Before Your Meeting
This is what you should do before your virtual meeting to make sure it runs smoothly:
- Pick a time that works for everyone. This is especially important if people from multiple time zones are participating.
- Invite everyone that needs to attend; nothing is worse than having to join a meeting late because you are suddenly needed. And similarly, be cognizant of people’s time and leave off those who really do not need to be there.
- Share your agenda ahead of time. This gives your attendees a chance to prepare anything they need and gives you the opportunity to plan the meeting flow ahead of time.
- Test technology including your microphone, camera and internet connectivity ahead of time to avoid any confusion and frustration.
During Your Meeting
To make sure your meeting runs smooth and your participants get the most out of it, you should:
- Use video if possible; meeting attendees are more engaged when they can see the others in the meeting. This also makes it harder to zone out or needlessly multi-task in a meeting.
- Minimize distractions; remind attendees to use their mute button when possible to keep people on track.
- Keep it interesting; rather than just talking at your attendees, use slides or shared documents as visual aids. Also having more than one speaker or calling on various people throughout the meeting for questions or opinions keeps people on their toes and focused.
- Record if appropriate; if this meeting can be used in the future or is part of a training session, it may be best to record it. Just be courteous and let everyone in the meeting know you will be recording.
After Your Meeting
And now that you have finished your meeting, here are some things you should do afterwards:
- Send recording to meeting participants. If this was part of a training session, it may be helpful for everyone in the meeting to have a copy of the meeting to reference later.
- Share meeting notes or minutes and any deliverables promised during the meeting, so everyone is on the same page regarding what they need to do and when.
- Note what worked and what did not. This is the time for a little self-reflection as the meeting holder, so you can implement what you learned for next time.
Also, make sure you are being cyber smart when setting up meetings by using a reputable service to conduct the meeting. This will help to protect you and your business from cyber-attacks. If you need help protecting your business, be sure to contact us to customize your coverage.