Virtual meetings are on the rise, but do you know how to run them? Chances are that you’re making some mistakes.
There are a lot of benefits of virtual meetings, but you need to know how to run them if you want them to be effective. With a virtual meeting, it’s even more important to stay on task and to ensure that all participants are comfortable and focused.
Here’s how you can run an effective virtual meeting in your company.
Have Clear Goals
When you run a meeting virtually, you need to make sure that you have a clear plan. You should set a goal for the meeting so that all participants know what the meeting is about. This can help you to focus your meeting and ensure that you stay on task and on topic.
Be sure to set an agenda, set ground rules, and outline important next steps towards the end of the meeting.
Test Your Technology
No matter what technology you choose to use for your virtual meeting, it’s a good idea to test it out first. Make sure that you test any software or video equipment that you’ll be using beforehand to ensure that the meeting will go without a hitch.
You should also encourage all meeting participants to do the same on their ends. This way, you won’t need to deal with technical issues after the meeting begins.
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Remind Participants
Before your meeting starts, you should be sure to send at least a couple of reminders to all participants. It can be easy for a participant to forget about a meeting or to forget to check their calendar.
It’s a good idea to send follow-up emails and messages after the initial meeting announcement to ensure that nobody will be absent. Especially make sure to send a reminder an hour or so before the start of the meeting to ensure that everyone will remember to attend.
Create a Comfortable Environment
Depending on who will be participating in the virtual meeting, it may be especially important that you set a great tone early on. You should ensure that everyone feels comfortable in the virtual meeting and that they’re acquainted with other participants.
Setting a positive tone at the beginning of the meeting, making your participants laugh, and using some ice breakers can be well worth the extra effort.
Avoid Long Presentations
You should also keep presentations to a minimum when you hold a meeting virtually. Keep your virtual event discussion-focused so that everyone will stay active and engaged.
If there is any important information needed for the meeting, send it to your participants beforehand so that they can review it themselves. This can help ensure that there will be a minimal amount of time in the meeting where participants will be disengaged.
Hosting a Great Virtual Meeting With These Tips
While hosting a virtual meeting can be a great way to stay in touch with remote team members and those working in various locations, they can be a challenge as well. Be sure that you set clear goals for the meeting and that you keep it focused if you want it to be a success.
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