In recent years we have seen a massive shift in the day-to-day operations across all industries. Working remotely is now an option, if not a necessity, in almost every workplace across the world. However, the working conditions that some thrive in may be unbearable to others, so the challenge as a leader is to find harmony and retain productivity in a world of ever-changing work models.
Most workplaces are entering a transition period with their communication as employees return to the office in some capacity. However, remote meetings WILL continue as we now commonly see a more hybrid work model where employees will spend time both in the office and working remotely. But what steps can you take to ensure remote meetings are productive and rich in value?
Be More Intentional About Behavior Throughout the Remote Meeting Lifecycle
How does communication within your organization also move with the times? The basic answer is to use your time in the office for as much face-to-face interaction as possible while your time at home can be spent on more independent working tasks.
“This could have been an email.” We all know that feeling.
Workers value their own time as much as you do and they want to be absorbing the relevant information they need and then getting back to their tasks. Ensure remote meetings are valuable and productive for everyone, starting by being more intentional about your behavior that surrounds meetings, and think about this before the meeting even begins.
When scheduling a meeting, ask yourself if you need a meeting at all. This is a hugely broad question and one that we can’t answer for you, but being more intentional with scheduling a meeting and defining what the meeting is about will start the remote meeting lifecycle as it means to go on.
Intentional Conduct in Meetings
In a remote meeting, cues on when to speak, when to ask a question, and turning on your video (or not) can be harder to read. As the meeting owner or moderator, being more intentional and upfront about the conduct your attendees should follow will allow for fewer speed bumps and more productivity.
Firstly, start with your polite introductions and set expectations for the call. If people have a question should they use the hand-raising feature? or are you using the public chat feature for questions and then addressing them at the end?
Try using the CHARM framework, as outlined below by Microsoft, as a guide to get you thinking about how you’d like to run your meeting.
Chat: How should we use meeting chat?
Hand raising: Should we use hand raising (a feature or even actual hands!) or just jump in?
Agenda: What are the meeting goals and agenda?
Recording: Should we record and has everyone agreed?
Moderator: Who will moderate the agenda, introductions, and questions.
Support: How are we supporting one another?
To ensure the key objectives of the meeting are clear to your attendees, it is best practice to summarize these at the end as well as for summarizing action items to define the next steps.
Agendas for Remote Meetings
An agenda is a guide for a remote meeting before, during, and after a conference takes place.
A meeting owner and attendees can turn to the agenda to prepare as it should contain information such as the topic to be discussed, who is expected to engage vs. spectate, how much time attendees need to allow for the meeting, and what the desired outcomes are.
This agenda continues in importance as it holds everyone accountable to the agreed information. Attendees can check back to see the expected duration and raise a question if it’s running overtime as well as meeting moderators calling on those who agreed to actively participate or present which will also be recorded in the agenda.
Post-meeting, the agenda can also be used as a source of recorded minutes so the original goals, eventual outcomes, and future actionable points are all in the same document for future reference and to reflect upon.
Keeping Your Attendees Engaged
Meetings can only be valuable if attendees are engaged in the content and therefore absorbing the information. When attendees are interested they are also more likely to participate, therefore also increasing the value of the meeting for all through shared insights.
Keeping your attendees engaged during a remote meeting begins with inviting the relevant and appropriate people. Overcrowded meetings can be difficult for everyone to interact with, keep track of the conversation and connect with. Also, it goes without saying that if the meeting is not entirely relevant to an individual’s role or project they are more likely to be engaged.
For optimum engagement during your meeting, use a moderator to encourage active participation (either via the public chat or speaking) and stick to the relevant topics outlined in the agenda (politely wrap up any side-tracking by offering to talk more with those individuals later). It is also important to adhere to the advertised timeline so attendees can accurately prepare to engage for a set duration, not an open-ended, dragging discussion where focus begins to wane.
Reflect
Being intentional around remote meetings doesn’t stop when you click ‘Leave Meeting’. To replicate the most successful aspects of your meetings, jot down a line or two immediately after the meeting to reflect on the strengths or weaknesses of the remote meeting lifecycle. Over time this will build a valuable archive and even more valuable meetings to bring out the best in your attendees and your organization.
Successfully implementing these tips and tricks to be more intentional with your remote meetings can mean richer and more efficient use of time. Not only will your leaders and attendees alike feel like a meeting is time well spent, but we think you’ll see an upward trend in productivity after planning, executing, and reflecting on your intentionality.
