Running an online meeting is a necessary skill in today’s business. Good leaders know how to run a meeting. Exceptional are also every bit as skilled with online meetings.
You’ve heard the hype. Web conferencing can save your travel budget, important in today’s expensive environment. Run them right and you’ll improve communication and save money at the same time. Nice. Here’s 8 tips to help you get started.
1. Have an agenda distributed ahead of time. This is even more important online than in “normal” meetings. Having the agenda in front of all the attendees — preferably
2. Practice with your web meeting software. As a leader, you should know how the features work. Planning to use the whiteboard? Figure out how to use it before the meeting. Only want to share one document from your desktop? Again, practice once and learn what to do. Few things are more irritating to meeting participants than waiting five minutes while the leader mumbles “hmm can you see this now?” in vain.
3. Make sure pre-work is done. If the participants need to prepare for the meeting, be sure they know it. One of the quirks of online meetings is that participants sometimes place them at a lower priority than face-to-face. As the meeting leader, take an extra few minutes to check in advance that the prep work is underway. A gentle “just checking in” reminder - preferably over the phone - works wonders.
4. Pay attention to your tone of voice. Your verbal tone almost always follows your face. It’s a subconscious reality. Call center trainers often give staff a mirror to hang on the wall of their cube as a reminder to smile. If you’re the leader you’ll want to aim for an expression of friendly confidence.
5. Keep background noises to a minimum. Start with a request that cell phone ringers be turned off. Don’t type near the phone’s receiver. If you’re at home, put the dogs in a different room.
6. Assign someone else to take notes. Unless the purpose of the meeting is to fine-tune a document, I can promise your attendees don’t want to watch you type on the screen.
7. Do participants understand (or agree on) the key points? We don’t have facial expressions to help us know if everyone’s in agreement. Instead, online meeting leaders have to ask specific questions after each major topic — use that feedback to gauge the participants’ understanding.
8. Know who’s on the call. Always start the meeting by asking participants to identify themselves. There’s often a “surprise” attendee you didn’t expect — invited at the last minute by one of the official attendees. Your participants have a right to know who else they’re talking with.
These guidelines should help you understand how to run a meeting online. If you’re still feeling undertain, I suggest you sign up for a free trial with a internet conference vendor (see resource box for helpful links). Take a few test runs with the software — hold a practice meeting with a friend and get comfortable. You’ll do fine.