10 Tips for Successful Virtual Team Meetings: Ideas on how to make your first virtual team meeting a success.
Introduction
We’ve all been there. You are in the middle of an important meeting and it’s time for a break. The problem is that not everyone can get up and leave their desk. What do you do? You could just skip the break, but studies have shown that taking breaks during meetings helps teams stay focused and alert throughout the day (and night). Virtual teams face this challenge even more because they don’t even have in-person meetings together! I’ve worked on many virtual teams over my career as a project manager and while they weren’t always successful at first, we eventually figured out how to make them work well by following these simple tips to host Successful Virtual Team Meetings:
Successful Virtual Team Meetings always have an agenda.
The agenda is your map for the meeting and it should include:
- The goal of the meeting, who will be attending, and why they are there.
- Descriptions of each item on your agenda and what you want to accomplish during that time block (i.e., “we’ll discuss our goals for this quarter” or “we’ll look over our updated marketing plan”). This helps ensure that everyone knows what is expected from them during each segment of the meeting so they can plan ahead accordingly. It also keeps things moving smoothly because people know how much time they have left before their next task is due!
- Any decisions made during each part of your discussion should be recorded somewhere so everyone has access later on if needed; either electronically or by writing down notes on paper/whiteboard etcetera…
Define roles.
Define roles.
Who is responsible for what? This is a crucial step in planning your virtual team meeting. You’ll want to define who will be responsible for the agenda, minutes and other tasks that need to be done during the meeting. Make sure everyone knows what they need to do before the meeting starts so that they can prepare themselves accordingly.
Get a good screen share application.
The first thing you need to do is get a good screen share application. You will need one that allows you to share your screen with multiple people at once, even if they’re not on the same computer as you. The best way to do this is by using Google Hangouts or Skype (or any other similar service).
Record your virtual team meetings.
Record your virtual team meetings. A recording of the meeting will allow you to refer back to it later, and it’s also a great way for people who couldn’t attend the meeting (for example, if they were on vacation) to get up to speed on what happened.
- Use a screen recorder like Camtasia or Screenflow for Mac. These programs record everything that happens on your screen as well as audio from whatever application or program is playing at the time. They’re easy enough for beginners, but powerful enough for professionals looking for more advanced features like built-in speech-to-text conversion capabilities or real time editing tools that let you highlight sections of the recording while they are being played back so they can easily add notes about them later when reviewing their work product.*
- Use video conferencing tools that have recording features built into them such as Zoom or GoToMeeting.* You can also use webinars (Zoom) which allow attendees who don’t have access through their computer screens see what everyone else is seeing by using their phones/tablets instead!
Schedule time for remote workers to join the meeting.
If you’re planning on holding a virtual team meeting, it’s important to ensure that all participants are able to join. If possible, schedule time for remote workers to join the meeting.
- Give them advance notice so they can be prepared and make sure they know how they will participate in the event.
- Provide instructions on how they can connect with other participants via telephone or video chat if needed.
Communicate regularly and set expectations for a meeting before it happens.
- Communicate regularly and set expectations for a meeting before it happens.
- Make sure everyone is ready for the meeting by setting up expectations, asking questions about what they need from this particular meeting, and making sure that everyone has access to any materials needed in advance of the virtual team meeting (such as files or presentations).
- If you need to reschedule a virtual team meeting because something came up at work or home, communicate that as soon as possible so that no one wastes their time preparing for an event that isn’t happening yet.
Set up a document-sharing platform like Google Drive, Dropbox, or other tools that are compatible with your team members’ needs.
Set up a document-sharing platform like Google Drive, Dropbox, or other tools that are compatible with your team members’ needs. If you want to share documents with external parties (clients or bosses), make sure they know how to use the service too.
Google Docs has become an incredibly popular tool for collaborating on documents and spreadsheets online thanks to its ease of use and ability to work across multiple platforms such as Android or iOS devices. The best part? It’s free!
Consider using a whiteboard tool like Zoom Meeting’s Whiteboard feature or use a collaborative wiki tool like Doodle (http://doodle.com/), Google Docs (https://docs.google.com), and Microsoft OneNote (https://www.onenote.com/).
There are many different tools you can use to facilitate your virtual meetings. You can use whiteboard tools like Zoom Meeting’s Whiteboard feature or use a collaborative wiki tool like Doodle (http://doodle.com/), Google Docs (https://docs.google.com), and Microsoft OneNote (https://www.onenote.com/).
These types of tools have their own pros and cons, so let’s take a look at each one:
- Whiteboard Tools – Pros: Easy to set up, easy for participants to access from anywhere with an internet connection, great for brainstorming ideas or making notes on during meetings. Cons: The main drawback is that everything that has been written on the whiteboard will be there forever unless someone deletes it before leaving the room! This means if there is information shared during your meeting that shouldn’t be made public yet then this could cause problems later down the line when someone else who wasn’t present sees what was written down earlier..
You can have Successful Virtual Team Meetings if you plan ahead, communicate well, and make them work for everyone involved in the team
As a virtual team member, you have to be prepared for every meeting. You need to know what’s going on in the company and how your role fits into the bigger picture. If you don’t, then the meeting will be wasted time for everyone involved because no one will know where they stand or what their responsibilities are. You should be part of the solution to host Successful Virtual Team Meetings for your team.
The best way to ensure that this doesn’t happen is by having regular check-ins with your manager or other members of leadership who can answer any questions that may arise during a meeting. These check-ins should also include updates on projects so you can get an idea of how far along they are and when they might be completed by so that there aren’t any surprises during virtual team meetings (and if there are surprises, at least they’ll be good ones).
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a way to make your first Successful Virtual Team Meetings, we hope these tips have helped. If you have any other suggestions or would like to share what has worked well for your organization, please leave us a comment below!
For more information on hosting virtual meetings, please check out these external articles:
