Tips for Effective Virtual Sessions

  1. KNOW YOUR GOAL TO STAY ON TARGET
    1. Be a virtual meeting pro: Remember virtual meetings should be conducted at a slower pace than traditional meetings, and it may help to allow for dramatic pauses and longer moments of silence after important statements, questions, and assignments. There can be a lag in connection of 2-3 seconds for some portions of your attendees.
    2. You can’t simply take a presentation you were prepared to give in person and throw it up on a video monitor for a virtual audience expecting the same results. You’re limited, to a degree, in how you can interact with your virtual audience.
    3. Make sure to send login information (access codes, URLs, and call-in numbers) at least a day in advance so participants can test for any software downloads needed. You may also want to ask participants to log in at least 15 minutes prior to the start to test connectivity for the first session.
    4. Create a detailed agenda with times attached and who is responsible for each agenda item.
  2. ESTABLISH AGREEMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS SO EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE ETIQUETTE
  3. ASK FOR EYE CONTACT FOR STRONGER CONNECTIONS
    1. Intentionally address these issues with a few specific instructions at the beginning of all virtual meetings. They remind employees to make direct eye contact with their webcams. While this seems like a small thing, by doing so, everyone on the virtual meeting will feel as if they are facing one. This small suggestion makes a big difference in helping people feel connected to one another. They also show everyone’s face side-by-side to further cement the team element.
    2. Ask people to identify themselves by name when they say something. Even though you’re using video, it is possible for screens to become frozen, and some participants may be relying more heavily on the audio component.
  4. STAY FOCUSED
    1. Rick Maurer, author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance and Why Don’t You Want What I Want? advises users to remove distractions. The advantage of virtual meetings is the ability to hold them almost anywhere. The disadvantage of virtual meetings is also the ability to hold them almost anywhere. Online meeting attendees can call or log in from the local coffeehouse, airport lounges, home offices, etc. To minimize background or “road noise” (you don’t want your child, pet, or ringing phones to become the focus), you can opt to “mute all attendees and only take questions via the chatbox,” says Stack.
    2. Maurer also advises against trying to squeeze multiple things into a single meeting. “Keep the focus on one or two topics. If you must cover more items, then give people time to stretch, take a bathroom break, or replenish their coffee. Keep each segment of the meeting short, no longer than 30 minutes.”
  5. ENGAGING PARTICIPANTS
    1. Donna Dennis (President of Leadership Solutions Consulting, and creator and facilitator of American Management Association’s three-day seminar on Leading Virtual and Remote Teams) says there’s a tendency in virtual meetings to launch right into the task, which can negatively affect relationship building. She recommends breaking the ice by going around the “virtual” room and asking everyone to introduce themselves and share something about their weekend or talk about something they’re looking forward to, to add a social element to the proceedings. “Everything you can simulate from face-to-face encounters is good.”
    2. Laura Stack (author and President of The Productivity Pro, a time-management training firm) says to encourage participants to submit their questions on the topic before the program begins. She also recommends other methods for keeping the audience engaged during the webinar, such as taking a poll or asking a question and asking for answers via chat.
    3. Suana Colaric (Assistant Vice President for Instructional Technology at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida) suggests asking questions frequently both to engage remote participants and to keep a personal connection going. But, she stresses, be explicit in your questions. “Ask a specific person a specific question. Asking open-ended questions to a large remote audience will often result in ‘dead air’ and then multiple people talking at once.”
  6. BE AN ASSERTIVE MODERATOR
    1. The moderator/host of the group will need to be welcoming and assertive. Make sure, as host, you start and join the call a few minutes early to welcome everyone.
    2. Redirect the conversation or mute participants as necessary. This may feel rude but is necessary to manage a good online experience.
    3. The moderator should talk 20% of the time and listen 80% of the time.
  7. CREATE A PLAN FOR PARTICIPANTS TO INDICATE THEY’D LIKE TO TALK.
    1. You may try something like raising a hand, answering in a specific order, or another signal.
    2. Since participants will often be muted, having a plan will help you know when to mute and unmute.
  8. GIVE FULL ATTENTION; DON’T MULTITASK
    1. When participants are not paying full attention, it can be a big distraction online just like an in-person group.
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