Video conferencing has been around for a while, but it has never been so integral to so many organisations all around the world. Virtual meetings are likely to become part of the new normal for many with reductions in face-to-face meetings that could as easily be held virtually.
The benefits of going virtual are clear to see; however, virtual meetings aren’t perfect and it’s been a steep learning curve for many people forced to adjust to this different form of communication. Here are a few tips for enhancing your virtual meetings.
Preparation is key
It may seem unnecessary to produce an agenda for every meeting, especially when sometimes your calls are replacing the workplace conversation that would usually happen spontaneously. But if you’re finding your virtual meetings are going on for longer than you feel is necessary, try going back to basics.
Circulate an agenda including the following:
- the purpose of the meeting
- the objectives that need to be achieved
- the key decisions that need to be made
- a timed agenda
- clear roles and responsibilities: chair/team leader, timekeeper, minute/note-taker
- your digital ‘ground rules’ or digital policy: muting, use of chat functions and icons
*Tip: rotate these roles within your team to keep people engaged and share the responsibility of maintaining your collective productivity.
The agenda should be attached to the call invite and embedded within the calendar event for ease of access. Where possible, reduce email traffic by using your communication tools to your advantage.
Adapt your organisational structure
Top-down hierarchical organisations don’t work well in the virtual environment. Virtual meetings require collaboration and, if used well, can help foster a healthy work culture within your teams.
There is also an increased potential for transparency within the workplace with the capability to record your meetings for colleagues to see. Some meetings will need to be kept private but company-wide meetings could usefully be recorded for the benefit of those unable to attend, or simply for archive purposes. This is also useful if your organisation is looking to embrace radical transparency.
Keep it short
A serious side effect of our new reliance on virtual conferencing is the fatigue factor noticed and shared by many. An easy way around this is to experiment with shorter and more focused meetings. Instead of trying to cover every aspect of a particular question in one go, split it into sections. It may be that different people will need to be involved in different areas and therefore don’t need to sit in on calls for which they’re not directly needed.
Start by aiming to keep calls to 30-40 minutes rather than an hour by default. Agree to minimize unnecessary chatter and keep things focused, following your predetermined agenda. If you want to try something more radical, go for the 10-15 minute method.
Minimise distractions
When the primary focus in a call is auditory (even in a video call), visual distractions can easily creep in. This might be an on-screen email notification or calendar reminder. Or you might just find yourself studying your colleague’s bookcase, searching for something embarrassing or amusing.
An easy way to avoid this is to use virtual backgrounds that are designed to be neutral and keep things focused on the job at hand.
Try new ways of sharing information
If you’re finding your virtual meetings hard to stay engaged with, try shaking things up with different visuals. Consult files together by sharing screens or visualise workflows with diagrams and mind-maps. This variation in stimuli will keep you and your team engaged in the task at hand.
Try sharing resources with colleagues to reflect on outside of meetings to help inform conversations, especially about new ways forward and what you can learn from the ways others are adapting.
Factor in breaks
Your usual workplace patterns will have been completely thrown out the window if you’re new to working at home. In combination with keeping your virtual meetings short when possible, factor in breaks away from the screen. This will massively reduce your ‘zoom fatigue’ symptoms and help you and your colleagues feel positive.
Embrace the change
Change can be overwhelming, but adaptation is key to survival. With lots of pressing tasks to get through, it can be difficult to find time to work out new working practices and ways to adjust. But time considering these things, and even dedicating virtual meetings to them, is time well spent as it lays foundations for the future. If one thing is certain, it is that this future will look very different to the recent past.
