Virtual meetings can be challenging, especially when you have to facilitate a large group of participants. How can you ensure that your meeting is engaging, productive, and meaningful for everyone? Here are some tips to help you plan and run a successful virtual meeting.
Before you invite anyone to your virtual meeting, you need to have a clear and specific purpose for it. What are the goals and outcomes you want to achieve? How will you measure the success of the meeting? How will the meeting contribute to your larger project or strategy? Having a clear purpose will help you design the agenda, select the participants, and communicate the expectations.
Don't think Teams/Zoom/webex is all you need. You wouldn't think a meeting will be engaging and productive, if all you did was book a meeting room. All the same principles of quality facilitation apply, both in room and online. Small groups, large groups, mixing groups, getting the group to be active participants and not simply watching TV.
You need the right tools to have a productive virtual meeting and there are must have tools and basic pre-requisites that the host must also do. -Ensure meeting agenda has been properly communicated -Ensure that the communication and collaborative tool that will be used is simple as possible for everyone to understand -Send meeting reminders prior to -Engage everyone have a fun meeting ?
Here are some ways in which meetings can be made more productive: - Communicate the agenda and relevant data points/pre-read material to the stakeholders a day before the meeting and list down the action items - Start the meeting by defining the objective and expectations clearly. - Have the data points/reports presented on screen while setting context. - There should be a moderator and he/she should be focussed on the expected outcomes from the meeting. He/she should drive the conversations in the right direction and bring them on track in case people digress. - Keep the videos turned on so all stakeholders feel involved and participate. - Make use of tools like whiteboard etc (provided within the video conferencing app, if needed
1. Prepare in advance. Have a clear purpose and agenda for the meeting. 2. Set housekeeping rules - raise a hand, mute audio, no eating!!!*ugh, nothing worse 3. Engage with attendees 4. Keep it short and focused - allocate 60 mins in the invite but only 45 minutes for the actual meeting and then 5 mins for intros, 5 mins for wrap-up, and 5 mins to prep for the next meeting. 5. Follow up and follow through - have a note taker and assign actions to attendees.
In my experience, create a placeholder invite ahead of time so that you can get the most attendance. Update with details as you go along. Start the meeting by stating your objectives and what you want to walk away with at the end of the meeting. Request video interactions (gently) so that the meeting has good participation. Send out homework or pre-reads ahead of time so that you can dive right in instead of context setting.
Depending on your purpose, you may need different features and functions for your virtual meeting. For example, if you want to have a brainstorming session, you may need a platform that allows you to share screens, use whiteboards, or create polls. If you want to have a dialogue or a debate, you may need a platform that allows you to break out into smaller groups, use chat, or raise hands. Do some research and compare different platforms to find the one that suits your needs.
Be sure your audience is prepared for your platform, and familiar with how to use it if they are expected to engage. Nothing will kill a collaborative session faster than folks who are not comfortable with a tool. If necessary, build in time and activities for familiarization - you can't count on folks doing pre-work or pre-learning if it's their first time on the platform.
Choose a reliable and user-friendly video conferencing platform. Ensure that all participants have access and are familiar with the features.
Test the platform works, and if you are going to use any kind of interactive software or tools, ensure your entire team have access from the beginning. Nothing changes the focus of the meeting than technical problems
This so critical because the wrong platform will just kill an important meeting. These days, most platforms have tools that would assist with facilitating a meeting and help engagement as well. The first step, is to get the audience to agree on a platform that they are all familiar with, as this would help with reducing issues with mics, videos or sound. Secondly, for any collaborative tool make sure that you have run it through before using it because nothing stresses people more with downloads or registrations. The top three for me is still Zoom, Googlemeet and Teams. They have a lot of options for tools for almost any type of meetings.
Rule no. 2: Be Prepared. 1) Whatever platform you use, make yourself familiar with it. 2) Run all the updates and check what has changed. 3) Define your role. Don't facilitate and do tech hosting at the same time. 4) Dry run the meeting with all the features you want to use with some colleagues. 5) Never rely on wifi when you are not just a normal participant. 6) Get yourself a proper USB microphone. Bad audio is much worse than bad video. A Shure MV7 is a good choice. 7) Get yourself a proper camera. Don't use something built in. An Insta360 link is suitable. 8) Get yourself earpieces to prevent loopbacks. 9) Light up your face. Prevent light from the back. 10) Don't use fancy virtual backgrounds. They confuse our brains.
One of the biggest challenges of virtual meetings is to keep the participants engaged and motivated. To avoid distractions, boredom, or confusion, you need to prepare the participants well in advance. Send them the agenda, the purpose, and the expected outcomes of the meeting. Ask them to do some pre-work, such as reading a document, watching a video, or completing a survey. Encourage them to test their technology, find a quiet and comfortable space, and turn on their cameras and microphones.
To guarantee a fruitful online meeting: 1. Distribute the pre-meeting documents. 2. Express specific goals. 3. Examine the schedule. 4. Assign responsibilities. 5. Get acquainted with interactive resources. 6. Promote inquiries. 7. Take into account the setting of the gathering. 8. Emphasise the acts that follow.
Nothing ensures participation better than a super clear, super streamlined agenda with LOTS of opportunities to engage, and SUPER clear roles. Why is each person there? Is each one absolutely necessary? If it's a large group, what break-outs will enable more lively and personalized dialogue? You also want to harness multiple modalities as much as possible - get live comments while also enabling chat or activity in a whiteboard. Use polls, voting, stickers, or other methods for identifying themes, hotspots, or alignment. Last but not least - build in breaks! And tell your audience when to expect them. It will help folks resist checking out prematurely, if they know they when will be able to handle other urgent matters.
Was just recently in a meeting where there was a time keeper. During Q&A people were allotted 1 min to provide a comment or answer a question. The key was to be concise and stay on track with the subject matter. I found it to be quite effective...all points were discussed and covered within the 1 hour meeting time.
If you do provide pre-work, ensure there is space for folks who weren't able to complete it so they can still meaningfully participate in the meeting.
Rule no. 3: Prepare your guests 1) No agenda, no meeting. 2) Inform your guests about the purpose, the goals, and the technology of your meeting upfront. Any homework to be done? 3) Allow your participants to test the technology or software in a separate meeting, if they are not familiar with it. 4) Send out the credentials in time and once again shortly before the meeting with a friendly reminder.
As a facilitator, you are responsible for making virtual meetings productive and enjoyable. To achieve this, you should use techniques such as icebreakers, check-ins, ground rules, questions, feedback, and summaries. Icebreakers can help participants get to know each other and build trust. Check-ins can be used to ask how the participants are feeling or what they expect from the meeting. Ground rules should be established to set norms and expectations for the meeting. Open-ended questions can stimulate conversation and elicit ideas. Feedback should be constructive and appreciative. Finally, summaries can be used to recap main points and decisions at the end of each topic or session.
Set the mood. A few minutes before the meeting is to start, put on an upbeat, inspiring song to get folks ready. For groups that will meet often, get a Playlist started, meetings can be joyful.
M?gliche Ans?tze fürs erfolgreiche Leiten von Meetings: - Zu Beginn des Meetings ankommen und einführend die Beteiligten abholen. Fragen, wie die allgemeine Befindlichkeit ist ehe man direkt ins Thema einsteigt. - Durch das Pr?sentieren der Agenda sind vorab alle nochmals abgeholt und wissen, warum sie im Call sind. - Es gilt die Zeit im Blick zu behalten und ggfs geschickt einzugreifen. Man neigt schnell zu Ausschweifungen oder Nebendiskussionen. Diese gilt es frühzeitig zu erkennen, abzugreifen und auf einen sp?teren Zeitpunkt zu verschieben. - Bei einer gr??eren Gruppe bedarf es einer Melderegelung und der damit verbundenen Worterteilung, damit keiner dem anderen ins Wort f?llt und eine reibungslose Kommunikation stattfinden kann
A great technique for your next virtual meeting is to focus on engagement. I have accomplished this by leveraging visuals whenever possible, in my remote work. Preparing materials like a slide deck, visual examples, tapping into a website or even sharing a meeting agenda are ways that you can keep your virtual audience engaged. This provides visual context for your audience. Providing visual context helps to do 3 things: ??Keeps your virtual meeting on task. ??Can increase audience buy-in, if necessary. ??And helps to keep your audience highly engaged during the meeting. The next time you send your meeting link, spend the next 5-10 minutes preparing visual materials that can be sent ahead or presented during your virtual meeting.
You can be a great facilitator, even if you don't know what the topic is all about. That's why facilitation skills are important in meetings. Personally, one key rule when facilitating a meeting is to leave no one behind. We should at all times ensure that each participant are given the opportunity to speak up/contribute in a meeting. One tip that I may share would be on starting something general (high level) where everybody can easily take part in. Then go deeper and consider smaller group discussions to go into specific details. And it's critical that the findings from these groups are being shared to everyone by representatives of the group! As facilitators, we've got to make sure the tempo is right and know how to drive the discussions
Agenda clarity: To set expectations, clearly state the agenda for the meeting in advance. Active involvement: Make use of tools such as surveys, Q&A sessions, or breakout groups. Time management: Organise the meeting such that each item on the agenda has a designated time slot. Visual aids: To communicate information and maintain participant interest, use presentations, documents, or graphics. Moderation: Steer conversations so that everyone gets an opportunity to speak and avoid any one person from taking the lead. Virtual icebreakers: To establish a friendly and engaging environment, start with a quick icebreaker. Follow-up actions: Clearly specify action items, responsibilities, and timelines.
The virtual meeting is not over when you end the call. You need to follow up with the participants to ensure that they have a clear understanding of what happened, what was agreed, and what are the next steps. Send them a summary of the meeting, including the key takeaways, the action items, and the deadlines. Ask them for their feedback on the meeting, and how they felt about the process and the outcomes. Thank them for their participation, and remind them of the purpose and the value of the meeting.
What I have noticed, is that many professionals tend to struggle with time management. Virtual meetings tend to run late without proper closure, reflection and aligning on key points and next steps. This way virtual meetings are struggling to be effective. - set up a time to wrap up so you have sufficient space for next steps - reassure there will be another opportunity to continue discussion/brainstorming/collecrlting input - use AI to have the meeting and points summerized that is shared as soon as possible, so no momentum gets lost
If there are actions that are assigned to team members , its best to revisti those at the beginning of the meeting so things can progress. this way team members will be preparared for future actions. i would have a feedback meeting ( like a retrospective ) to ensure your meetings are working.
The worse situation is that people leave the meeting room more confused or unhappy. It could be due to many reasons, but one thing that is a game changer for me and my businesses is the usage of technology. I suggest for those doing meetings to incorporate the usage of apps such as Notion, Monday.com, Asana and much more. The traction that you would get post meeting would be amazing. It's because the apps above manages the follow up that needs to be done ie action plan, allocation of PIC, deadlines, progress and also grouping for projects. This just up your game when it comes to follow up on progress post meeting. And the next time you join the meeting, the updates from the apps just helps you keep track of all moving parts!
The follow-up game is key to keeping the productivity train rolling after your virtual meeting. One thing you can do is send out a recap email/message shortly after the meeting ends. This email/message can include a summary of the discussion points, decisions made, and action items assigned to each attendee. Plus, it's always good to have a written record to refer back to later on. But hey, don't stop there! Keep the communication flowing post-meeting. If there are any updates or progress on action items, shoot out quick updates or reminders to the team. By staying proactive with your follow-up efforts, you'll not only keep the productivity momentum going but also foster a culture of accountability and collaboration within your team.
Was helfen kann ist eine Zusammenfassung / Protokollierung, um eine bessere Nachverfolgbarkeit zu gew?hrleisten bei den t?glich zahlreichen Calls / Meetings, die man führt. Bei Bedarf kann immer wieder nach Feedback gefordert werden, um das Meeting für die Zukunft zu verbessern.
Yes Agenda A pen and paper Time limit Follow up with actions A bigger picture focus No Egos Chairs Rabbit holes Electronic devices ??
? Use interactive tools like polls and quizzes ? Incorporate visual aids like slides and videos ? Encourage active participation and engagement ? Use virtual whiteboards for brainstorming ? Make it interactive with virtual breakout rooms ? Use gamification elements to keep attendees engaged ? Make it more personal with virtual icebreakers ? Use humor and anecdotes to lighten the mood ? Encourage collaboration and group work ? Use virtual field trips or virtual tours By incorporating these elements, you can make virtual meetings more engaging, interactive, and memorable for attendees.
Practical considerations…. Do you have everything you may need? A note taking system- paper or digital? Do you know what is going to be on the agenda, or are you prepared for surprises..? Very practical ……….have you had a bathroom break ? Don’t get caught short my friends!!!
Keep it small. Only invite people that really need to be there. We all waste too much time attending meetings we want to be at but don’t need to be at! FOMO! So meeting Chair be clear on who you need to be there and stick to it.
Consider how AI can help with taking notes, summarizing and identifying action steps. Using AI can help all participants including facilitator the freedom to engage in the conversation without being beholden to note taking.