Tip 1 for Virtual Meeting Facilitation

Posted on | August 24, 2009 | No Comments

Many organizations find it cost efficient to have meetings by phone, which is a challenging way to faciliate a meeting. Though it can be efficient to have participants call in, it can be difficult to manage a virtual meeting. People often report feeling they did not participate enough or had a hard time joining in the conversation. There are helpful tools that can help these virtual meetings work better.

One technique is to create a visual representation of the group on a piece of paper and keep it by you. Here’s how to create the picture and how to use it:

  1. Imagine people at a table. Take a piece of paper and draw a circle on it.
  2. Place the name of each person who is on the call around the circle.
  3. Be sure everyone checks in at the beginning of the call to get them present and known to everyone else in the meeting
  4. As people talk, put a check mark next to their name
  5. As the conversation progresses be sure to check who has spoken and who has not. Be sure to include people in the conversation who have not yet spoken or are joining in less than others.
  6. Stop halfway through the meeting and check to see how the participants are doing. Ask if there is anything, in regard to being on the phone, they need before proceeding
  7. At the end, do a quick check out with everyone to see how the meeting went and be sure to ask for any further suggestions to improve future calls.

Creating a picture of the group and noting their names will help you both visualize and remember who is on the call. Over time, you will find that your meetings feel more inclusive. If you ask for suggestions for improvement and follow them, you will undoubtedly find even more ways to make these virtual meetings efficient and productive.

Category: facilitation
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