It’s increasingly common to hold meetings virtually. Not only are customers, suppliers, and business partners typically located in a separate physical building—if not a different state or country—but many businesses also have locations across the country or around the world. Additionally, working remotely is increasingly common, meaning employees within the same company may not always be able to meet face to face.
Jovanmandic / iStock / Getty Images Plus
In an article for the Journal of Accountancy, Cheryl Meyer offers a number of tips for conducting effective virtual meetings. Here, we’ll take a look at just a few of them.
1. Use Video if You Can
So much of communication is nonverbal. You can pick up on some of this just by vocal inflections over the phone, but having video so the meeting participants can see each other’s facial expressions and body language obviously adds an additional element. It’s about as close as you can get to an in-person meeting.
2. Prepare and Practice with the Technology
People’s time is valuable, and this should always be a consideration for any interaction in the business world. But when you are meeting with a large group, that consideration is magnified even further.
It can be extremely frustrating and time-consuming to spend the first 10 or 15 minutes of the meeting trying to figure out how to open the meeting invite or dial into the call. Prepare ahead of time so everyone is familiar with the virtual tools you’re using.
3. Set Ground Rules
The expectations for a virtual meeting should be no less than those for any other meeting: Show up on time, come prepared—i.e., address any action items, read the agenda, etc.—and stick to the timeline.
But with virtual meetings, additional considerations should be taken into account: Put rules in place to avoid background noise, for example; have speakers identify themselves, especially if there is no video; and focus on the meeting as opposed to multitasking and checking e-mails while others are speaking.
Just because the attendees are spread around the country or the globe doesn’t mean your meeting can’t be effective. Improvements in technology and a greater acceptance of remote working arrangements mean that it’s easier than ever to have productive meetings virtually.