When face-to-face meetings won’t work

How To Get The Most Out Of Your In-Person Meetings

Suddenly, we’re living in a time when having face-to-face meetings isn’t always, or even usually, possible. For businesses, industries, and entrepreneurs who essentially rely upon these meetings for progress and success, not being able to meet in person can seem like a huge setback and hindrance.

Those who are used to utilizing face-to-face meetings for business purposes such as pitching services and ideas have been scrambling to figure out how to effectively continue while using online platforms. It can be very discouraging for many entrepreneurs and business owners because they understand that collaborations and pitches are much more successful in person than online.

In a time when so many areas of life are filled with uncertainty, creatives and entrepreneurs are looking for a way to provide effectiveness and stability to their processes. Without their usual methods available, they are having to turn to online platforms and figure out how to make them work nearly as well as an in person meeting would.

With so many tools available, the question is not how to continue pitching and meeting without face to face contact, the question is what to do in order to ensure success online. There are a number of tips and practices that people can follow to make their online collaborations as effective as possible.

Tips for effective online collaborations

If you’re an entrepreneur, a creative, a freelancer, or a business owner, you know how important it is to connect with potential partners, investors, and clients. However, it’s not always possible to do so in person.

Whether you have to settle for an online meeting due to distance or because there just happens to be a pandemic that has shut the world down, you need to know how to best utilize online platforms to make your virtual meetings successful.

Use video platforms

If you can’t be with your people in person, the next best thing is video. It provides connection from a distance like nothing else. There are so many simple video conferencing platforms out there that it should be easy to find one that meets your needs and allows you to have a successful meeting.

Seeing each other’s faces and being able to read expressions and body language is essential for connection. Using video conferencing will allow most of the participants to communicate and feel a more real connection.

While the video is important, your meeting should also have a dial-in option for those who can’t be on video at the time, or whose video connection is failing.

Test out your technology

It often happens that someone will get all prepared for a meeting and settle in to connect and then their technology fails. Whether it’s their internet connection, their device, or the platform, technology isn’t perfect and won’t always work when and how you want it to.

The best thing you can do to prevent a failed meeting is to test everything out ahead of time. Test your internet connection, your audio, your video, and any other tools you need to use during your meeting. That gives you the opportunity to fix any issues ahead of time and get ready for an efficient time of connection.

You also want to have your team test the platform from their end in order to familiarize themselves with it and ensure that it is working right.

Keep objectives clear

Have an organized plan for your meeting with clear objectives that you share with the meeting participants. This includes the presentation schedule, breaks, meeting guidelines, and anything else you want to happen.

You don’t want to waste the participants’ time. With a clear schedule and objective, they will feel confident about attending your meeting and sticking with it until the end. However, if they don’t know what they’re getting into, they’re less likely to attend, let alone stay attentive until it is over.

Make your presentation short

When you’re not in person, it’s harder to keep participants attentive and to foster conversation. If your presentations are long, people are going to start to zone out. By making presentations short, sweet, and to the point, you’ll be able to have your say while everyone is focused and motivated.

Short and simple presentations also provide more time for conversation. Once the presentation has ended, open up the floor for questions, comments, ideas, and other relevant conversation. Give people a chance to share and connect with one another.

Include time for connection

No matter how you look at it, being apart from each other has a number of difficulties. Throw the complexities and challenges of life into the mix, and people can be struggling and feeling alone.

Make sure that your online meeting includes time for connection and time to just let everyone lighten up a bit. Designate time for conversation, games, and laughter. Ask icebreaker questions to get everyone chatting and engaging. Not only will your meeting be more successful, but everyone will feel better and have an easier time throughout the presentations.

Have a meeting guide

Designating someone to guide the meeting and keep things on track will help with maximum efficiency. Don’t forget that people are at home during this meeting, with other things happening around them, vying for their attention. You want the meeting to flow smoothly so that everyone stays productive, engaged, and so that you can show them you value their time.

Collect feedback and make necessary changes

Once the meeting is over, offer the opportunity for participants to provide feedback. If you’re going to be having regular video meetings, you will want to continue to perfect them so that they run seamlessly and are effective. By collecting and listening to the feedback of participants, you will be able to make any necessary changes or updates so that your meetings just get better and better.