Tips for Leading a Virtual Meeting

The pandemic has caused communication shifts. Online, virtual meetings have quickly become the norm for teams. Let's look at some key components of leading an effective online meeting. Start by having some PERSONAL time. Let team members share about what is going on in their life. When you take time to listen and care for team members, they will engage more with you. Tell them the PARAMETERS of the meeting. How long the meeting will last. When team members have a start and stop time, they will focus better. PREPARE. Send them an agenda the day before the meeting. When you give team members the specifics of what you will be talking about and how long the meeting will last, you will have better engagement. Engage PARTICIPANTS. Leave time for questions, input and discussion. When team members are given the opportunity to actively participate, they will engage. Have a PRE-MEETING CHAT / VIDEO ROOM available. Open this 4-5 minutes before the session begins. This gives team members time to adjust their cameras and microphones. It also gives team members the opportunity to engage with each other before the meeting. PUT UP with some interruptions. Many team members are working from home. A pet may walk into someone's camera view. A child may begin to cry in the next room. A loud vehicle may be heard from outside. As much as possible, encourage team members to keep the distractions to a minimum. One thing that can help with this, is by having team members mute their sound when they are not talking. POSTPONE the meeting and reschedule it if you are having on going tech issues. Sometimes technology will act up at the worship possible time - right in the middle of a meeting. Try to resolve the issue, but if you can't after 4-5 minutes, then postpone the meeting to a later date. PROGRAMS you can use:

• Zoom (this is what I use)

• Demio

• Webinarjam

• Skype

• Clickmeeting

PRAYER - close the meeting by praying for team members and for the ministry items you covered. Your turn. Any other apps you recommend for virtual meetings? What other elements are part of having a great online meeting? Share your thoughts and insight in the comment section below.