Effective Virtual Meeting Management

The typical American professional attends over 60 meetings a month where approximately 50% of the meeting time is wasted (Source: A network MCI Conferencing White Paper. Meetings in America: A study of trends, costs, and attitudes toward business travel, teleconferencing, and their impact on productivity (Greenwich, CT: INFOCOMM, 1998)) and 39% of attendees doze off (source: CBS News). Or the worst kind of meeting where the meeting never ends!  With the average executive spending  18 hours a week in meetings and the cost of those meetings up to $15M a year according to one study, it’s time to move from meetings as a social gathering to an intentionally created, goal-oriented business event.

The Host

Every effective meeting has a Host or Chairperson. This individual is key. They oversee the success of a meeting by monitoring time and topic but keeping their own participation to a minimum to avoid ego filibustering. Their role should be viewed as the facilitator of progress. 

Before a meeting, the host should take time to answer the following key questions:

• Is it necessary?

• Who needs to be there?

• What is on the agenda? 

The Attendees

Using these key questions, the host can identify a group or team who should be in attendance, versus including non-decision makers.  Meetings should not be used to build consensus or simply distribute information.  There are other more effective means to communicate information such as newsletters or townhalls. 

The host can create a pool of shared knowledge, to which the meeting adds and defines the “social mind” of the group; and clearly communicate the goals and direction of the group as well as the role of each individual in that movement. The host will also need to define the commitment to each decision made by the group with the commitment binding on those in attendance. If the attendees develop concerns later, the new concerns should be added to a follow-up meeting when all attendees can participate in the discussion as opposed to an informal “hallway” discussion. Finally, the host should create a hierarchy of authority within the group by establishing the persons who have the authority to make the final decisions. 

A great meeting typically comes in three sizes; assembly, council, or committee; and its content and structure must be designed around both the size and dynamic it encompasses. In addition, each meeting is defined by frequency, decision process, and motivation brought by each member as well as whether the meeting is a collaboration, presentation, or status update. 

“The agenda is by far the most important piece of paper. Properly drawn up, it has a power of speeding and clarifying a meeting that very few people understand or harness.” - Antony Jay, Harvard Business Review

The Agenda

Great meetings provide a detailed and specific agenda provided ahead of time, giving enough notification for appropriate participant preparation. Create a template for regularly held meetings, that can quickly be tweaked and updated. For others, there are three types of content: informative, constructive/creative, executive (defines how a goal is to be accomplished), and legislative (who will be doing what). Oftentimes all four types are found within the same agenda. Either way, the effective agenda should include:

• a list of topics to be covered,

• a brief description of the meeting’s objectives,

• a list of people attending the meeting,

• who will address each topic,

• the time and location of the meeting,

• any background information participants need to know about the subject.

 There is also a recommended order to the agenda:

• Put problem-solving and creative items early in the meeting when people are alert and engaged.

• Begin with items that create unity and move into items that might be divisive or vice versa depending on the needs of the group--be intentional about these choices.

• Put times on your agenda items and stick to them.

• Conclude with your next steps or action items.

Beginning and ending times on an agenda along with pre-meeting circulation of idea/proposal sheets allows the attendees to think through potential concerns, concepts they feel are important to add, and items that may have been inadvertently omitted. For controversial issues, it is wise for the host or chair to contact major protagonists and antagonists in advance, to discuss the issues. These pre-meeting contacts to attendees help to avoid unwanted meeting surprises, time delays, and the need for continual follow-up meetings. 

The Etiquette

Now that the meeting purpose has been identified, the agenda created, and the appropriate attendees invited, it is time to look at how the host is to manage the meeting’s progression. A host’s behavior manages the subject and the people involved through body language as well as verbal cues, whether this is in-person or in a video conference, although the video format is more challenging in that regard. They can indicate impatience, by leaning forward or fixing their eyes on the speaker and tensing their muscles, raising eyebrows, or nodding briefly to show the point is taken. 

The host can indicate that it is time to move onto a new topic in his or her reply by the speed, brevity, and finality of their intonation. Conversely, the host can reward positive contributions by showing that there is plenty of time for the expansion of an idea and encouraging the speaker to develop the point. When a new idea or topic arises outside of the intended agenda, the host should acknowledge the value of the idea and suggest adding it to a future meeting or at a more appropriate time and place. 

In some meetings, it is necessary to have two leaders, the task/project leader, and the social/advocate leader. They may alternate responsibilities as the agenda moves from point to point. The task or project leader may move the conversation through from discussing what the issue/problem is, how long has it been an issue, issue analysis, problem-solving options, and finally, a course of action. The social leader manages the topic, people’s participation, idea disclosures, discourages dismissal of suggestions, focusing on senior members last (to allow and encourage junior member participation), and closing on a note of achievement. 

The Time

Our final participant is time. Time is crucial to a meeting. It should be marked, monitored, and adhered to for an effective meeting. Avoid scheduling back-to-back meetings or meetings that are scheduled right before the end of the workday. Arrive early, and schedule meetings around times that encourage a punctual end for all, such as before lunch. Mark allowable discussion times on the agenda and stick to those times. Choose an appropriate time length, end on time, and be sure to follow-up in a timely manner.  

The Virtual Challenge

Virtual meetings place extra pressure on meeting etiquette; avoidance of delays and disruption; and removal of multi-tasking temptations. However, a few basic elements can go far to smooth and remove the issues. Be sure to introduce yourself and all team members and consider sharing ground rules when the agenda is distributed.   

If you are the host, be sure to know the technology you are using before the meeting begins. Practice screen sharing, presentations, and other tools you may plan to use including waiting rooms, join-before-host settings, surveys, and internal chats. If technology is not your strength, consider assigning a tech leader whose sole responsibility is to monitor the technology used during the virtual meeting. During your meeting, monitor the audio components of the virtual platform. Muting those not talking will eliminate unwanted distractions common to virtual meetings.

If you are a participant in a virtual meeting, learning how to participate in the discussion is a learned skill. By keeping your video sharing tool on, you can connect with your team members more effectively. Unless you are speaking, keep your microphone muted and your appearance and background, professional and orderly. In our current pandemic “work from home mode”, it is understandable that dogs may bark, the doorbell may ring, or other unexpected events may occur - manage them as best you can. When you are ready to add to the conversation, jump in when appropriate, but if an opportunity does not present itself, use online tools such as chat and the raised hand option.

Whether a meeting is online or in a conference room, there are many similarities such as providing an agenda ahead of time, inviting only attendees who need to be there, keep the time limited, and remember to use normal meeting etiquette.