Canadian Lawyer InHouse

54 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse FEATURES With more people working remotely and on flex hours, virtual meetings have become the most convenient way to gather a team. Donna McGeorge explains how to make your virtual meetings more efficient and effective DOING ANYTHING by distance takes twice the time and is half as good. We have to nav- igate time zone differences, language barriers and technological inconsistencies, while still running effective meetings. The three biggest criticisms of participants in virtual or dis- tance meetings are that people are not fully present on the call and are checking emails or having side conversations with their phones; that often the speaker or presenter simply reads the slides; and that they go on for too long and much of the content is not relevant to everyone. Unfortunately, if our face-to-face meetings are bad, then it's likely our virtual meetings will be twice as bad (at least!). Good protocols, for physical or virtual meetings, are important. Some tips for handling virtual meetings follow. How to run successful virtual meetings Be prepared – make sure everyone knows why they are there and what is expected of them. Send out an agenda, or at least a purpose statement, so that people are clear about the reason for the meeting. Be punctual – start and end on time. As the meeting convenor, be online at least 10 minutes earlier so you can manage any tech issues. Be present – and keep it short. Distractions are everywhere, so by keeping virtual meet- ings to 25 minutes or less, you are more likely to keep people focused. In addition to im- proving how we meet generally, when it comes to virtual meetings there are other things we need to consider. Use the camera This is particularly useful for one-on-one meet- ings or smaller groups; not so useful once you have more than six people on the call. Using the camera creates a stronger connection, and we gain access to the visual cues that an audi- tory interaction can't provide. Of course, there are exceptions. Your teammates on those late- night conference calls don't need to see you in your pyjamas. When videoconferencing: Speak clearly and slowly. This is especial- ly important for multicultural meetings. Accents can be hard to understand. Move and gesture slowly and naturally. Depending on the bandwidth, movement can slow things down, or create pixelated images. Look into the camera. Don't look at your- self on the screen. Dress appropriately. Often we think that distance means we can be more casual, but this is not true; we still need to be pro- fessional. You also need to think about colours and patterns that may be jarring on the screen. Put your microphone on mute. When you are not speaking, be aware of back- ground noise and keep your movement to a minimum. Use the 'hands up' function. This is a better way to let people know you have some- thing to say, rather than speaking over the top of others. Stay focused and present. Keep focused on the task at hand, just as you should at an in-person meeting. Run it like a radio show Next time you are listening to the radio, pay attention to how the announcer refers to

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