Traveling to meetings is costly, inconvenient, and time consuming. Luckily, in this age of technology, the video conference has made holding meetings with remote teams very simple. Even though the purpose of a virtual meeting is the same as an in-person one, the change in format creates different guidelines that meeting hosts much follow when video conferencing in San Bernardino, CA. Here are some tips that will help you hold effective virtual meetings.
Prepare Well
In order to make sure that everyone is up to speed before the meeting, send out the agenda at least a day in advance. Because you’re not meeting in a physical location, you can’t be as casual with your agenda. You should also send log-in information like access codes, URLs, and call-in numbers. Participants should be able to test connections and download any necessary software. This way, you can avoid any technical difficulties on the day of the meeting and stay on track.
Stay Focused
Virtual meetings need to be sharply focused, so try to keep the number of topics low. If you need to cover more, do the meeting in segments so that participants can go to the bathroom or get a coffee. Because the meeting can be held from almost anywhere, background noise may become an issue. It may be a good idea to mute the attendees and only take questions within a chat.
Etiquette
When video conferencing in San Bernardino, CA – or anywhere you need to set up, there is a certain etiquette one must adhere to. It can be easy to forget that you are in a meeting because you are not face to face with your attendees. When conducting a video conference, always behave as if you mic is on, this way no extraneous or potentially embarrassing conversation gets transmitted to the participants.
You should also take into account the fact that remote participants will experience a delay, so always add a sufficient pause after questions.
Make it Engaging
In order to make video conferencing in San Bernardino, CA more engaging for the attendees, try to make it as similar to an in-person meeting as possible. Instead of jumping right into the task at hand, break the ice by having each individual introduce themselves and share a fun fact. To avoid the confusion of everyone speaking at once, try to direct specific questions at a specific person rather than addressing the whole group.