Boardrooms and conference rooms are sitting empty. The state of the pandemic impacting business across all sectors all over the world. And with the help of technology we have shifted our meetings online.
But meeting virtually is a lot different than meeting in person, as i’m sure you’ve found out. New diagnostic terms, such as ‘Zoom fatigue’, are now part of our lexicon. You can learn tips to fight Zoom fatigue from our earlier blog.
However, fret not. Your team meetings don’t need to be a drag, time-wasting, energy-sucking part of your day.
Follow these simple 5 best practices on how to run efficient virtual meetings to keep your team focused and on task.
1. Set Clear Objectives and an End Goal
Trying to tackle too many issues in a single meeting can leave people drained and disengaged. Instead, pick a specific challenge or task to discuss and collaboratively ideate solutions to achieve the end goal. The goal needs to be SMART, emphasis on the attainable within your meeting timeframe.
2. Keep Invites Exclusive
While we could easily fit 10-20 people in a conference room, the online option gives us an unrealistic expectation of limitless space. Just because you can invite 100 participants to your virtual meeting doesn’t mean you should. Keep the meeting invite list small, just selecting those individuals directly involved with the topic of the meeting.
3. Don’t Go Over Time
Part of respecting people’s time and schedules in the online environment is adhering to an allotted time frame for each meeting. When working from home, co-workers may have other responsibilities to attend to like their kids. They have taken the time to be present and engaged for the meeting, so be punctual and timely. You can always schedule a follow up meeting for another day.
4. Don’t Hog The Mic
No one wants to hear a single person talk for the whole meeting. As a rule of thumb, everyone should speak at least once in each meeting. Or else, why are they there? Circle back to best practice #2 and invite those that are directly involved with the topic of discussion. If someone is being mic shy, be the one to ask them their opinion, sometimes it’s harder to speak up in an online setting.
5. Streamline your Communications
Don’t leave your co-workers jumping from Slack, to Zoom, to Google Calendar, to Trello… streamline your communications within a single platform. That’s the purpose of Chatnels, an enterprise chat platform that integrates with Slack, Zoom and your other business apps so you can conveniently manage your workflow, chat with all your teams and clients, and engage in video conferencing without losing your cool.
Want to see if Chatnels can save you time and energy at your next meeting? We’d love to connect with you and start your free trial.
