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How do I get the best out of a remote team meeting?
Having the right tools to facilitate a virtual team meeting will not in itself make the meeting effective. There is far more to consider…
How to get the most out of remote meetings:
- Organise – plan the meeting, set your agenda and distribute it beforehand
- Presence – use video functionality to ‘see’ your team. If that’s not possible make sure that everyone identifies themselves on the call, if they need to leave the call early, make sure they let you know so that you know who is on the call at all times
- Short and to the point – endeavour to keep to the set agenda and do not talk for extended periods, keeping topics short and snappy will help keep everyone engaged
- Everybody contributes fully – as the manager, encourage contributions. If addressing an individual, make sure to say their name so they know who you are talking to
- Decisions are made and actions are planned – confirm the decisions that have been made during the meeting, reiterate the actions and ensure they are acknowledged by the team/individuals that will be completing them
- Any other business/ Q&A – end the call by asking all participants if they have any questions or whether there is anything else they would like to be addressed
- Review the meeting – meetings can always be improved. It is beneficial to review how the meeting went with all the participants present and agree changes so the next meeting can be more successful
Meeting productivity and effective communication is key in any context. If you would like to learn more, visit our dedicated learning module.
How do I motivate my team via remote working?
To motivate, lead and manage others you need to have an effective working relationship with them. This starts with ensuring that you have a minimum level of rapport with every member of your team. You need to continually work to build and maintain rapport especially during times of pressure such as a sudden shift to remote working
- Connecting with your team is not always achieved by talking about work. Make sure you understand how your team are adjusting to new ways of working and take the time to get to know them – what are they doing when they are not working, what do they enjoy, how are they adapting to combining family and work-life? etc.
- Keep to your natural style – At the end of a call take 5-10 minutes to ask how everyone is doing and share ideas and helpful tips about remote working.
- 15 minutes coffee break/ virtual water cooler – introduce a short session during the week where you do not discuss work and instead have casual catch up. Optional attendance means your team can drop in and out according to their availability, These meetings allow you to build a rapport with those that attend and better understand their interests and how they are doing.
Visit our Motivational Team Leadership module to learn more!
How do I maintain structure and performance within my team in a remote working environment?
Maintaining a clear structure or framework is essential for the effective management of your team and ensures that the right activities are prioritised.
Check out this link to learn more about The Manager Framework.
The Framework is comprised of key activities and events critical to your role. Here’s a quick snap shot of two of them and suggested ways to make them as effective and productive as possible:
Virtual Huddles
10-15 minute ‘virtual huddles can be used to review your team’s performance. Virtual huddles will:
- Allow you to respond to queries and concerns
- Facilitate the cascade of general communications and cover any other business that would normally require ad-hoc meetings
- Allow team members to remain aware of daily/weekly results and understand focus area for the coming days/weeks
The virtual huddle will give you greater control of productivity and teamwork towards a shared goal.
Virtual Weekly Team Performance Meetings
Moving the regular meeting between you and your Managers to an online meeting should have no impact to its structure.
Send the agenda beforehand so that that the team know what the purpose of the meeting is and come prepared to contribute. Assign tasks and actions and be clear on measurements to track performance.
The key purpose and structure for the meeting:
- Review actions
- Review performance (past & future)
- Agree new actions
- Rewards & recognition
- Urgent and important communications
To learn more about virtual huddles and virtual weekly performance meetings, visit our effective communication learning module, here.
Are remote workers more productive?
Yes, it might be difficult to believe that someone can be more productive while working from home but it’s true – why?
- Remote workers value the flexibility and convenience that working remotely affords them and therefore are more likely to go the extra mile to make it work
- We tend to think that the home environment has more distractions, but surveys show that most people who work remotely feel they have fewer distractions
As well as being more productive, studies have found that remote workers they are happier, have more job satisfaction and less likely to suffer from work-related stress than their counterparts.
How can I run a longer workshop or training session remotely?
Running a virtual meeting for 5+ hours may seem daunting, however, it is perfectly feasible to do. Whether you’re running a virtual training session or holding a longer meeting it all comes down to the planning of the agenda, timing and breaks.
Engagement
- Ensure the sessions involve interactivity and participation by everyone.
- Frequently ask participants for their thoughts and ideas – you can use voting apps for a higher ‘fun’ and engagement quotient!
- Do a short ‘pop quiz’ or even setting up smaller sub-working sessions for people to break out and then come back to share their output via screen sharing.
Timings
- Ensure breaks are set at regular intervals.
- You may need to have more breaks than you would normally in a face to face meeting.
- Breaks keep everyone engaged and focused by stepping away from their screen for 5-10 minutes every hour.
- Plan 60 minute breaks in for lunch if required NB there is no grab and go lunch so give them both time to make something, and eat it!
How do you communicate effectively when working remotely?
Adapting your communication style for a virtual environment maintains engagement:
- Use frequent virtual meetings to co-ordinate teams & set priorities
- Practice high trust & accountability
- Ensure extra clarity & open communication
- Professionalise the approach to remote meetings
- Proactively seek opportunities for authentic communication
Hints and tips for effective communication are available via the dedicated learning module.
I really struggle to get all my tasks done in a day, any tips?
Time management is considered to be one of the primary “soft skills” valued in the workplace, and effective time management skills are key to successful work life.
We all have the same amount of time available to us each day. And that time is valuable. Once it has passed, it is gone forever.
Fortunately, we have tried and tested methods you can try, here.