If you spend a lot of time attending virtual meetings then you know very well the difference between a good meeting and a bad one.
Poorly run meetings can not only suck out all your energy, they can also destroy your productivity and motivation. This is especially true if you have several back-to-back meetings in one day.
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the most common virtual meeting challenges and practical ways to solve them. Let’s jump in.
Choosing the wrong virtual meeting software
It’s not uncommon to assist in online meetings where the software doesn’t have the features necessary to carry out the meeting successfully. Many times meeting leaders also have trouble choosing the virtual meeting software that can support all the people invited to the meeting.
How do we solve this issue?
A great way to solve this problem is by exploring your options. Experiment with different software until you find something that fits the needs of your meetings. When doing this, keep in mind that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all platform.
However, try to go for platforms that allow integration and are compatible with many different tools. Also, ensure that the software you decide on is easy to use.
Technical troubles
What’s the worst meeting you attended? Probably the one with numerous technical troubles. Camera freezes, audio quality, bad connection and so much more can ruin the meeting and derail any sort of progress.
How do we solve this issue?
Encourage tech checks before every meeting. Every member should check their connectivity and test video and audio. This is why you should have meeting rules in place. One of them should be to log onto the meeting platform 5 minutes before the meeting starts to check the tech.
For high-stakes meetings and conferences, work with professionals from Veritas. They will ensure that your video meetings and conferences are organized without any hiccups.
Lack of meeting agenda
You know how meetings without a clear agenda tend to go off the rails pretty fast? You don’t want your meetings to be like that. Without a clear agenda, meetings become pointless, they go off the topic and feel like a waste of time.
How do we solve this issue?
Create a clear meeting agenda before every meeting. Make sure that the agenda contains clearly outlined objectives. This doesn’t mean that the agenda should be a thirty-page report, but just a list of bullet points that will be discussed during the meeting.
Ensure that all members of the team or all the meeting participants get the agenda before the meeting.
Another benefit of creating an agenda is that it will tell you if the meeting is really necessary or you can replace it with an email.
Lack of engagement and participation
The whole point of meetings is to allow everyone to express their opinion on the given topic. If you notice that you have issues with keeping the participants engaged, it’s either meeting fatigue or they don’t feel comfortable or motivated to speak out.
How do we solve this issue?
You can increase engagement and participation in your meetings by creating an environment where participants will feel comfortable and motivated to share their opinions. To achieve this, you need to work on your communication and leadership skills.
Meeting fatigue
Ever since the rise of virtual meetings, meeting fatigue has been a huge issue. Virtual meetings are exhausting, especially if you have a full day of back-to-back meetings.
Meetings demand your full attention, and when you feel a lack of productivity, overwhelmed, and demoralized, you can’t function well.
How do we solve this issue?
To overcome this issue, meeting leaders should consider the importance of every meeting. Before sending meeting requests, consider whether that meeting is truly necessary or if you can fit everything in an email.
The other option you have is to be aware of and respect everyone’s attention spans. We are all different and so are our attention spans, so try to reduce mental overload. Keep the meetings short whenever you can, and make breaks mandatory for long meetings.
Allow participants to turn off their cameras to reduce the mental strain.
Information overload
Whether you have a meeting with your team or your clients, if there is too much information being shared, there are high chances of information overload.
And information overload can lead to confusion, miscommunication, and indecision.
How do we solve this issue?
The best way to avoid information overload and confusion is to use visual aids. Visual aids include charts, graphs, images, diagrams, and videos, to name a few. You will choose your visual aids based on the type of information you need to share.
If there is any complex information, make sure you break it down into pieces and present it as clearly as possible. And at the end of the meeting, make sure you send out a written recap and main takeaway points from the meeting.
Lack of follow-up
A very high number of great meetings ends up with no follow-ups. Follow-ups are a crucial part of a successful virtual meeting. If there isn’t any effective follow-up, the discussions and decisions made during the meetings often amount to nothing.
In turn, this affects the team’s morale and productivity.
How do we solve this issue?
Encourage meeting participants to take notes during the meeting. Notes can be crucial for tasks, deadlines, decisions, and so on. Different tools can help you with taking notes and later with follow-ups. Moreover, you can put someone in the team in charge of taking notes.
During meetings be sure to clearly communicate who is in charge of what task. Doing this will help avoid any ambiguity or miscommunication.
In addition to taking notes, you can use tools to send reminders as well. For instance, Slack is a great tool that can be programmed to send reminders about pending tasks.
Also, make sure you organize check-ins that will track the progress of follow-up items.
Conclusion
By using these practical solutions, your meetings will be more effective and teams and clients will have a smoother experience. Meetings don’t have to be a problem if you deal with these challenges effectively.