With major companies and corporates having established their several different branches in various other localities, cities, and countries, virtual meeting nowadays have become a crucial part of every small or large business organization. Considering the recent scenario of crisis that leads to strict lockdown in several countries to stop the spread of novel Coronavirus, digitalization and virtual meetings have begun to play an important role in upholding the work of any firm or establishment.
Corporates use virtual meeting in place of face-to-face meetings because they're more rapid to arrange, they're more affordable, and they bring out the most relevant people into the meeting, wherever they're from. However, virtual meetings are a bit hard to get right, and they need a different kind of approach from regular meetings. Hereby, there are 5 ways to help you conduct a more effective, influential, and productive online meeting with your colleagues-
Advance checking of all your systems- While you may be confident enough, yet it is always better to check all the systems and devices like the camera, microphone, etc, priorly. There can be various technical glitches that you may be unaware of until it suddenly emerges in between your important meeting. Ask all the attendees to restart their computers 15 minutes before the meeting to avoid any unwanted issues during the meeting and to make sure you and your colleagues are in complete sync.
Clear and structured agenda- Never start a virtual meeting without a clear and well-structured plan. A meeting is held to reach a productive conclusion and to facilitate proper decision-making. If you fail to give a basic well-planned structure and a clear explanation of your presentation, it may turn out to be useless and a sheer waste of everybody’s time. Prepare a properly scheduled agenda and mail it to all the attendees well in advance to reach maximum efficiency.
Be presentable & informative- While you may think online and virtual meetings are different from face-to-face offline meetings, you are mistaken. Being in a virtual frame with other attendees makes everyone more noticeable. This demands you to be more presentable and interactive at all times. Make sure to meet and greet people and have an engaging and interactive attitude. Keep a relaxing effect and present yourself in a friendly yet formal tone that will keep them engaged all time and will make them reply instantly.
Well atmosphere for interactions and feedbacks- While face-to-face and offline meetings may be more interactive and more vulnerable for better feedbacks, in a virtual meeting, you must create a space for such interactions. You should engage with every attendee and refer to them by their names to ensure their instant responses in return. Additionally, you can also create public chat spaces where people can keep using questions, give reviews, which you can look up later.
Conclude on a clear & good note- Make sure you conclude the meeting on a good and high note. While some of your audience would either get distracted or pay a little less heed to the most important discussions during an online meeting, so you must present a clear-cut and summarized account of the whole meeting to all participants in the concluding session. This will leave a more effective and long-lasting impression of you and the meeting on the minds of your colleagues and clients.