How to make the most out of remote meetings

The remote and hybrid work models are the “new normal.” Since many companies have found that they can operate just as well (or in some cases, even better) from home, HR teams, senior leadership, and managers have been diligently crafting new policies to create a better experience for all employees regardless of where they’re logging in from.

While many parts of the workday have stayed relatively the same, one thing has definitely changed: the way we hold meetings. For large-scale discussions or town halls, the switch to virtual meetings has made things easier by simply booking a time slot and sending a meeting link instead of scrambling to find a room that can fit dozens of employees. Though some elements may have been streamlined in the shift to remote working, keeping your employees engaged during a virtual meeting poses its own set of unique challenges.

Try some of the following best practices to start hosting successful, more engaging remote meetings and hold your team’s attention every time.

What are the challenges of leading a remote team?

The time your team has together, whether in-person or virtually, is crucial to keeping everyone connected, engaged, and productive. Because meetings (both one-on-ones and team meetings) play such a vital role in a team’s healthy functioning, they’re a great place to focus your attention.

Below are 10 effective remote meetings best practices:

1. An ice-breaker at the start of the meeting is a great way to start!:

   1. A great meeting or training starts with an icebreaker. Icebreakers are discussion questions or activities used to help participants relax and ease people into a group meeting or learning situation.
      

2. Sending a meeting agenda ahead of the meeting

   1. Make time to organize your thoughts and send invitees the agenda for the meeting so they can prepare themselves as well. Giving your employees an idea of what’s coming up can help them jot down any questions they might like to raise in your team meetings, general town halls, and even one-on-one sessions.

   2. While agenda planning covers what topics will be discussed for how long and by whom, virtual meeting design requires more designing. You need to think through purpose, roles, meeting norms, materials, facilitator agenda (especially if you are using online tools to do activities like brainstorming), technical, scheduling, and communication.
      

3. Avoid technical and time-zone scheduling snafus

   1. It isn't a matter of whether or not technical problems will happen—expect them to happen and have a Plan B or a way to avoid falling into the pit of technical despair where the meeting gets derailed because of one person's technical issue or you experimenting with a new tool, and it doesn't work as planned. First, make sure everyone troubleshoots their technical issues before the meeting, if possible. Many platforms have a technical testing page and good tech support; include those links ahead of your meeting. And, if not, here's a great infographic of common virtual meeting technical issues and fixes.

   2. My secret is to write out a step-by-step facilitator agenda if using a new technical tool and rehearse it. And, always have a plan B. For example, if your platform drops callers, be a little flexible with the agenda. If someone is supposed to share their screen and is having a technical problem, make sure people have copies of the document. As the facilitator, you should also have a copy so you can share your own screen if needed.
      

4.