler to deliver, while helping your audience to focus on the content. Here are some of the key areas you need to consider ensuring you get the best from hosting a virtual meeting.
Be prepared
If you’re chairing a meeting, it’s important that your resources are ready and to hand. Any materials that you want accessed by attendees need to be shared beforehand, so that your colleagues are already familiar with them. Make sure that you log in at least five minutes before the meeting starts, so you can test run your equipment.
Be clear about what you want to deliver
No one wants to spend their time in meetings where there are no clear drivers or outcomes. The easiest way to show this is to build a clear meeting agenda outlining what the intent and content of the meeting will be. It is also useful to send out follow up communication showing actions and resolutions. This approach helps to emphasise the benefits of the meeting’s content, as well as its proposed outcomes.
Before you set an agenda, understand what type of meeting you want to have. Meetings should have a defined reason and function. This helps to ensure that attendees prepare beforehand and helps you assess how long you need the meeting to be.
Define roles
Another way to help engagement is to define your roles at the beginning. This is especially important if there are members who are not familiar with each other. Avoid saying things like, “Right, I’d like this to be more of a conversation than a presentation…” and instead, allocate responsibilities to each team member and/or team lead. When you assign responsibilities to all those involved, you’re more likely to create engagement and participation.
Keep it short
Consider making virtual meetings shorter where less time is required. A good example of how shorter meetings can work well is an initial idea exchange. Try setting the meeting for 20 minutes and have participants come prepared with ideas they can share. Keeping the meetings brief means participants are more engaged and less likely to multitask.
Use the 5-minute rule
Even if the previous steps are used, you can lose people’s attention if you don’t ask them to solve a problem every five minutes or offer some way for them to engage. Building this into your structure helps to avoid the pitfalls of overly long monologues and refocuses the meeting on interaction.
Make sure you have an agenda
It’s important to set the agenda, as it helps you clearly communicate the purpose of the meeting as well as providing the information your attendees need to come prepared. Here are five tips for creating an effective agenda for a virtual meeting regardless of the meeting type.
Set the objective of the meeting: List the one main goal you need to accomplish. Keep it clear and concise.
Set the meeting duration: Make sure it is the right length for the meeting’s needs.
Double-check the invite list: Keep meetings small when virtual, so that everyone participating can contribute. If virtual meetings get too big, you’ll have people sitting on the call just listening.
Know who will present and notify them in advance: Decide who is leading which part of the meeting and let them know in advance so they can prepare.
Give each presenter a set amount of time: Specify time frames in your agenda and stick to them. Respect the agenda and use this information for future meetings so that your estimates are accurate. Note any changes or if additional time should have been allocated and adapt for future meetings.
Preparation: At the bottom of the agenda, recommend what each person needs to prepare for the meetings. Taking the time upfront to build an agenda and understand the best format of your virtual meeting will go a long way to ensuring you get the most out of each interaction.
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