‘Arriving’ at your Online Meeting

Normally, when we are faced with something new and unfamiliar, we tend to put a bit of extra time and concentration aside to make sure that we get it right. So we might imagine that we would be just a little bit more diligent in turning up for a online meeting than we are for a more familiar physical one.It would make sense right? It’s different. There are more things to go wrong. We aren’t as skilled in them. There is a lot more that is hidden. And we know we hit problems.

And yet, paradoxically, the reverse is often true.

To explore this, let us start with our typical approach to a physical meeting, as shown in the table below:

Get there	Pick up the files you need & leave in time to get through the ‘doors’ to the meeting
Ready yourself	Get out the documents you need for the meeting, leave the rest in your briefcase and close the door.
Concentrate	Sit down and get comfortable. Be attentive, and try not to do anything to distract yourself or others from the meeting
Use the right tools	Make sure the room and any technology you bring will enable you to do what you need & that everyone can see each other.
Play your part	Attend in a way that respects other people’s time & investment in the meeting & which reflects well upon your professionalism.
Learn	Participate in a meeting review, and learn from any feedback you receive.

Based on this, we might imagine that we would adopt the parallel behaviours in the green column below for our attendance at a online meeting, but more commonly we find the behaviours in the red column.

Get there	Be ready to start ahead of time – log on, check the technology, and have everything you need to hand.	We log on at the last minute, often without enough time to get things working properly
Ready yourself	Shut down all possibilities of distraction or interruption – use a ‘do not disturb’ notice on door, close email, switch-off phone, other work-files closed or minimised	Keep emails and media open in case anything happens. Look for meeting files when needed
Concentrate	Focus entirely on the meeting. Mute your microphone until you want to speak. Listen attentively and supportively, and show you are doing so – use encouraging non-verbals via webcam	Monitor emails, tweets & alerts when they come in. Access the meeting via mobile so we can move about doing other things
Use the right tools	Use the best technology: Ensure you have a reliable connection; wear a good headset; switch on your webcam. Train yourself in the full functionality of the software you are using, and use it fully.	Use minimum meeting software functionality and technology. Avoid anything we have to learn. Avoid showing our face if possible.
Play your part	Be an exemplar, a role model to others, of what good participation and meeting behaviour means in regard to remote meetings. Call out poor behaviour gently but firmly in others.	Use meeting time to best advantage for our own priorities. Mentally dip in & out when it suits our purposes, particularly if off-camera.
Learn	Ensure and support a time of reflection, feedback and learning at the end – to get still better next time	Get out of the meeting as soon as possible – its done, move on!

There is something wrong in our paradigm of Remote Meetings.

We know that they are, and will become, increasingly important. We know that we suffer from the consequences of the red behaviours above – to the extent that those consequences have become a standing joke. And yet, something (a sense of eternal optimism, or a victimless crime, or that you cannot be seen, or that everyone else does it) means we think it is okay to take liberties in this way.

Yes, it is true that there are issues, but we would experience far less of them if people took responsibility for ensuring they just took the same time to get themselves ready as they would have for a physical meeting, and adopted the same self-restraint within it.

There are many things we can do to improve our use and benefit from online meetings, but if we just all did the basics, consistently, I believe we would surprise ourselves as to the outcome.

So how might we do that?

I believe there are a number of simple practical things we can undertake in this regard:

1. Adopt the green items as some basic groundrules, and communicate them
2. Ensure we model them in our own behaviour, and expect them of others
3. Follow up when they are not applied, and understand the reasons so they can be fixed
4. Check that people see they are making a difference, and adjust them as required

 

Track your progress to ensure the efficacy of this strategy.