How to Master the Art of the Virtual Meeting

October 23 2021 - Hosting a meeting can be monstrously difficult at the very best of times, let alone in a virtual capacity. Experience is likely the best way to get better at doing this, but until then, here are some handy hints to help you master the realm of remote working and become a better host of your next virtual meeting.

Make it Accessible

Some remote workers tend to have a hard time concentrating, especially if they have to contend with a wealth of background distractions from the home environment. Utilizing an integrated audio transcription tool is a wonderful way to increase accessibility and engagement throughout the meeting, so it might be well worth looking into for anyone wishing to make sure nobody gets left out.

This is a good way to make all of your meetings far more inclusive and available to everyone, regardless of their personal circumstances.

Get the Right Hardware

While modern built-in mics and cameras can be exceptionally high quality, sometimes opting for dedicated external hardware is the best way to get yourself sufficiently heard and seen by everyone.

Thankfully, great USB mics and cameras can be picked up for relatively little cost nowadays, particularly considering their potential value.

Establish Rules and Boundaries

To avoid becoming an internet meme and allowing your attendees to run riot during the meeting, establishing rules is and boundaries is vital. This way, you can avoid everyone talking at once and, perhaps, most importantly, stop people from talking over you.

A few points to consider in this area might include:

• How People Ask Questions - Rather than blurting out a question as soon as it pops into the mind, encouraging people to use a less invasive notification could do the trick, such as the ‘raise hand’ button in zoom.
• Mute - By asking your participants to mute themselves, you can avoid any sudden distractions.
• Stick to a Schedule - If you can manage to stick to a schedule, even if just loosely speaking, then you might be able to guide your attendees through the meeting.
• Timing - Meetings that run over time can quickly destroy morale. Setting a time to finish and keeping to it is crucial.

No Messing

You deserve respect, so there is no need to stand for any participants not giving it to you as you host your meticulously crafted meeting.

Spending an age and a great deal of energy on a meeting just to have it jeopardized by someone messing around can be upsetting, so don’t stand for it - simply kick them out of the virtual room.

Engagement Opportunities

Supplying people with engagement opportunities can help keep their interests well and truly piqued throughout the meeting. This might be a quick worksheet, a questionnaire, a personal introduction, or a video. Whatever you decide to include, it is worth taking steps to make sure that there is at least some level of interaction involved.

This may be dependent on your particular topic or situation, so do not worry if circumstances do not allow for it.

Ultimately, the more you host meetings, the better you’ll get at them, so why not think of it as a valuable personal development opportunity?

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