It’s been over 9 months now since many of our work worlds made a drastic change and we all started working from home. For those that had never worked remotely, the idea was novel and fresh. At first, we shifted into survival mode to get work done. Days were being interrupted constantly as we all grappled with the new normal. As the weeks dragged into months, did you notice work starting to feel a little tedious?
I’ve worked remotely for many years now and watched while many around me had to adapt. I’ve experienced firsthand how work changes when it is all remote. Many people wish to continue to work remotely even once the pandemic is over. But how can you make those virtual meetings more productive? Here are a few simple tips you can use to help improve your meeting results.
Set a goal for your meetings
Without goals, meeting can drift all over the place. Without a goal, meetings are simply a time on the calendar. One meeting blurs into another and at the end of the day you are asking yourself, “What happened today?” A goal helps make meetings actionable. It also creates something everyone in the meeting can unify around. It gives you a target to achieve. We all need to feel like we are accomplishing something right now. If you are using meeting performance software, include the goal when you set up the meeting. Otherwise you can include the goal as part of the meeting invitation.
Is that video camera really necessary?
Determine whether you really need that video camera on or not. Video conferencing fatigue is exhausting many people right now. I hear many stories like “I just leave my camera off sometimes and hope they don’t say anything”. “It’s like a game of camera roulette”. How about you- do you find yourself feeling guilty leaving the camera off? Bring the video camera discussion in the open. Just because you CAN use the video camera doesn’t meeting you always SHOULD. Its kind, compassionate and wise to have people turn the camera off unless it is necessary. Do you like looking at yourself on video on these calls? How often to you get completely distracted by someone else that moves while on the call? And facial expressions? These are not the same as when we were all physically in the room. Cameras on can create a lot of “noise” in the meeting that detracts from the conversation. We notice all these little things, and they contribute to making us really tired.
I can feel your objection. “But I won’t know if they are engaged!” you may protest. Simple solution for that. Make small changes to your plan for meetings where the cameras are off. Add prebuilt places in the meeting for dialog. Let’s say it’s a presentation and you don’t know if they are paying attention. You can build in questions periodically that check to make sure the team is following along. These meetings feel entirely different than most meetings, and the participants will notice. Engagement is better. You also build goodwill. This isn’t one more meeting where they are stuck on camera getting completely distracted by everyone else. Strategically use cameras off to focus on dialog.
Now you are armed with two new ideas on supercharging your virtual meetings. These simple strategies will help you build goodwill and improve your results. Want to take it to the next level? Supercharge your whole meetings process with meeting performance software such as Bella Scena. Now, are you ready to go out there and have more productive meetings?
By Amber Christian
~Business Game Changer Special Promotion~
Amber Christian is the Founder of Wonderly Software Solutions and creator of Bella Scena. At Bella Scena, we use a whole problem philosophy. We help you address both the skills needed for effective meetings and the tools to administer and manage productive meetings.
