Managing Meetings: Keeping Participants in the Know
In previous messages, we’ve offered tips for how to plan for a smooth meeting where all participants have equal access to the content and conversations. Now we’ll talk about the big day: the meeting itself. If you’ve followed the recommendations for planning ahead, the meeting is already off to a good start. There are still some details to keep in mind, though, when managing a meeting.
During the meeting
Keep attendees updated on technology-based or other issues verbally, within the virtual conference space, and via email (if needed). If it is a hybrid meeting, ask the room to stay (relatively) quiet so virtual attendees can hear updates and instructions.
(via http://thebark.com/content/experts-share-their-pet-tested-cleaning-tips)
Review meeting best practices/reminders/housekeeping:
- Ask attendees to mute their mic if not speaking (unless everyone is muted)
- Inform attendees how to ask questions
- Share who to contact for support and how (e.g., Skype chat, email)
- Check email in case of meeting catastrophe
- Follow recording protocols (e.g., is the meeting recorded
- Tell attendees who can see chat (e.g., is chat projected in the room)
- Share if the slides can be distributed
Closing the meeting
Remember to leave time at the end of the meeting to properly close it out.
- Leave time for wrap-up questions.
- Thank the attendees, presenters, and those who assisted with the meeting.
- Make your goodbyes to the presenters and attendees.
- Provide virtual attendees time and space to ask final questions and say goodbye.
Avoid abruptly closing the virtual meeting space as soon as you are done, especially in hybrid meetings. Virtual attendees need the same time and space to ask final questions and say goodbye to each other as those in the room.
(via http://www.relatably.com/m/goodbye-memes)
After the meeting
After the meeting, send all attendees the following:
- any slides, presentation materials, and documents
- notes and action items
- answers to questions not addressed in the meeting
- post-meeting follow-up or ongoing conversations not heard by all attendees
- link to the meeting recording
- point of contact for content and meeting feedback
(via https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/effective-meetings-ayman-fattah-pgmp-pmp-cip)
Next week we'll look more at keeping content on track during the meeting.
Anne, Lisa, Amber, and Erin
Remote Experience Working Group
Meeting housekeeping
Informing your attendees of some basic housekeeping information at the beginning of the meeting can go a long way towards a successful meeting. Providing this information up front keeps attendees from interrupting the meeting to ask basic questions.
Remind attendees to mute their mic if they aren't speaking (unless everyone is muted).
This should prevent the random background noise that underlies many meetings. Emphasizing this in the beginning also provides a foundation for forcibly muting offenders later.
Tell attendees how to ask questions.
Should attendees unmute and ask questions verbally? Should they use chat to ask questions? If they are using chat, who is monitoring the chat and raising the questions to the presenter?
Tell attendees who they should contact for support, and how (e.g., Skype chat, email).
This will prevent attendees from interrupting the speaker or flooding the chat with technical questions.
Remind everyone to check their email in case of meeting catastrophe.
If you do this, don't forget to use email to communicate in a catastrophe!
Inform everyone of the recording protocols.
Knowing if the meeting is recorded impacts how attendees take notes and how they interact with the presenters.
Tell everyone who can see the chat and whose screen is being projected.
This is important in hybrid meetings. Virtual attendees need to know if their chat comments are projected on the screen for everyone in the room to see.
Let everyone know if the slides will be distributed.
As with the meeting recording, knowing if they will have access to the slides after the meeting changes how attendees take notes.