Virtual meetings are unavoidable in today’s working environment. They can be challenging to get right, but the benefits of being able to meet with anyone anywhere are too great to miss out on. You will need to have the right tools and policies to ensure that you get the most out of your virtual meetings.
It may take some trial and improvement to get the process right, but the effort will be worthwhile. Consider drafting a policy on your virtual meeting processes and send it to your employees, so they know what is expected of them before, during and after a virtual meeting.
Provide Quick IT Troubleshooting
The most common issues with any virtual meeting are IT problems. For the host of the meeting, IT issues can derail the meeting entirely, so it is crucial that you have IT support on hand to troubleshoot any problems that arise.
If you have in-house IT support, ensure they are available when you need their help, and if you outsource, ask that a technician be available to help anyone with issues during the meeting.
It may also help to train your employees on how to handle various common issues they may face during a virtual meeting. This can help keep costs down and ensure that problems are resolved promptly.
Share The Meeting Agenda In Advance
Sharing the meeting’s agenda in advance can help ensure the meeting stays on track. It can also ensure that every one relevant to the meeting is aware that their presence is needed. If you are hosting the meeting, it is your task to keep the meeting on the agenda and ensure it doesn’t stray off-topic.
Encourage Participants To Use Neutral Backgrounds
The backgrounds used by participants can make a big difference in how productive the meeting will be. Ideally, everyone should use a neutral, blank background to prevent possible distractions.
If this is not possible, you could ask participants to use one of the filters offered by most video conferencing platforms. This automatically removes the background and replaces it with a background of your choice.
Ask Participants To Log In Early
Ask participants to get to their desks and set up their meeting at least five minutes before the meeting is set to start. This can ensure that everyone has time to do minor troubleshooting without making the meeting late to start. Only allow the meeting to begin when all the key participants are in attendance and ready to begin.
Invest In Equipment For Employees
Your team will need the right tools to allow them to participate in the meeting effectively. You should research the equipment necessary and ensure your team has the best quality microphones, webcams, and laptops to allow them to participate in meetings productively.
Use A Dependable Transcription Service
Sometimes scheduling conflicts make it impossible for everyone that needs to be in a meeting to attend. It is a good idea to look for an AI transcription service that will ensure that even those who weren’t there can benefit from the discussion and ideas from the meeting.
Anchor AI is the industry leader in providing AI transcription services for virtual meetings, making them an ideal choice for any business leader.
Avoid Scheduling Too Many Meetings
Too many meetings can be just as bad for productivity as too few meetings. After a certain period, people are less able to retain and respond to new information, so it is best to limit meetings that include a lot of the same people on the same day.
It may help to send out a survey to participants after the meeting to see how well the information was absorbed and how this changes throughout the day. This could be a great way to get an idea of the ideal number of meetings for a workday.
Put Your Focus On The Meeting
It can be tempting to multi-task while participating in a virtual meeting, but the result of this will usually be that none of the activities you’re trying to get done are completed to a good standard. When in a meeting, that should be your complete focus and the focus of all the participants.
Encourage Active Participation
Another key issue with virtual meetings is that it can be harder to be heard. Remote meetings don’t allow for casual and group talking that in-person meetings do, so it is vital to find ways to allow everyone to participate. You could consider going through the call attendees and asking for opinions or questions to answer. Many video conference platforms also have tools that allow attendees to raise their hands to show the host they have something to offer.
Send Out Reminders For The Meeting
Reminders are an important way to ensure that everyone turns up to the meeting on time. You could send an email calendar reminder that will notify attendees of a set time before the meeting is to occur. It is a good idea to include the link and password for the meeting in this email.
Understandably, there are other tips and tricks you can utilize to make the most of your virtual meetings. That being said, we hope you have found those mentioned here useful, and are leaving us with a better idea of how to maximize your efforts.