Virtual meetings face many of the same challenges as in-person meetings — but with additional distractions and technical barriers. You can still run an efficient virtual meeting by following a simple meeting protocol.
An agenda is crucial to ensure that virtual meetings stay on track and to keep participants engaged. You can also encourage participation by posing open-ended questions, soliciting feedback, and assigning roles to take notes or document the next steps.
If you’re planning slides or other visuals for your presentation, be sure to test them ahead of time, and also any software or hardware that you may need. Make sure you arrive early enough to fix any technical problems check that that may arise prior to the scheduled start time.
It’s difficult to discern body language and emotions when you can’t see attendees – so keep eye contact with everyone, or at least ask everyone to make eye contact if they’re comfortable doing so. You should also use a quiet space with no distractions so that you can concentrate fully on the meeting. You can turn off your microphone if you’re not talking.
If you’re a moderator, take the lead in asking for feedback from participants at the end of the session. This can help identify areas for improvement, and gives participants a clear idea of how their input was valued. In the last two minutes of a session it is also a good practice to outline the next steps and also track any actions items.
