How to run a meeting online: A beginner’s guide
April 30th, 2008 by
Tyler Vaughn
Businesses are embracing online meetings. Knowing how to run a meeting with web conferencing software is a crucial skill — one that can give you a leg up on your competition.
Why learn to run online meetings? Web conferences, done right, will save you money and emprove communications with remote offices. Follow these 8 guidelines and you’ll be ahead of the game.
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. Check on whether participants have done their prep work. For reasons I’ve never understood, people seem more willing to blow off preparing for online meetings. You’ll want to gently nudge with a reminder. I prefer to do this over the phone.
4. Keep a confident smile on your face. You’ll find that your tone of voice follows your face. Since the attendees can’t see you, they’ll read more into your voice than they would otherwise.
5. Make sure the background noises are silenced. Don’t speak from a noisy room. If you’re working from home make sure there’s a door between you and the household noises (pets are a perennial challenge here). Turn off your cell phone ringer and ask that others do the same.
6. Have minutes be taken by another attendee. You will be using your computer to present content (PowerPoint, Spreadsheets, whatever) and should never ask people to watch you type meeting minutes. It’s like watching paint dry…
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. Keep track of who’s joined the call. This is particularly important if it’s going to be an interactive meeting (as opposed to a formal presentation). Your participants will want to know who else is on the call. Ask everyone to identify themselves at the start of the meeting.
Still unsure about how to run a meeting? Sign up for a free trial with a internet conference vendor (see resource box for helpful links) and take the software for a spin. Set up a practice meeting with a coworker and hone your techniques. It’s an investment in your career.
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