Need to Run an Online Meeting? Here’s How
Knowing how to run an online meeting is becoming more and more important in business. Top leaders are equally comfortable working online or face-to-face.
Online meetings can save you money on travel, boost communication between workers and clients, even increase sales. If you run them right. Follow these 8 tips and you’ll be ahead of the game.
1. Send an agenda in advance. Yes, I know this is a standard recommendation. It’s still an important part of a successful meeting. More so online, where we have to add more visual and verbal cues to keep things on track.
2. Learn how to use your internet conferencing software. Invest a half hour in yourself and learn the application. If you’re worried about the cost, most of the vendors offer free trials - sign up for one and practice.
3. Make sure pre-work is done. If the participants need to prepare for the meeting, be sure they know it. One of the quirks of online meetings is that participants sometimes place them at a lower priority than face-to-face. As the meeting leader, take an extra few minutes to check in advance that the prep work is underway. A gentle “just checking in” reminder - preferably over the phone - works wonders.
4. Keep a confident smile on your face. You’ll find that your tone of voice follows your face. Since the attendees can’t see you, they’ll read more into your voice than they would otherwise.
5. This should be obvious, but just in case: keep the noises out of the background. Have dogs? Put them in a different room. (Mine are guaranteed to bark at a car 5 minutes into a call.) Ask participants to turn their cell phones to vibrate. Don’t use a keyboard near the phone. No eating. You get the idea.
6. Don’t be the note-taker. Ask someone else to handle this responsibility. Managing a good online meeting requires your attention. Don’t distract yourself with the additional task of taking minutes.
7. Do participants understand (or agree on) the key points? We don’t have facial expressions to help us know if everyone’s in agreement. Instead, online meeting leaders have to ask specific questions after each major topic — use that feedback to gauge the participants’ understanding.
8. Keep track of who’s joined the call. This is particularly important if it’s going to be an interactive meeting (as opposed to a formal presentation). Your participants will want to know who else is on the call. Ask everyone to identify themselves at the start of the meeting.
These tips will take you a long way in your desire to run a successful online meeting. Still feeling uncomfortable? Sign up for a free trial with a internet conference vendor (see resource box for helpful links) and practice a bit with a friend. You’ll both emerge knowing exactly how to run a meeting online.
