5 Things Leaders Should Do To Ace Remote Meetings

Master your remote meetings: Stay prepared, stay focused, and foster effective communication.

Leaders should prioritise being well-prepared for remote meetings to ensure smooth execution. Additionally, by having a system in place, you can easily pick up a meeting and run with it, even at short notice. This level of readiness not only helps minimise disruptions but also keeps the focus firmly on the meeting agenda.

Stay Organised to Avoid Distractions:

When you are not properly organised for a meeting, it’s all too easy to become distracted while searching for files or trying to recall your to-do list. Consequently, this can result in wasted time and a loss of focus. However, by establishing an organized approach, you can swiftly access the necessary documents and information, thereby allowing the meeting to proceed smoothly.

Read the top 5 things leaders should ensure to stay on track and ace remote meetings:

• Get personal – Having meetings focused wholly on to-do lists ends up isolating teams from each other – this can sap morale and reduce crucial collaboration. To promote the much-needed human connection, begin remote meetings with a meaningful or fun question and include this in the agenda. This gives employees a chance to clear the air and let go of stress, ready to focus on the tasks at hand.
• Allow home and work to merge – Some working parents have children at home. If a child does interrupt the meeting, let them deal with it, repeat where you were up to and of course say hello to the child and use this as an opportunity to build a human connection to encourage team productivity and gain loyalty from your team.
• Meeting distraction – An online meeting means the person can often keep their email/social media open or have visual distractions. If you think this is happening and see their eyes wandering elsewhere stop and ask “Are you okay?” – this will show you are paying attention to them and that you want their full attention.
• Have a crystal clear recap – It’s crucial that you determine the next steps before closing the meeting. Have a roadmap to serve as a framework for the minutes of the meeting. Have someone capture these and circulate them quickly to all involved. It should contain immediate and long-term steps, responsibilities, deliverables with timelines and sign-offs.
• Tech check – This might seem like a given – but considering everyone’s overloading on Zoom and Chat now, it’s increasingly seen as a challenge for remote team meetings. Have a pre-identified tech lead for large meetings. Have your headsets, passwords and presentations ready to go!

 

Learning to ace remote meetings now will not only help you get through the next few months but also adjust to a very likely new normal.

If you would like to take a deeper dive into productivity, read this article.

 

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