In unprecedented times, businesses must adapt to remain productive. If face-to-face meetings are a key part of your daily business operation, here are some tips to take your meetings online with minimal disruption.
Find the best system for you
There's a range of free or low-cost platforms, including GoToMeeting, ezTalks, Join.me, Zoom, Google Hangouts, and TeamViewer.
Before you choose one, consider:
How many people generally attend your meetings?
Do you require screen share functionality?
How many meetings do you run? (If it’s a lot, a small monthly subscription may pay off due to better functionality)
Schedule your meeting
Depending on your chosen system, consider how you schedule your online meetings. It may be that you include a link generated by your system into an email calendar invitation. However you do it, make it easy for your meeting attendees to be reminded of the meeting and access the meeting at the time.
Check your tech
Do you need a webcam (usually built into laptops) or an audio headset? These are a must for any online meeting. Communicate the need for this technology to your meeting attendees, and if required consider completing a quick online tech-check before the first meeting.
Set a clear agenda
Like any face-to-face meeting, you’ll need a well-structured agenda to follow. You’ll also need to specify the time a length of the meeting, and respect this. Decide who will take minutes, define the next steps, and if appropriate - BAMFAM (Book a meeting, from a meeting).
Does it need a meeting?
These unfortunate times act as a friendly reminder that some meetings can be emails. Consider using free tools such as Bonjoro for quick messages and Loom to document a longer and more engaging message in a video to send via email. The recipient can view the video multiple times before responding, resulting in a more considered reply.
Think outside the box
The logic around moving meetings online can also be applied to other events. We are seeing a lot of education, conferences and other events pivot as they are looking at other ways that they can still engage with their audiences and get their content out to the market. Can you take the time that you are saving from your daily commute (if you are now working from home) to adapt and deliver your content in a different way? If you can get this in place now I guarantee you will continue to reap the rewards once life returns to normal.
We encourage you to identify the tools you might need to encourage social distancing and then trial them in your business. Most have a free trial so now is a really good time to take them up on that offer as you are more likely to use and test the product. If you have questions on how you can adapt and implement online meetings within your business, get in touch with the team at Thrive CA.