Meetings continue to be an important part of conducting business, even into the 21st century. These days, you may also be working with colleagues and clients in other parts of the country or the world. Everyone’s in a different location. With remote meetings, it’s imperative to make certain everyone has access to the technology and information they need in order to fully participate in the meeting. This is where technology can step in and make your remote meetings more successful.
With the recent advances in technology, you have access to tool that can make remote meetings easier and more engaging. We’ve put together a few points on how different types of technology can aid remote meetings.
Table of Contents
1). Web Conferencing & Video Call Tools
Some of your colleagues and clients may not be comfortable using video conferencing tools; however, these types of tools are the best way to make a meeting feel more traditional. Instead of using dial-in connections, choose to go with video conferencing tools such as:
- Zoom
- Skype
- WebEx
- GoToMeeting
Being able to see one another’s faces helps put everyone at ease. Set up practice sessions with those who may not be comfortable with video conference tools. Make sure everyone has access to and understands how to use mute and pause controls.
It’s also possible, with some video conference tools, to create a background image that may be more comfortable for colleagues and clients who may not be comfortable showing the room behind them.
2). Enterprise Social Networks
What is an enterprise social media network? These are family to other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, only they’re used for business rather than leisure. Enterprise social media networks are used for similar purposes, too. They’re used to aid colleagues and clients to connect, communicate and network with one another. One of the main benefits of this type of tool is that all communications are secure and private. It’s also a great way for team members to have a more informal type of connection, one that’s more familiar to them.
There are many tools to help make your connections with remote colleagues easier during a meeting. These enterprise social network tools include:
- Yammer
- SocialCast
- Basecamp
- Convo
With these tools, you can even set up to-do lists, tag colleagues with tasks, and more. This way everyone knows what needs to be done, and they’ll know the deadline, and who to connect with on the project. Enterprise social media tools have been created to facilitate communications with teams and clients, no matter their location.
3). Use Interactive Projectors
Gone are the days when one colleague has the master file on their device, making it difficult for anyone else to use access and use the file. These days, however, projection technology can make it easier and faster to share files, even during meetings.
There are several companies that make interactive projectors including:
- Optoma
- Epson
- Casio
Not only can you display important files during a meeting, but the document can easily be utilised by others in the meeting. Finally, a document can quickly be managed through a group editing session, or presentations can be created, with the entire team working at the same time, even during a remote meeting.
4). Smartphones & Digital Assistants
While smartphones are considered a bane to modern meetings, they can do more than just act as a distraction. In fact, most smartphones can be set up with digital assistants, making it easier to schedule and track important dates. Three of the most popular personal assistants include:
- Siri by Apple
- Cortana by Microsoft
- Google Assistant by Google
Digital assistants can also be used to create reminders, to-do lists, send messages and more. And lest we forget, automated meeting coordination can also be done through the use of digital assistants.
5). Use a Digital Whiteboard
Digitising ideas and brainstorming are one of the main reasons to have a meeting. It’s a great way to get all members of the team involved, even through a remote meeting. One major tool from the past, whiteboards, how has a digital version that can make remote meetings even more productive.
Some helpful features to look for in a digital whiteboard include:
- Infinite or large canvas
- Support for handwriting/sketching/drawing with a digital pen or stylus
- Sticky notes (in different colours and shapes)
- Allows different types of multimedia content including videos, audio and images
- Upload documents
- A way to conduct vote/rate ideas of participants
Some of the best digital whiteboards for enterprise use include:
- Miro (available for any device; is also expandable through the Miro marketplace so you can incorporate more functions; works on the web, too)
- Stormboard (for the web; uses sticky notes that make it easier to brainstorm new ideas. This is a collaborative white board that all participants can view and edit in real time)
- Limnu (web, iOS and Android; a collaborative whiteboard that can be accessed by all participants in real time)
These are some of the most helpful and innovative remote meeting tools to make your meetings more productive. Now, let’s take a look at some tips that can also improve your virtual meetings.
Tips to Improve Virtual Meetings
Here are some things to keep in mind when preparing for your next virtual meeting:
- Set an agenda: just like a “real” meeting, your remote meeting needs to have a planned agenda, with firm start and end times. In the agenda, create an outline of key issues to discuss, meeting goal(s), who needs to attend, and make sure to share all relevant files, data and research with all participants.
- Etiquette: while virtual meetings tend to be more informal, you’ll still need to be aware of some basic etiquette to follow. You’ll need to adhere to common courtesy, but also these meeting etiquette rules including:
- Open with a little casual conversation (which helps to put everyone at ease)
- Introduce everyone participating in the meeting
- Interruptions of others while they speak are not permitted
- Test all devices and software before the meeting to make sure it all works and works together
- Everyone should be in a distraction-free environment in order to concentrate on the meeting
- Remote meeting follow-ups: effective follow-ups are a key part of any business meeting. Make sure that everyone understands the following:
- Project deliverables & next steps
- Who is responsible for what task(s)
- When deliverables are due
- Next meeting date/time
By using remote meeting technologies, and following meeting rules, your virtual business meetings will be both more successful and productive.
