Your goal is to conduct productive online meetings and provide an efficient way to manage virtual teams.
However, you’ve likely experienced web meetings that are ineffective and frustrating. Colleagues may show up late, experience technical difficulties or multi-task. This leaves everyone feeling frustrated and disconnected.
The following tips will help you conduct productive online meetings that stay on track, on topic and on time.
1. Get Yourself Organized
Just because you stay at your desk for online meetings doesn’t mean you can show up at the last minute. You should log into the web meeting at least ten minutes early to test your audio, check your webcam, set up tools and update preferences within your virtual platform. You’ll also want to open your presentation, websites or other documents you’ll need to share throughout the meeting.
2. Have an Agenda
Using a written agenda is critical to keeping everyone on track. Refer to the list throughout your meeting to remind everyone exactly what you need to accomplish. As you progress, check-off the items you’ve covered. Consider using a separate “parking lot” section, either on a whiteboard or on the agenda itself, to capture sidebar conversations or additional items that come up outside of your pre-designated agenda. This will help everyone feel engaged and heard, while keeping the meeting on topic.
3. Give Everyone a Voice
In every group – whether face-to-face or online – there are individuals who will dominate the conversation. During online meetings, it’s easy for the introverts to get lost in the shuffle. While speaking to individuals, call on others by name and instruct them to add their feedback or comments to chat. This allows you to gather information from everyone in a short period of time and keeps all attendees engaged.
Learn more about how Power Presentations Web Meetings that Wow live online training can help you conduct more productive online meetings.