Let’s talk about all the important nuances and go into more detail about what is the organization of online meetings. Many old-school managers prefer face-to-face communication and do not trust modern Internet technologies. And for nothing.
The format of online meetings and conferences has been around for a long time and has proven its effectiveness. And also the pandemic has made its own adjustments, and now even mature managers in the field are forced to go online and learn to work remotely.
Stages of Organizing Online Meetings
Like any other in-house event, an online meeting must be planned. What does this mean?
- Initially, agenda of the general meeting is chosen: what the online conference will be held for, what goals you are pursuing, what you should get as a result.
- The negotiation format is chosen based on the goals of the meeting. We will talk about formats below.
- To ensure the selected format of interaction, all necessary preparatory activities related to technical implementation are carried out (check the availability of appropriate software at the workplaces of employees, identify problems and errors, check the connection speed, prepare presentation files, documents and other materials that will be required for sending or discussing).
- A date and time is set for the meeting. If necessary, the time of the meeting is coordinated with all conference participants.
- An agenda for the meeting is developed. This is a kind of plan of speeches of each participant and at the same time a list of issues to be discussed or delivered to the key audience.
- Staff members responsible for certain issues are appointed in advance, e.g. for taking minutes of the negotiations, for technical support, etc.
- All necessary information is communicated to the participants of the general meeting. This can be an internal mailing, a phone call, an announcement on the corporate portal. If necessary, feedback is collected.
In addition to the planning itself, there are also the following stages of organizing online discussions:
- Conducting the conference (the main part).
- Resolving disputes (if any).
Receiving feedback on the voiced tasks or problems, the control stage.
What Are the Formats of Online events Within Companies
The most common format of online meetings is the delivery of information. The topology «from one to many» is typically used. At such events, the volume of discussions is minimized, the manager sets new tasks for his employees, provides significant news or other information that may be required in the workflow.
The second format is a forum, i.e. a general discussion. There can and should be more than one negotiator. Since no one can speak at the same time, the speeches usually take place according to a fixed plan and on strictly defined issues. Deviations are allowed, but only insignificant ones. Even a small increase in the speaking time of each participant can lead to a significant increase in the total time of the event. It is logical to record general discussions in detail so that the chain of events and decisions can be reconstructed at any time. As a result of such events, important documents are frequently developed and more subject meetings are scheduled to discuss the issues or challenges raised in the discussion.
The third format is online meetings. These are like meetings at the manager’s office to summarize results, receive or assign tasks, hand in reports, but online. The topology is each with many, but the active speaker is always one. Actually very similar to general discussions, only the list of issues is much smaller, and the program for such events is usually short or none at all, as such meetings are held on a regular basis (e.g., every week or once a month).
Online negotiations. These are meetings with representatives of other companies and organizations, or business meetings between employees of different departments within the company. For example, a meeting of sales and production managers (often they do not cross paths in person, but use the format of personal correspondence or operational calls for communication). Negotiations with representatives of potential or established partners should be taken as seriously as possible. It is even better to keep a video of such meetings in the archive.
Basic principles of conducting and organizing online conversations
Here are the most important points to follow that will increase the effectiveness of your online meetings.
Don’t Forget About Time Zones
The world is so big, and interaction between employees from different regions in different time zones is far from uncommon. To avoid misunderstandings, specify time zone-specific meeting times. For example, if you specify that the conference will be held at 10:00 GMT+3, the other participants will be able to determine the local time themselves.
Start Meetings On Time
This has always been and will always be a good rule of thumb. To reduce the probability of technical problems right at the start of a negotiation event, start preparing in advance. For example, 10–15 minutes in advance. Even if one of the participants connects earlier, it’s no big deal. It is enough to announce that you are still preparing, and the event itself will take place as planned at the appointed time.
The Meeting Should Have a Leader
For forums, there are even special statuses of such participants — chairpersons and moderators. Someone has to deal with organizational issues and coordinate the actions of the others. It is best if this status is formalized.
Prepare Additional Materials In Advance
It often happens that the speaker mentions some indicators or other information involved in the discussion. Figures are easily forgotten, something may slip your mind. Therefore, prepare the necessary data in a readable form. This can be document files, tables, images, graphs, and even presentations. It is much easier and faster to send them out to participants in their original form than to show them on video. It will be easier to discuss such data in the general flow.
Do Not Delay the Speech
Keep your words short and to the point. The more time you take users, the less they focus on your words. Already after 10-15 minutes of monologue, interlocutors may lose the thread of your thoughts.
Turn Off Notifications, Get Some Privacy
It will be very embarrassing if someone from the household calls you during an online meeting, or even worse, walks behind you (if you work remotely). It will be very difficult to get back to the original topic of conversation.
Check the Readiness of Your Workplace
Check your system settings to see if a reboot is expected (it can start at the worst possible moment), check how the microphone and camera work, and see if there are any other technical issues that could interfere with your online meeting.
Record Video
This point will be especially relevant for important meetings, for example, when negotiating with partners or clients. It will be no less useful when your manager sets tasks verbally (if the program of the meeting is defined superficially, and there are a lot of tasks, you risk missing something important).
Try Not To Argue
In the online format, any lively arguments are unproductive and disturb the meeting. At least, try to express your opinion only in those moments when other participants of the meeting are silent (there is no need to interrupt, anyway, no one will be able to understand the speech of two or more people at the same time).
Software Solutions For Online Meetings
Currently, there is a huge selection of available implementations for online meetings and speeches. We will intentionally not mention specialized solutions that are designed for public events and for earning money (for example, for online training or courses).
So, the simplest and free programs for online meetings.
Skype. Often clients are pre-installed on users’ workplaces together with the office package from Microsoft (Skype for Business). But the standard client for home users can quite cope with the task.
- There is a built-in chat and the ability to send files, recording a video stream.
- A link to a video meeting can be easily shared in different ways.
- Clients for all popular platforms are provided.
- The application is able to blur the background (relevant when working remotely).
- It is possible to «raise your hand» and quickly respond to a message.
- You can share your screen (for example, with an open table or other documents).
- Up to 50 participants on a free plan with a conference duration of up to 4 hours.
Google Meet. The service was developed as a tool exclusively for business. But recently the search giant has opened access to the platform to all comers.
- Up to 100 participants in a free version.
- Only a browser is needed to work (no need to install a client program).
- There is a function of noise reduction.
- There is background replacement, screen sharing, meeting recording and general chat.
- An interactive whiteboard (for brainstorming) is provided.
- Google Meet widget is displayed inside Gmail and Google Calendar.
Zoom. This is probably the most popular software solution for online conferencing since the pandemic times.
- File sharing is provided.
- Up to 100 participants and up to 40 minutes per conference in the free plan.
- Local video recording, screen sharing, background replacement and chats.
- Clients for all popular platforms and browser extensions.
- Marketplace with ready integrations for business.
How Projecto Сan Help You to Organize Online Meetings
All the functions that a manager may need for online and offline events are organized in online calendars and events.
Events are created in one click and can be easily moved around the calendar grid with a simple drag and drop.
- You can define a specific date and time for them, set recurrence options, assign priority and reminders.
- Events can be shared or private. They can be linked to selected projects.
- Any number of participants can be added to events. They will automatically be notified accordingly.
- You can develop a detailed agenda for a meeting. Agenda items can be marked with different statuses or converted into tasks. You can attach already created tasks and documents to the agenda.
- You can discuss an event in chat. Here you can mention employees or users of the system, attach files, create notes and track the history of events.
So that, you significantly reduce the amount of work required to record meeting minutes (if discussions take place directly in the Projecto event) and have a convenient tool for scheduling meetings and setting new tasks.
