6 Tips for Virtual Meetings
Things are weird. The way we live just isn’t like before. We’ve all been asked to pivot in our roles as business owners, employees, and as parents amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The traditional model for networking, fundraising, and even your weekly staff meeting has to be online for an undetermined amount of time. How you respond to your team and your customers during these uncertain times of not being able to be in close proximity may define how your business comes out in the end. Here are some tips to get you through if you are moving meetings, events, or conferences online.
Explore the technology and get to know it. We have all been on a Zoom call by now and sort of get it but knowing the ins and outs can help me your event feel seamless to your team and/or guests. Get on with plenty of time and play around with your views, hosting capabilities, and audio levels. This makes a big difference and helps you to avoid the dreaded technical difficulties. Remember, options look very different on mobile.
Practice ahead of time. If someone else is presenting, set up a test call with them to ensure that everyone can hear everything, mics are on, and screen shares look good. Not being able to show someone a video in the middle of your pitch deck, could lose you critical dollars. PRACTICE!
Always acknowledge each other at the beginning of the meeting. Come to the meeting with a conversation start that loosens the virtual mood a bit. Living through a pandemic is stressful for everyone. Toss in an icebreaker if you think that’ll be helpful. MORALE needs-a-boostin’ these days.
Get dressed. I can’t believe I have to say it but at least pretend to try from the waist up. It’ll make you feel better and ensure that your peers know you’ve come ready to work.
Try not to mutlitask. Unless you have children at home and you really don’t have the option (I get that). Your conversations will be more meaningful and likely, much shorter if you carve out some time to focus.
Maybe, most importantly…remember that this isn’t going to be forever, We’re all going to make it through it. We’ll bounce back and have a much greater appreciation for those conference rooms we so very much used to dread.
