How do you cope with technical issues and interruptions in virtual meetings?

3 Be respectful and attentive

Even if you have taken care of the technical and environmental aspects of your virtual meeting, you may still face interruptions from other participants. These can be intentional or unintentional, such as talking over each other, asking irrelevant questions, making inappropriate comments, or multitasking. To cope with these, you need to be respectful and attentive to the speaker and the agenda of the meeting. Use the chat feature or the raise hand function to indicate when you want to speak or ask a question. Wait for your turn and avoid interrupting or cutting off others. Listen actively and show interest by nodding, smiling, or giving verbal feedback. If someone is being rude or disruptive, you can politely ask them to stop or redirect the conversation to the topic at hand.

4 Use visual aids and summaries

One of the challenges of virtual meetings is that they can be less engaging and more difficult to follow than face-to-face meetings. This can lead to confusion, misunderstanding, or boredom among the participants. To cope with this, you can use visual aids and summaries to enhance your communication and keep everyone on the same page. For example, you can share your screen, use slides, graphs, charts, or images to illustrate your points. You can also use bullet points, headings, or keywords to highlight the main ideas or action items. At the end of each segment or the whole meeting, you can summarize what was discussed, what was agreed upon, and what are the next steps.

5 Ask for feedback and confirmation

Another way to cope with technical issues and interruptions in virtual meetings is to ask for feedback and confirmation from the participants. This can help you check if they understood what you said, if they have any questions or concerns, or if they need any clarification or repetition. You can also use feedback and confirmation to gauge their level of interest, engagement, and satisfaction with the meeting. For example, you can ask open-ended questions, such as "What are your thoughts on this?" or "How do you feel about this proposal?" You can also ask closed-ended questions, such as "Do you agree with this?" or "Do you have any questions?" You can also use polls, surveys, or ratings to collect feedback and confirmation.

6 Follow up and follow through

The last tip to cope with technical issues and interruptions in virtual meetings is to follow up and follow through after the meeting. This can help you reinforce your communication, address any unresolved issues, and ensure that everyone is on track with their tasks and responsibilities. You can follow up by sending a thank-you note, a summary of the meeting, or any relevant documents or resources to the participants. You can also ask for any additional feedback or suggestions for improvement. You can follow through by checking on the progress and status of the action items, providing support or guidance if needed, and holding yourself and others accountable for the outcomes.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?