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Sep 30
2009
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Conducting Effective Online Meetings for On Site Teams
Posted by: Lori Snider on Sep 30, 2009 01:00 Tagged in: Property Management
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I have had the pleasure of conducting a few online meetings of late; otherwise referred to as "Webinars". As a presenter that is accustomed to adjusting and transforming presentations based on audience response, I found the process to be initially difficult from a delivery standpoint. There were times when I had no idea if anyone was even in the room, as I would ask a question, and no one would answer, or I could hear people assisting clients in the background, once the mute button was turned off. My perception was that people were coming and going: for all I knew, they decided to go practice the skill I had just taught - or maybe they were sleeping. It's difficult when you can't see your audience.
Managing an effective online meeting can be like herding cats; chaos may abound. Or, you can get smart, take control and manage the process effectively.
These events have been a good learning experience,and have inspired my "top 10" list for conducting successful online meetings. Enjoy.
1. Suggest or insist that the group meet before or after hours. It is impossible to conduct business and learn a new concept at the same time, and if you have hired good people, they simply won't be able to, nor should they, resist the client standing in front of them.
2. Send two or three reminder emails before training, and let the group know that you will start promptly on time. Tell them that if they join late, to please do so as quietly as possible, as if they were entering a live meeting already going on.
3. If you're expecting a large crowd, tell them you'll set up the meeting 10 minutes early to make sure everyone is able to sign on.
4. Ask the participants if they can see your screen as they join.
5. Ask participants to mute their phones as you get started.
6. It is always good to "clear" the session to begin by utilizing the Stop Showing button, then Start Showing again before you start.
7. Command of the room and receiving feedback is very difficult during a Webinar. Include questions that you will expect feedback for on the handout.
8. Speaking of handouts, they are crucial and should contain exercise boxes.
9. When you are ready to begin, ask the audience if they have your undivided attention. Ask if anyone will need to leave to conduct business during the session.
9. As part of your introduction, make sure to tell the audience what they are going to learn, to refer to handouts when conducting exercises and what the benefit to them will be.
10. If you ask a question, and get no response, ask the group a clever question like, "Do I assume that I am not conveying this concept well, or are you all shouting answers and have forgotten to turn off your mute buttons?"
A good online meeting should last no longer than 1.5 hours, and 1 hour is optimal. Managing the meeting is crucial to success, and will result in a team that has been trained in a new concept and is ready to practice technique.
What are your favorite Webinar/online meeting tips?
Managing an effective online meeting can be like herding cats; chaos may abound. Or, you can get smart, take control and manage the process effectively.
These events have been a good learning experience,and have inspired my "top 10" list for conducting successful online meetings. Enjoy.
1. Suggest or insist that the group meet before or after hours. It is impossible to conduct business and learn a new concept at the same time, and if you have hired good people, they simply won't be able to, nor should they, resist the client standing in front of them.
2. Send two or three reminder emails before training, and let the group know that you will start promptly on time. Tell them that if they join late, to please do so as quietly as possible, as if they were entering a live meeting already going on.
3. If you're expecting a large crowd, tell them you'll set up the meeting 10 minutes early to make sure everyone is able to sign on.
4. Ask the participants if they can see your screen as they join.
5. Ask participants to mute their phones as you get started.
6. It is always good to "clear" the session to begin by utilizing the Stop Showing button, then Start Showing again before you start.
7. Command of the room and receiving feedback is very difficult during a Webinar. Include questions that you will expect feedback for on the handout.
8. Speaking of handouts, they are crucial and should contain exercise boxes.
9. When you are ready to begin, ask the audience if they have your undivided attention. Ask if anyone will need to leave to conduct business during the session.
9. As part of your introduction, make sure to tell the audience what they are going to learn, to refer to handouts when conducting exercises and what the benefit to them will be.
10. If you ask a question, and get no response, ask the group a clever question like, "Do I assume that I am not conveying this concept well, or are you all shouting answers and have forgotten to turn off your mute buttons?"
A good online meeting should last no longer than 1.5 hours, and 1 hour is optimal. Managing the meeting is crucial to success, and will result in a team that has been trained in a new concept and is ready to practice technique.
What are your favorite Webinar/online meeting tips?
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1. Let people know that you will be calling on them, so they don't feel ambushed. Lots of folks think a webinar is a great opportunity to catch up on email, or other work and knowing they may be "invited" to participate at any moment helps keep them focused.
2. Some web conference platforms allow you to see when someone navigates away from your screen or opens another application on top of it. I send that person a private chat message letting them know I know - it almost always does the trick.
3. Let people know what the ground rules for the session are - I call them "The Requests", so they know the "how" as well as the "why" of your session.
4. Even though I do several hundred webinars a year, I still get lonely! I keep the TV on The Weather Channel, with the sound muted, and pretend they are in my session. Silly? Yes, and it works for me!
5. When home, I use three monitors - one for the webinar, one to have my PPT open to slide sorter view, and one to have the participant workbook open in multi-page view. When on the road, I print out the slides in the six per page handout format and have the printed workbook to refer to.
6. I completely agree with your one hour maximum duration. When I build a session for a webinar, I use the foloowing formula: 5 minutes for opening, 5 minutes for closing, 30 minutes max of content (usually 3 chunkc/topics) and 20 minutes for questions/interaction.
7. People online seem to be even more sensitive about starting and ending on time than in a classroom. While I am almost always willing to wait a few minutes for the late-comers, I don't anymore - I start and end exactly on time and give people my contact info if they want to ask more questions or get more info.
Lori, thanks again for sharing your experience with this and I'm eager to hear how other folks are doing this as well! Doug