More and more meetings are being held virtually, either via telephone conference call or by video call. When I was thinking about the tips we could share for assuring that your virtual meeting has awesome results, it became very apparent to me that many of the best practices for an in person meeting and a virtual meeting are the same, although some of these items take on greater importance…

Here are our top five:

1. Advance agenda. While this is a best practice for any meeting being held, it carries even more importance for virtual meetings. Successful meetings are those that have the participants fully engaged, on board, and understanding the flow of the meeting.  Some of the benefits of body language and eye contact which are lost in virtual meetings can be compensated for by having a very clear agenda. The clear agenda allows participants to follow along, know what’s coming up next, and to stay engaged.
2. Advance materials, well marked and identified. Best practice for any meeting is to  provide materials in advance of the meeting.  This can be even more important for virtual meetings. Without the benefit of looking over  another’s shoulder to see which page is being referenced, a seemingly rather insignificant practice of affect ability labeling and ordering documents can save time  and increase the efficiency of your results. Clearly numbering documents, clearly titling documents, and presenting them in an easy order to follow  can be key  to running your virtual meeting.
3. Anticipate and allow for technological hiccups.  We’ve all been in the conference room on time, waiting patiently while someone tries to sign in to the telephone conference line.  Or another technological delay.  Or not knowing how to use the equipment. Or… Or… Or… The persons responsible for holding the meeting  should have the conference line  open several minutes before the scheduled start of the meeting.  They should also have a backup, should the technology fail.  And they should have an alternate  telephone number should someone have difficulty  patching into the meeting.
4. Start the meeting on time.  Again, this is a best practice for any meeting,  but with virtual meetings, you risk establishing a practice that effectively gives people permission to be late for other meetings you run.   This does not bode well for your future. When participants know that the meeting is going to start on time, they will be prompt.  Be very cautious about rewarding the “wrong  behavior.”
5. Involve all participants. Because you have the disadvantage of not seeing peoples’ behaviors or body language,  you really can’t know what they are thinking.  Or whether they are paying attention. The best practice is for the meeting leader to call upon each participant, especially those who have not shared  their thoughts.

And another thought…  Don’t rule out the use of chat rooms or virtual group written communications such as Twitter with hashtags. While it may appear distracting initially, you can actually gauge who was involved,  what were their opinions, who is paying attention, etc… This option  should be selected judiciously, but I just would not rule it out.

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