The Participants Role In Ensuring Effective Online Meetings

10 Participant Best Practices

We are often asked in our facilitation training workshops how to support more effective meetings when we aren’t the meeting facilitator. We all have a role to play in how well a group collaborates, problem solves or comes to consensus in online meetings. The following list is drawn from a recent keynote Michael Goldman held for Committee Members seeking to understand how to best participate in their online meetings.

Before the Meeting:

1. Schedule time to do required pre-work
2. ARRIVE a few minutes early to do a technical pre-check (Video/Audio quality, etc…)

During the Meeting:

3. Have VIDEO ON especially during an interactive discussion and have MUTE ON when not participating
4. Don’t contribute to a conversation for the sake of contributing – do so if you feel you have something new to add (regardless how silly you think it is) or you can improve on another person’s idea
5. Paraphrase back or ask questions to ensure you understand exactly what the speaker meant before critiquing
6. Do what you need to do to minimize distractions around you: avoid multitasking, shut off notifications on your devices
7. Offer to take on support roles e.g., Parking Lot Attendant, Chat Monitor, Scribe, Breakout Facilitator, Remote Participant Advocate, Warm-up or Energizer Lead, etc.
8. Help the meeting stay on-time – respect allocated time limits, be on time at start of meeting and returning from breaks
9. If you see there’s a way to improve engagement or make the meeting better suggest it through Chat to the meeting leader directly, or verbally suggest it if you sense the meeting leader is open to feedback

After the Meeting:

10. Follow-up on any tasks or action items assigned/agreed to

What would you add to the list?