Management Training Tips: Managing Team Meetings Remotely

The days of centralized corporate staffing - where all members of your team work in the same office - or at least in the same building, are rapidly fading away. The accelerated globalization of the market place, combined with sometimes drastic reductions in travel and personnel budgets in the current economy, has made it necessary for one manager to oversee the activities of sales or project teams that may be scattered across several states or even several continents. Fortunately, the technology now exists to accomplish this task in a smooth and effective manner, but it still takes practice and planning.

The key to conducting team meetings remotely is the availability of Internet-based meeting platforms like WebEx and GoToMeeting. These interfaces allow all participants to view whatever is on the manager’s – or anyone else’s – computer, and discuss everything in real-time phone conversations. It is even possible for participants to use embedded tools to make changes to the documents, highlight specific portions for follow up, record meeting feedback using the whiteboard feature, and do practically anything that can be done in a face-to-face meeting. These powerful applications can also enable live video conferencing, so that all participants with web cams can see each other, further enhancing that live, face-to-face meeting effect. You can connect everyone on the team simultaneously, as long as everyone has access to a phone and a high-speed Internet connection. You can even record the entire meeting for play back and review later.

While these interfaces are fairly simple to use, it does take training and practice to implement them seamlessly. Be sure you have been thoroughly trained in how to operate all the features. Here are some quick tips for conducting online team meetings:

• Be hardwired into a cable modem or a DSL connection if possible -- low bandwidth is your enemy because it will slow down the responsiveness of your system. Wireless laptop connect cards tapped into cell phone towers can become unstable with no warning.

• Have your meeting up and running 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time – this gives you time to test every aspect of the presentation and make sure everything is loaded and running. If you encounter problems, you still have time to make adjustments before the meeting starts.

• Make sure you have prepared and loaded all necessary documents.

• Make sure you have provided clear, step-be-step instructions to every meeting participant. Initially, many team members may be unfamiliar with conducting sophisticated business meetings via a web-based interface. Help put them at ease by spelling everything out for them, including the URL to log on to the meeting, the toll-free number to dial into the meeting, and specific instructions regarding how to load and use the meeting software and activate their web cam.

• Ask everyone to exit all unnecessary programs such as: Instant Messenger, Outlook, Video Chat, etc. – not only does this slow down your high speed connection, but having all those message alarms going off is distracting to everyone on the team.

• If you are going to use video, be aware that your video is on at all times – the rest of the participants can see everything you do! Avoid ALL distract motions and annoying habits. Be sure your demeanor and body language is thoroughly professional.

• Avoid any unnecessary fidgeting or unflattering body movements while the web cam is on – this is very distracting and looks unprofessional.

There are two other very important strategies you must implement in order to get the most out of a remote team meeting. First of all, as with any meeting, make sure you have put together and published an efficient agenda in advance, including a hard start and stop time. Sending out the agenda in advance will help everyone be focused and prepared with the meeting starts, and it will also serve as your road map to keep the meeting on task.

However, the real key to running a successful remote meeting is to keep everyone involved. Often, during such meetings, people may be tempted to check email, send text messages, get up and make a sandwich, or engage in other activities that distract them from the task at hand. The best way to counter that is to regularly tap individual members for feedback and participation. You can accomplish this by doing things like:

1. Ask them to read what is on the screen

2. Ask someone to take notes or record feedback using the white board feature

3. Ask participants to give their opinion about - or build upon - something another team member just said

4. Keep a list of how many times you tap each person, and make sure you are involving everyone equally

5. Don’t let anyone sit silently and just be an observer. Ask them to participate and give their input in some specific way.

In a 30 minute meeting, you should ask for a minimum of 15-20 specific responses from the group. Once people realize they may be the next person to be called on, they will stay focused and engaged for the entire meeting! This will not only make the meeting more productive, it will build a strong sense of teamwork, even when some of the people on the call are a thousand miles away.