Tips for Holding Successful Online Meetings
Below are some hints and tips that we have found useful in conducting online meetings:
Establish expectations
Be sure all participants know:
- The purpose of the meeting
- The time allotted
- The agenda
This is easy to accomplish with Encounter. The meeting page clearly communications all this information, before, during and after the call.
Assign roles
Appoint someone to lead the meeting and someone to take notes. Be sure to agree upon the flow of interaction, i.e. changing subjects too soon or belaboring them too long. Enlist help in providing feedback.
Encourage Participation
If you find some participants are not comfortable breaking into the conversation, be sure to offer a question and answer portion of the meeting, whereby all participants have an opportunity to ask. With our proprietary product Control Panel, a presenter of larger groups can view a web page that shows who has electronically 'raised a hand' in order to move them into Q&A mode. This product also has a list of participants on the call with real time dial-in, hang ups, mutes and unmutes and more.
Use Visuals
Egenda Live allows you to share with your participants any whiteboard, sign, spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation or other application on your desktop.
Pre-Plan Your Conferences
This is more important than ever when meeting online.
- With Encounter, you always have an agenda on your meeting page.
- Provide printed materials in advance by posting pertinent documents on your Encounter meeting page.
- Allow time for questions and answers
- Distribute list of participants and contact information. This is also included with Encounter. At the presenter's discretion, it can be suppressed as well.
Facilitator or Presenter Suggestions
- Start on time
- Review the agenda
- Print and have hard copy of presentation available
- Control the flow of the meeting
- Set ground rules
- Determine when Q and A is appropriate
- End on time
Participant Suggestions
- Speak naturally
- Identify yourself when speaking
- Pause for other comments
- Spell unusual terms, names or numbers
Other Tips
- Eliminate background noise
- Avoid cell phones, which add interference and noise
- Avoid putting the call on hold if you have music-on-hold
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