While meetings are necessary, many times they are run inefficiently and do not accomplish their goals. Learning how to make online meetings effectual in less time gives employees more productive time on their jobs. Understand the technology. Pick a tool that is easy to use. Give clear instructions to participants and practice before the meeting to make sure it works. Prepare a back-up plan in case of equipment failure so time is not wasted.
Know your outcome. What do you want to accomplish at this meeting? Consider who should be present at this meeting to achieve your desired outcome. Make your objective clear to each participant prior to the meeting. Each participant should have an active role whether directly or indirectly to be present at the meeting.
Prepare for the meeting. Prepare reports, assign roles, practice your presentation, test equipment and anticipate questions ahead of time. Send out an agenda and all reports ahead of time for participants to review and come prepared to discuss.
Assign key roles. Add some rules for structure such as assigning time allotments for each topic and a ‘timekeeper’ to keep the meeting moving down the agenda. The recorder summarizes after key discussions for the group before moving on.
Make your points clear. Start with brief introduction of all participants and the reason for each of them to be there. Then make your first point, elaborate, and tell them what to do next.
Answer questions confidently. Write down the question to review if necessary. Ask for clarification when needed. If you don’t know the answer, defer to others or assign a person or team to work on it and report at the next meeting.
Aggressively manage the meeting discussions. Address difficult or antagonistic situations. Know who has power to make decisions, who’s with you, and what to take and walk away. Decide what items need to be ‘parked’ for a later discussion.
Keep in control. If there is a weak chair, consider taking a lead role. Keep the discussion relevant and moving forward. Make assignments or table a discussion for later if necessary.
Make clear presentations. The presentations have to help the overall meeting outcomes. Stay on focus. Make assignments to participants for the next meeting if more information is needed before a decision can be made.
Manage technology. Use landlines with corded headsets and reliable high speed internet. Send out important data ahead of time in case it does not display properly to keep the meeting going.
~Jean Brownlie, WorkerSmarts LLC
