April 2, 2020 2:45 pm
Virtual Meeting Best Practices
- Only hold a meeting when collaboration is required – status updates can be done via email
- Prepare: Design meeting process notes that will guide the discussion for each topic
- Distribute the outcome(s)-driven agenda (not topic-centered) and pre-work at least 3-5 days ahead of meeting
- Only invite people who can provide critical content, who need critical content, or are decision makers
- Try to keep the meeting duration no longer than 90 minutes. If the meeting is going to be longer than 90 minutes, allow for a 10-15 min break every 60–90 minutes, depending on the length of the meeting.
- Schedule meetings to end 5–10 minutes early to allow members time to get to their next meeting
- Identify in your meeting invite any pre-reading and expectations on how to prepare
- Start your meeting on time and end 5 minutes early:
- Latecomers should be prepared to catch up on what they’ve missed during a break (if applicable) or after the meeting
- Notify the meeting leader before the meeting of late arrivals or cancellations
- If cancelling, attempt to send someone in your place – the replacement must be well informed and up to date on the current issue or proposed decision to be discussed
- Ending your meeting early is important especially if your team members have back-to-back meetings. This will give your team a chance to debrief and prepare for their next meeting.
- Don’t let co-located participants dominate – involve everyone in the discussion, especially if they are not in the room
- Consider making the meeting completely remote to level the playing field for all participants
- Enlist help: Engage participants by assigning roles in advance such as scribes, timekeepers, discussion leads, “chat” managers, etc
- Use and referee meeting norms to foster supportive, respectful and inclusive collaboration
- Distribute meeting follow-up notes (action items, summary of decisions made, etc.) within two business days following the meeting
Norms Specific to Virtual Meetings
- No putting the call on hold or using speakerphones
- Minimize background noise – place yourself on mute until you want to or are called upon to speak
- All technology (mobile phones, laptops, etc.) is off or on mute – we will mute the audio and video to answer emergency calls only
- Before speaking, identify yourself (for teleconferences)
- Stay present – turn on webcams whenever possible
- Stay focused – avoid multi-tasking during the meeting
- Announce when you are exiting or entering the virtual room
Check out Facilitation First’s virtual workshop offerings HERE.