In the current situation, a lot of us are turning to video conferencing and remote meetings to make sure we stay in touch with our colleagues and clients. It is vital we continue to share ideas and discuss projects.
However, remote meetings can come with their issues. People zone out and multi-task, feel disengaged by long monologues and feel disconnected by the lack of interactions available.
To help, we’ve put together the following 5 tips together that are helping us keep productive.
1. Find the right video conferencing tool for your meeting
Making sure your setup works for all involved is the most important aspect of a virtual meeting. Some of the best conferencing tools to consider are: Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, Slack or Microsoft Teams.
The IBTM team uses Microsoft Teams and have found the video conferencing to be a great help in the current situation!
2. Collect questions and input in advance
Whether you have released an agenda to all your meeting invitees before the meeting or not, ask your attendees for their questions in advance so you can see what sorts of topics they want to discuss.
You could also use social tools, such as Twitter, and their Hashtag feature to get questions and help the community collect in one place.
You can also make sure that any people who can’t attend the meeting still get their voices heard. They can send over anything they would want to contribute in advance.
3. Encourage people to turn on their cameras
We all know that virtual meetings aren’t a direct substitute for face-to-face meetings where everyone is in the same room. To bring them slightly closer together, ask all your meeting attendees to turn on their cameras when they join the meeting so they can be seen as well as heard.
This makes a meeting more personal since it still gives the impression of everyone being in the same room. Of course, it is absolutely fine should someone prefer to attend without their video turned on.
4. Give your remote colleagues a voice
In a meeting with many attendees, it can sometimes be hard for everyone to make their voice heard. It’s often a good idea therefore to make sure the meeting leader identifies people who haven’t spoken up for a while and invites them to comment or share their ideas.
On some conferencing platforms, such as Zoom, there is a feature where attendees can virtually “raise their hand” to make it known that they want to say something.
5. Record your meeting and make it into a podcast
Most conferencing tools have a record feature. This is very handy if you have people who can’t attend or want to listen back to your meeting and make sure you haven’t missed any points.
Sometimes, it can be even more effective to make the meeting into a podcast. Not all people are able to or want to watch a full video recording. By creating an audio version of the meeting, your colleagues can listen to them on the go or while making notes.
We have already introduced these tips into our own meetings to make sure they stay relevant and engaging. If you want to revolutionise your virtual meetings even more during this time, head to Sli.do for 20 more fantastic suggestions!
https://blog.sli.do/remote-meetings-tips/
Stay safe, stay strong and stay connected with IBTM Connect. Join the virtual community here: https://inside.exceptionalexperiences.net/IBTM-Connect/