How to make remote team meetings super-productive
The global pandemic has accelerated changes in our working lives, with increasing numbers of companies embracing remote working as a safe and convenient alternative to the traditional office set-up. But just because a remote team is spread across multiple locations, it doesn’t mean its members have to work alone. Communication still needs to happen, and more often than not this is through virtual meeting platforms.
One of our core values at Timeular is around respecting time. Show up on time, deliver in time and communicate in time. From selecting the right technology to setting a meeting agenda, focusing on every detail will ensure that you have a super productive virtual meeting with your team.
Select the right meeting platform
Whether it’s Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or one of the growing number of alternatives, choosing the right platform is essential for ensuring a productive meeting. When choosing a platform, it’s important to consider features that will foster collaboration, including chat tools, project management integrations and screen sharing.
Time is the most valuable thing we have and no one wants to be in a meeting full of technical mishaps, so it’s crucial to have a full understanding of the software’s functionalities. After all, the last thing you want to start your year with is a technical mishap during a crucial presentation!
Map out a meeting plan
Having a meeting agenda will ensure your meeting runs efficiently and finishes on time. Set out the goal of the meeting, the length, and the best time (consider different time zones of your team members).
Bear in mind that attendees will have other tasks to complete too, so be punctual with start and end times. You can also get suggestions from your remote team when creating the agenda to help tackle issues before you meet.
Send out meeting materials
Circulate a reminder note the day before the meeting with a copy of the agenda, meeting invite and login details. Sending the plan a few minutes before the meeting demonstrates poor meeting management and may result in team members struggling to contribute if they are not well acquainted with the items.
Set ground rules
Keep everyone in check and stop the schedule from deviating. It’s a good idea to ask participants to mute their microphones and only un-mute when making contributions. Another rule to consider is around punctuality. Respecting your own time and the time of others is a core value of Timeular as well.
Engage all remote team members
Don’t make the meeting a one-way conversation. Ask questions that encourage everyone to contribute. You can also include activities like filling out a poll, or contributing to a brainstorm. Your job as the meeting lead is to encourage and engage everyone. This will help the team come up with an action plan and improve productivity.
With a little planning it’s easier than you’d imagine to make meetings super productive for your remote team. Take the time to plan ahead to make them as efficient as possible, and it will help ensure that you and your colleagues reach your goals in no time.
Remote working guide
If you’re looking for extra guidance to get the most out of remote working, we’ve developed a guide full of tips. From how to plan your day, to the best way to plan virtual meetings pass, the guide will help ensure every minute of your time counts.
Ready to unlock your time?
Timeular offers a range of packages for individuals and teams who are remote working, making employee time tracking seamless. Over 70,000 users around the world are using the software to take control of their time. View pricing
About the author: Frank Hamilton has been working as an editor at essay review service Online Writers Rating. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.