As remote work is becoming increasingly common and necessary (at least in the near future), meetings are bound to shift from being held in-person to being held online or virtually. But virtual meetings are relatively new to many people, and there's more than meets the eye when it comes to organizing successful meetings online.
Sure, some of us may be familiar with chatting and video-calling our friends and relatives through the Internet. However, those calls are largely informal, unstructured and arguably do not have as much of an impact (at least in the business sense) as compared to actual, formal meetings in the working environment.
As such, here are some hacks to successfully run virtual meetings.
#1 Set the agenda: What will be discussed during the virtual meeting?
To successfully run a virtual meeting, you need to be clear on the agenda. What will be covered during the meeting? Who should be present at the meeting? What must be prepared for the meeting and who is responsible for preparing it?
These questions will ensure that everyone involved in the meeting will be on the same page and will come prepared, thus reducing any redundant delays.
Setting the agenda will also help you to choose a suitable virtual event software for your virtual meeting room.
#2 Choose a suitable virtual event software for your virtual meeting room
First things first, the software your virtual meeting will be held on. This is one of the biggest factors that can influence the success of a virtual meeting.
The software and its features (or lack thereof) will dictate what can or can't be done in the virtual meeting room. Thus, how you choose which software to use will depend on your agenda.
Let's say the agenda for the virtual meeting is a demonstration of a product to a client, then you'll need a virtual meeting platform that supports that.
The software you choose as your virtual meeting room will also contribute to the engagement of your attendees. It's best to pick a software that can make audience engagement easier for you. EventX's virtual meeting rooms have community-building features including chats, polls, on-screen emojis and Q&A functions.
#3 Familiarise yourself with the virtual meeting room and its features
Once you've chosen the software, it's best to play around with it and explore the features. This will help you figure out how you can use them to add value to your virtual meetings, and also minimize technical difficulties.
Protip: EventX offers free demo and lets you experience the software as an attendee so you'll know what you're signing up for.
#4 Settle the scheduling and send the invites
A meeting can't happen with only you. So remember to settle the scheduling (if it's a regularly scheduled meeting) and send the invites to all the necessary people. It's best to send out the invites early so that the attendees can avoid double booking the time slot. This also allows room for rescheduling, if necessary.
#5 Establish the etiquettes of the virtual meeting room
At the start of the virtual meeting, it is ideal to establish some meeting etiquettes so that everyone will be on the same page. Some of the meeting room etiquettes you can consider are:
- Having everyone be on mute when they're not speaking.
- Having everyone include their organization name in their display name if the meeting is fairly big with people who have not met each other.
- Where possible, taking turns to speak by "passing the ball" so as to minimize talking over one another.
- Making sure there is minimal background noise, where possible.
- When sharing screen, ensure the screen is readable by other attendees.
- When sharing screen, pause notifications and alerts.
EventX is your trusted virtual meeting room for successful online meetings
And now you're all set to host your virtual meeting! If you're still looking for a suitable software for your virtual meeting rooms, do check out EventX and feel free to contact us if you need any clarification!
Frequently Asked Question About Virtual Meetings
What are virtual meetings?
Virtual meetings are meetings held online usually for the purposes of collaboration. This could be between a business and a client or between team members.
What are virtual meeting rooms?
Virtual meeting rooms are the platforms on which virtual meetings are held. These platforms will usually have the basic virtual meetings features such as screen sharing, video conferencing and webinars.
What are the advantages of having a virtual meeting?
Some key advantages of virtual meetings include:
- Not being bounded by geographical constraints. As such, team members or clients from abroad are able to join the online meeting.
- Being more affordable than physical meetings. This is especially so for attendees who would have to travel far to attend the meeting.
- Less uncertainties as compared to in-person meetings. Given the state of the pandemic, regulations are rapidly changing and this affects in-person meetings due to the proximity of the attendees. Virtual meetings are not affected by the rapidly changing regulations. As such, when you plan for a virtual meeting, you can be almost 100% certain it will be able to take place.
What are the disadvantages of having a virtual meeting?
As a virtual event software provider, we are aware of the disadvantages of virtual meetings. Most notably, the engagement of the attendees seems to be one of the bigger problems faced by organizers of virtual events.
This is understandable because being behind a screen makes it much easier to be passive and not participate or engage with the meeting. Plus, being on the Internet means being prone to so many more distractions like notifications, pop-ups and so on.
Other disadvantages include technical difficulties and how not everyone has the same technical capabilities for virtual meetings.