Remote meetings are what make the industry go round, so knowing how to properly conduct one is an essential skill that all remote managers should have safely secured underneath their belts. Whether you’re preparing for your first ever remote meeting or simply looking for some tune-up tips on how to smoothly run a remote meeting, the following roundup of information should be beyond useful.
When planning an upcoming remote meeting, be aware of the different time zones that may be involved. Ideally, it’s considerate to ask for a window of availability from your remote employees instead of setting a time without any of their input. Try to find a time that falls within business hours for every time zone that’s participating. If that’s impossible, consider alternating meetings so that the same employees aren’t always the ones having to wake up early or work late to take a conference call.
If you plan on going over any sort of data, plans, or information during a remote meeting, be sure to provide employees with all the necessary materials before the meeting begins. Sending out materials ahead of time gives employees the opportunity to go over the information and prepare themselves for the meeting. It also makes for more attentive employees during the remote meeting, as they won’t be trying to process new information during the call.
Time is money, and that includes time used during remote meetings and conference calls. So how do you make your conference time as productive as it can be? Create an agenda for the meeting before it begins. An agenda will help keep you on-topic and on-track with whatever topics you need to cover, as well as provide a guideline for the conference call's natural conversation flow. Sharing your agenda with your employees before the meeting is also a great strategy for making sure everybody is prepared..
One of the biggest fears that many managers have in regards to hiring remotely is that their remote employees won’t feel like a part of the team. Allowing time for introductions at the beginning of every remote meeting, as well as a few minutes to welcome everybody and ask how everybody is doing can be pivotal is creating a friendly work environment that remote employees will feel a part of.
Having multiple employees in on a single call can get confusing, so if you’re running the show you may want to consider informally directing the call. What exactly does this mean? It means asking for responses and feedback from specific team members by directing questions towards individuals instead of the group. This technique is also helpful for remote workers who may be more timid about taking the lead in a conference call with headquarters.
It’s always a good idea to have multiple forms of communication accessible between you and your team during a remote meeting. For example, if you’re holding a remote meeting through a video call, you should also have a chat or forum service up and running during the call. This will help with sharing last minute links and materials that come into conversation during the meeting. It can also be quite useful in case a call drops or one employee loses service, as he or she can notify the rest of the meeting’s attendees via this second means of communication.
Last but certainly not least, following-up a remote meeting with an email summary is a wonderful way to remind everybody what was discussed and what still needs to be done after the phones are hung up. If you don’t want to be responsible for sending out said email, the job can always be assigned to an employee. Follow-up emails keep everybody on the same page, as well as ensure that everybody leaves a remote meeting having the same sense of direction going forward.
Originally written by Chelsey Grasso on Remote.com