Virtual meetings
Nowadays, especially in the post Covid era, virtual meetings have been increased and have become an integral part of our lives and jobs.
What a virtual meeting actually is?
A virtual meeting is a form of communication that enables people in different physical locations to use their mobile or internet connected devices to meet in the same virtual room. A virtual meeting means a web conference. It is a gathering held over the internet using applications or services with the possibility of sharing presentations, voice, video, texts, and files via the web.
There are several virtual meeting platforms, applications and software that bring people together over the internet. Usually, this software includes a form of video conferencing, as well as tools like chat, reactions, and screen sharing. Some examples of this software include Zoom, Webex, etc.
How will a virtual meeting be effective and productive?
Throughout the amount of several virtual meetings that have been held all over the world, we are now present you some tips in order team leaders to hold a highly successful remote meeting.
Do’s
- Set the agenda and plan your online meetings in advance.
By planning a virtual meeting in advance, you will be able to conduct the meeting’s agenda. Make sure that all your team members receive the agenda some days before the meeting. In this way your team will have the appropriate time to contact you and add things that need to be discussed, or even participate with questions. The agenda will also give you the opportunity to set a framework for taking meeting notes and the timetable of the meeting.
- Set a clear goal.
Clear goals of virtual meetings may put you and your team closer to achieving goals. For example, a goal that could be set, is getting daily updates from the team members working on a project. If your team knows what you’re all working online meetings can be as effective as F2F meetings.
- Greet everyone at the beginning of the online meeting.
As you want your team to be focused and engaged greet everyone who is participating at the beginning. This will help everyone not feel excluded. The participants will feel that they contribute and will pay attention.
- Set the meeting’s action items.
As after the meeting, participants will have to contribute to a specific goal, some actions should be assigned with deadlines. Those actions and deadlines can be developed during the meeting, or you can set predetermined action and assigned them to your team. Either way, inform the team that the results will be discussed at your next online meeting or the deadline that has been set.
- Use your laptop, not your phone.
At first by using your laptop/desktop will give a more serious and professional picture to your team. Even though those platforms are available for smartphones, laptop screens remain superior for properly seeing and hearing in virtual meetings.
- Look at the camera.
The thing that participants should do is simple: Look at the participants while they are speaking, but when it is time for you to speak, look at your camera.
- Hold meetings from quiet rooms.
It is undeniable that background noises are annoying for everyone involved in a virtual meeting. The simple thing you can do is take virtual meetings in quiet rooms.
- Check your background.
Keep the background clean and simple. By doing that, all participants will be focused to the person speaking and won’t try to understand what’s going on behind you.
- Recap.
Before closing an online meeting, summarize the key decisions made. Let your team ask you questions and remind them the deadlines and tasks.
- Dress yourself like a F2F meeting.
You and your team should be dressed as you would do to a F2F meeting. That means that you should avoid outfits you wouldn’t wear at the office. It is easier to focus when you’re fully and professionally dressed.
Don’ts
- Don’t hold too long online meetings.
People often have attention spans. That is more common in virtual meetings. Although one hour-long meetings are common, experts argue that 30 minutes is the perfect meeting duration.
- Don’t multitask.
The only thing you should do is focus only in your meeting. In this way you won’t miss a thing, you won’t misunderstand, and everything will be clear.
- Don’t let your notifications on.
Before your meeting, you should turn off your notifications. By turning off the notifications, you minimize whatever might cause a distraction.
- Don’t distract participants.
Participants of a virtual meeting should be quiet at virtual meetings. Don’t move around your room doing other things and of course do not leave the room during meetings.
- Don’t interrupt.
In order to keep the online meeting, running smooth, participants should wait for their turn to speak. Keep yourself muted. If something comes up, and you have to speak, be patient, note it and ask it later.
- Don’t have conversations with others in the chat room.
Almost every time participants can tell who is talking with whom during an online meeting. That can distract the team and even more the speaker. If you have to tell someone about something that comes up at the meeting, make a note to do it later, instead doing it to the chat.
- Don’t cover your microphone and camera.
Before your meeting, locate your mic and camera on your laptop and arrange your computer settings. Be careful with objects such as papers or notes that might block them.
- Don’t be late or wait until the meeting time to log in.
When a meeting is scheduled, every participant knows the exact time the meeting starts. In order to avoid some internet crisis and have a chance to salute your team log in 3-5 minutes or so earlier.
- Don’t invite unnecessary people.
Sometimes we are not sure if the whole team needs to participate in a meeting. While arranging the agenda and before sending the invitations to your team, make sure who must participate and do not invite unnecessary people.
- Don’t do things that you wouldn’t do in a F2F meeting.
Keep in mind that a virtual meeting is like a regular F2F meeting. For example, don’t eat, yawn, or make gestures. It is unpolite and no one will
Do you or your team, follow the above tips?
E(U) leaders
All the above play an important role in virtual meetings. Leaders of today have to overcome communication barriers as it becomes more and more common for business leaders to work flexibly across time zones to ensure the most effective maintaining of business operations.
In virtual teams, there is a greater requirement for autonomy and thus, a greater need for communication, trust and cooperation between a team leader and the team members.
The emergence of a new class of leaders, namely e-leaders who display strategic leadership, business and ICT savviness, is inevitable.
Considering all the above, E(U) leaders project started its journey in December 2021.
Do you have all the needed skills to become an e-leader?
Learn more about E(U) leaders project and its result here!
Stay tuned for more!
