Virtual Meeting Best Practices for Leaders
Virtual meetings have become a standard part of how organizations communicate. But familiarity with the technology does not always translate into effective communication.
A screen full of faces is not the same as a room full of people. Leaders have fewer nonverbal cues, participants have more opportunities for distraction and natural conversation can be harder to manage. Even experienced communicators can struggle to read the audience, enter the discussion or recognize when attention is beginning to fade.
Effective virtual meetings require clear expectations, deliberate facilitation and communication skills suited to the environment. Leaders need to think differently about participation, pacing, technology and audience connection.
The goal is not to recreate an in-person meeting through a screen. It is to lead the virtual conversation in a way that helps people focus, contribute and understand what happens next.
It seemed like an easy concept. With the mounting concerns around COVID-19, the order to “work from home,” took hold without a lot of debate or exception. But I’m told by many clients that the shift to 100% virtual wasn’t easy. It was more a herculean task as companies moved everything from call centers to billing departments into a make-shift home office. It was a frenzied pace and transition, and then all of a sudden, we were home… working.
For some employees, regarding virtual meeting best practices, it’s been easier than they thought. For others, it’s been harder than they expected. And for everyone, there have been surprises and key learnings.
First, the surprises. Whether you work virtually every day, occasionally or not at all, the experience hasn’t been quite what anyone expected. Prior to COVID-19, leaders often asked us for help in managing a virtual workforce. And our advice has always been: “Turn the video on. It’s a much better meeting if you have a visual connection with an employee or a team.”
I felt heard on that point after seeing the significant increase in Zoom, BlueJeans, and Teams Meeting invites on calendars. Everyone is on video meetings. And, they’re exhausted by it. How can that be? Because the video adds a requirement that we misunderstood. Historically, “work from home” meant I can manage a personal schedule on top of a work one. And that interpretation means everything from not dressing up today, to making lunch over sales reviews, managing errands or home repairs, etc. Until now, virtual working has been a multi-tasking opportunity.
It doesn’t mean people weren’t paying attention on conference calls, but they were rarely in front of a computer screen. So, they weren’t participating in the same way that we’re asking employees to participate now. And that realization has also highlighted some challenges in managing a virtual meeting. Which is why virtual meeting best practices has become so important.
Here are some virtual meeting best practices for improving the virtual video experience.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: GROUND RULES:
The Zoom screen full of faces isn’t the same as the room full of bodies. If you didn’t realize it before, you now know how much we rely on body language to get a group’s attention or to speak up in meetings. It isn’t as easy in a virtual format. So, the meeting lead needs to set ground rules for how to participate. There are tools within most platforms to raise hands, wave and forward questions. But you have to know how to use them and establish that you are using them in order for them to be effective. There aren’t universal rules. So, set your own and call them out at the start of every meeting.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: INTERRUPTIONS:
We’re also learning how to manage interruptions from dogs barking to kids who need something. The responsibility for managing this lies on the participant more than the meeting lead. Participants should be alert to sound quality, noises in a house, etc. We are overloading all internet systems, and most virtual meetings have at least one person with technical difficulty. Have a plan for managing this. Respond quickly to an interruption on your end. It’s OK to have interruptions right now; it’s not so good to ignore them or to be slow in response to them.
During this time, meeting leads need to be lenient. Be aware of who is more challenged working from home. Some people are balancing a lot more than others. Once we reset and define new boundaries, you can reset expectations. For now, try to help individuals manage interruptions so that everyone gets value out of a virtual meeting.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: PARTICIPATION:
In a virtual setting, we often say someone needs to participate in order to listen well. As a meeting lead, you should encourage and manage participation differently. In our remote meetings workshop, we coach facilitation tools to help someone manage a virtual group of people. One simple tool is to draw a picture to replicate a meeting setting. Then add names of people so that you have a snapshot of who is in your meeting. Keep track of participation and discussion with a tally beside each name so that you can “see” involvement and call on people who haven’t had an opportunity to speak up.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: BREAKS:
If you’re running long meetings or back to back meetings, remember the surprise that most people have about working virtually. People weren’t sitting in front of a screen for a virtual meeting, and now we’re asking them to do that. Virtual participants were taking breaks during those calls; we just didn’t realize it. So, make breaks a part of a video meeting. There should be breaks in meetings that run more than 1.5 hours. And if you acknowledge this in your ground rules, you’re less likely to see people leave the meeting or turn off their video.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: SOCIAL TIME:
The “work from home” format also takes the social time out of the workday. Many companies are creating social time. Team leads are being encouraged to host “happy hours, game nights, workout challenges, etc.” Every culture is different, but it’s a nice way to help employees connect with each other without a tight agenda. Keep it light, keep it optional and see if your team values it.
No matter when we shift to a “new normal,” we’ve learned a bit about working virtually. And I stand by my advice on the video format. It’s the best way to work because it sets expectations very similar to being in an office. It isn’t a punitive step for a virtual employee; it’s just a better way to work as a team because it improves listening and increases participation.
I expect we will redefine virtual working and reset expectations. Today, working virtually has become the catch phrase for a day an employee needs to be somewhere else and hopes to multi-task between personal and work activities. That’s different than someone who is working in a different location. If virtual working stays front and center, I suspect we will define it more clearly.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: Why Virtual Meetings Require Different Communication Skills
In an in-person meeting, leaders rely on the room for information. They notice who is leaning forward, who appears confused and who is preparing to speak. They can use eye contact or a pause to invite someone into the discussion.
Many of those signals are reduced or lost in a virtual environment.
Participants may be looking at multiple screens, joining without video or experiencing a delay that makes natural conversation more difficult. Even when everyone is engaged, the meeting leader may not be able to see or interpret the group’s reactions.
That means virtual communication must be more deliberate and it is imperative to follow virtual meeting best practices. Leaders need to make expectations visible, create clearer openings for participation and check for understanding instead of assuming that silence means agreement.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: Establish Virtual Meeting Ground Rules
Every virtual meeting does not need a long list of rules. But participants should understand how the conversation will work.
At the beginning of the meeting, clarify:
- Whether cameras are expected or optional
- How participants should signal that they want to speak
- Whether questions should be asked verbally or entered in the chat
- How decisions will be made
- Who is responsible for capturing action items
- When the group can expect a break
- What participants should do if technology fails
These expectations reduce uncertainty and allow people to focus on the discussion.
Ground rules should also reflect the purpose of the meeting. A small working session should feel more conversational than a large company update. A sensitive discussion may require more visible participation than an informational call.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: Design the Meeting Around Participation
Participation rarely happens because a leader says, “Please make this interactive.”
It has to be built into the meeting. This is part of the virtual meeting best practices.
Identify where you need the group to react, contribute ideas or make a decision. Then choose a participation method that fits the moment. You might ask a direct question, invite comments in the chat, use a poll or call on participants with relevant expertise.
Leaders should also pay attention to who has contributed and who has not. The goal is not to force equal airtime. It is to ensure that the conversation benefits from the people and perspectives needed to reach a useful outcome.
Questions such as these can create natural openings:
- “What are we missing?”
- “Who sees this differently?”
- “What concern should we address before moving forward?”
- “Jordan, how would this affect your team?”
- “What decision do we need to make today?”
Specific questions produce stronger participation than a general request for thoughts.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: Use Video with Intention
Video can improve connection, but requiring it throughout every meeting is not automatically the best approach.
Consider the purpose, size and duration of the meeting. Video may be valuable for coaching conversations, relationship building, sensitive discussions and small collaborative sessions. It may be less important during a large informational meeting or a call in which participants are primarily listening.
When video is used, leaders should help participants understand why it matters. The explanation should connect the expectation to communication, engagement or the needs of the conversation.
A thoughtful video policy recognizes that employees may face bandwidth limitations, accessibility concerns, difficult work environments or fatigue from consecutive virtual meetings.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: Manage Distractions and Technical Interruptions
Interruptions are part of virtual work. A thoughtful participant responds quickly, and an effective meeting leader keeps a minor interruption from disrupting the entire group.
Participants should test their audio, mute when background noise becomes distracting and know how to reconnect if the platform fails. Meeting leaders should have materials available through another channel and identify what will happen if a key participant loses access.
The goal is not perfection. It is preparedness.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: Build Breaks and Transitions into the Agenda
A virtual meeting requires sustained visual and mental attention. That becomes difficult during long sessions or days filled with consecutive calls.
For longer meetings, schedule breaks rather than waiting until energy has already dropped. Shorter meetings also benefit from a focused agenda and clearly managed transitions.
If a subject does not require discussion, consider whether it belongs in the meeting at all. Information that can be reviewed independently may be more effective in an email, document or recorded update.
The strongest virtual meeting may be the one that is shortened because the leader has separated information-sharing from conversation and decision-making.
Virtual Meeting Best Practices: How to Lead More Effective Hybrid Meetings
Hybrid meetings add another layer of complexity because some participants share a room while others join remotely.
Without intentional facilitation, the people in the room can dominate the discussion. Side conversations, poor audio and limited visibility can leave virtual participants feeling like observers rather than contributors.
A hybrid meeting leader should follow the virtual meeting best practices:
- Address remote and in-room participants equally
- Make sure everyone can hear each speaker
- Avoid conversations that happen outside the microphone
- Monitor virtual chat and raised hands
- Share the same materials with all participants
- Pause deliberately for remote input
- Confirm decisions and next steps before closing
Hybrid communication is not simply an in-person meeting with a camera added. It requires a meeting design that gives every participant a credible way to contribute. This will help bolster virtual meeting best practices.
In the meantime, it’s smart to sharpen your skills as a virtual communicator and that is where virtual meeting best practices come into play. And if your team would like help setting new ground rules and leveraging a different skill set, we can help you do so.
Stay healthy and call us when you need us. For more insights on virtual meeting best practices and everything else.