Remote team meetings are
a workplace reality. While convenient and
cost effective, they are difficult to
facilitate, and can be real time wasters. Here
are some ideas you can implement immediately to
get the most out of your next virtual team
meeting.
Without the
visual cues of face to face meetings, the need
for basic meeting management is
heightened.
Spend
more
time planning for the
meeting.
You want
to make sure that everyone is on the same page
and on board from the very first
minute. Step up the agenda - make
sure every topic listed has a desired outcome -
xyz is "for discussion", or "for
decision". Set ground rules.
Distribute the agenda ahead of time - ask
for input to ensure you've got the most
urgent items on your list.
Don't
use your virtual meetings for routine
updates! Use
electronic workspaces such as eRoom or
SharePoint to disseminate general
information. Encourage your team to post
updates before the meeting, and have the
discipline to read posts ahead of time.
Use your valuable time together on the
phone to debate issues and solve
problems.
Try to reduce the
scope of the meeting, or reduce the number of
participants. Does everyone
really have to be on the call - for the
entire time? Be more judicious about
this - keep people informed by posting meeting
minutes - but don't keep everyone on the call
unless they need to be there. Teleconferences that go
on beyond 2 hours are exhausting and probably
not productive. Find other ways to
accomplish some of the meeting objectives,
through one-on-one phone calls
or assignments.
What if the
meeting gets off track
midstream?
Agree
ahead of time how digressions will be
handled. Make sure you have a way to
signal the Team Leader to ensure the digression
is fruitful. If so, at the appropriate
time, let the team know the meeting objectives
will not be met. Table other topics for
another time.
Check
the "pulse" of the team periodically.
Without
face to face signals, you need to check in with
the team to ensure everyone is
participating as much as they usefully can or
want to. A good rule of thumb is to
check-in every 15 to 30 minutes. Go around
the virtual "room" and ask for a one-word
adjective that describes how they are feeling
about the ideas, the meeting, and
decisions. Or, use a 5-point agreement
scale - anything that gives you a read on how
the team is doing.
Put
a face to the voices.
The
use of web cams or videoconferencing will help. At
the very least, take a team photograph the
next time you are together, and send everyone a
copy!
