If you weren't used to virtual meetings , 2020 surely taught you a few lessons, just like it did for us!
At Branch we had to come up with new work dynamics and invest in video conferencing and project management platforms to continue our activities remotely, and boy was it difficult at first.
Little by little we got used to it and discovered how to make virtual meetings more productive .
So in this article we will share our learnings with you because teleworking will continue to be around for a long time, and there is no time to waste, especially at home.
5-tips-for-having-productive-virtual-meetings
1. Make sure the meeting has an explicit purpose
By explicitly stating the purpose of your meeting, you ensure that all participants know the path forward to discuss a central issue or topic.
If this doesn't happen, you run the risk of the meeting ending without a list of key tasks to accomplish and without a resolution of the problem. Your collaborators may leave with more questions than they entered, feeling lost and distracted.
As a result, a new meeting will have to be scheduled, which is certainly unnecessary. Keep in mind that a meeting without a purpose is like a captain sailing in the dark sea, without a compass and blindfolded. A bit scary, isn't it?
Virtual meetings are important when you want to make presentations, align objectives or discuss aspects that require group participation, for example, between several departments.
However, having a meeting is not always the most effective mechanism to achieve the purpose you want to achieve . Let’s be honest, the phrase “This whole meeting could have been done by email” was surely one of the most heard during 2020.
So, here is a flow of questions that will help you know when it is necessary to organize a meeting or not, and what is required to make it more productive:
flowchart-to-know-if-it-is-necessary-to-schedule-a-virtual-meeting
2. Set an agenda with points to discuss and share it in advance
An agenda is a list of things that will happen at a meeting, usually in sequential order. It should be shared with participants ahead of time so they can prepare the material they are going to share.
Agendas are essential for having productive virtual meetings because they help set expectations for attendees and estimate the length of time, including how long it might take to discuss each point.
According to some statistics published by Highfive on video conferencing, planning an appropriate agenda can reduce the time of a meeting by 80%, which, on average, can be between 30 to 60 minutes.
In this sense, the length of the meeting will certainly depend on the agenda to be discussed. However, it is recommended that in order for it to be productive it does not exceed the average, that is, 60 minutes.
Break down what needs to happen during the meeting to achieve the stated purpose: What decisions need to be made and what outcomes will occur at the end of the meeting?
Specify which topics are of priority, and which can be discussed optionally, in case there is time.
Set a time, no more than 5 minutes, for questions and answers, preferably at the end of each point or the meeting.
When holding your virtual meetings and presenting the agenda, we suggest you opt for the following structure:
Presentation: the agenda items are described and all the people who will participate are announced: name, position and topic.
Development: the aspects raised in the agenda are executed
Conclusion: Activities are assigned and content is reviewed.
3. Don't forget the menu!
Minutes should be taken from all productive meetings to record what was done during the meeting: whether the agenda was met and whether new questions or issues arose that should be discussed at a future time.
At the same time, the minutes should record all important decisions made along with the context of how the decision was made and who was involved in that process. Understanding when and why certain decisions were made allows the team to review and evaluate them in the future.
If it is a long and important meeting, it can be recorded and kept for future review. However, despite this technological advantage, it is ideal to have a person who is constantly taking notes.
If you are not the person in charge of this task, it can be assigned to an operational assistant who is connected and paying attention to all the details from start to finish. It is recommended that he or she not be the leader or moderator of the meeting because he or she must attend to other types of responsibilities.
4. Set tasks with owners and deadlines
Meeting minutes should begin with the date, time, and agenda items and end with a list of assigned tasks and actions (to do list).
One of the most important things to do when ending a productive meeting is to make sure there are explicit next steps. So this list of tasks or next actions should be tied to the meeting objective, assigned to a specific person, and have a due date.
Otherwise, the meeting outcomes will end up being ambiguous and attendees will be unsure of who is responsible for what and what needs to be accomplished before the next meeting.
In these situations of confusion and uncertainty, the meeting can end up taiwan contact number being perceived as a waste of time and, of course, not productive at all!
5. Confirm that all meeting participants are in the correct location
Finally, in the meeting invitation, participants should be informed that when connecting, they must be in a quiet place, with little noise and no distractions around them.
It is also important that participants ensure an optimal Internet connection through a computer on which they can view all the material that will be presented at the meeting.
This is because some video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, may have limitations from mobile devices or load some files more slowly.
In case a participant needs to connect from their cell phone, it is important that they take some time before the meeting to send the files they wish to share.
Avoiding Internet connection issues or presentation sharing can shorten meeting times and make the meeting more productive.
Thank you for reading our article! Before you go, we leave you a summary so you can review the content and don't forget that virtual meetings to be productive must :
Plan ahead.
Fulfill a purpose.
Address a clear need.
Have an agenda and minutes with final assignments with owners and delivery times.
Avoid connection and file upload problems
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