7 quick and easy tips to master remote meetings
Drastic times ask for drastic measures, so at Clockwork Amsterdam everyone is home-bound for at least 3 weeks. As a digital agency, you’d think it should be easy for us to switch from working in our physical office to working remote. But for us too, this comes with some challenges and interesting insights. Therefore we share our 7 tips to make your remote meetings run smooth.
Tip 1: Everybody mute!
We’ve learnt the hard way that 5 people trying to speak at the same time simply doesn’t work. Along with background noises and the occasional echo, we found that it works best if everyone mutes their microphones except when they are speaking.
Tip 2: Cameras on.
Bad hair day? Dirty laundry in the corner of the room? Or whatever other reason you may have to switch off your camera, we’ve all been there. The limitation of not being physically present in the same room make it difficult to have a good meeting. If you also take away the visual aspect of the meeting and the possibility to read facial expressions, it is close to impossible to be involved in the meeting and understand what everyone is saying or meaning to say. Therefore everyone should have their cameras on.
Tip 3: Keep your kids, cats and other distractions out of the meeting.
Firstly, we’d like to say that it is fun to have a peak into your colleagues life and home. “Oh what a lovely wallpaper” and “Is that your cat in the background?” are things we’ve heard a lot these couple of days. But when it comes to the productivity and efficiency of the meeting, it is best to focus on what needs to be discussed. Therefore have the call in a quiet room with the camera facing a wall.
Tip 4: Raise your hand if you have a question.
When you have a question or want to add something to the conversation, the quickest and clearest way to do so is to raise or show your hand. Also use your hands to answer easy yes or no questions with a thumbs up or thumbs down.
Tip 5: Take and share notes of the meeting
Make sure someone is in charge of note-taking and sharing the notes with everyone after the meeting. When everyone leaves the call, you won’t all be in the same physical space so getting back in contact can be difficult. Therefore it is important that everyone has the same information and knows what is expected of them.
Tip 6: Time-box the meeting.
Just like physical meetings, it is important to time-box your remote meeting. Set a realistic but tight timeframe. Discuss what needs to be discussed and have one-on-one discussions in a separate call.
Tip 7: Do a check-out.
Before everyone hangs up and retreats back into their own quarantine bubble, make sure you do a check out. Ask how everyone is doing and knows what to do and if there is anything you can do to improve your next remote meeting. That’s how we improve our way of working everyday, one meeting at a time.
We hope these tips will help you to run your remote meetings as smooth as possible. Good luck experimenting and finding what works for you and your colleagues. Stay safe and keep up the good work.
