Web conference calls are great when face-to-face meetings aren’t possible. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, virtual meetings are standard for employees working from home. Video calling facilities allow us to work from home, connect to field offices, and meet distant clients. Team members need to think about how to build good working relationships with their colleagues through online meetings. Here are some tips and tricks you can adapt to increase efficiency and maintain an affable relationship with your team members.
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Set your agenda carefully:
If you want your scheduled remote meeting to be effective and successful, you need to plan your agenda. Have a plan with specific topics to cover and stick to it. It is best to share the agenda in advance with those who will attend the online meeting so that everyone can prepare. If you are the organizer of the call, be sure to send an agenda at least a day in advance. Identify what you expect from each participant. You make attendees feel more engaged while keeping the meeting productive.
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Send Calendar invites:
Many conferences calling platforms come with built-in integrations with Google Calendar and Outlook. Depending on the platform your business uses, create and send an invitation to your meeting attendees on your calendar platform. The conference call host must be earlier than the scheduled time to set up. Your attendee won’t have to go through their inbox to find the link – they’ll automatically appear in their reminder system when it’s time to join. Some web conferencing apps let you create a calendar invitation at the same time as you host your meeting, so browse your software’s features to see if that’s an option.
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Report your absence:
Sometimes conference calls are delayed because everyone waits “a few more minutes” for other participants to arrive. Those few minutes can quickly add up if people are not careful. If you know you can’t join the meeting, let someone else know. A quick text or chat message should do the trick. Being seen on video is an important part of a conference call etiquette. Video conference calls can increase interaction and strengthen team bonding. It can help the meeting facilitator identify people who are distracted and to bring them back in the conversation.
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Early Joining:
Conference call participants must be punctual. Being earlier ensures that the organization of the meeting is handled properly. Dialling in later than the agreed time causes an unpleasant interruption to the current discussion. The technical difficulties will annoy the prospects who took the time to meet with you. If you’re using built-in audio, plug in your headset and speak into the mic to make sure your participant can hear you. Whether you are an experienced conference host or not, technical difficulties arise. If you are hosting the conference, make sure you are the first to join, then invite participants to join the meeting.
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Stay Engaged:
Create an environment to share ideas and strategies. If you are hosting or managing the web conference call, ask the participants queries. Let them know that you value their opinions. Letting others participate in the phone call is crucial. People who aren’t involved easily get disconnected and won’t provide any feedback or help you might be looking for. After opening your call, briefly familiarize your audience with the location of the tools provided, such as mute, chat, and group chat forums. Invite people to ask questions by posting on the group board or messaging you directly. Use host tools to automatically mute attendees until question and comment time.
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Keep a professional atmosphere:
If you are in the office conference room and using a microphone or speakerphone, make sure you are close enough to the device that it picks up your voice but far enough that it does not pick up every little sound you make. When conducting a conference call, you should be in a quiet location. If you’re away from the office and need to set up a conference call, find some secluded place to attend the meeting. If you are in an open area with a lot of people, you may have difficulty hearing the conversation on the phone line, or you may be easily distracted and not attend the call well.
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Prepare for screen saving in your PC:
During the presentation, if you are using video, PowerPoint presentation, or other visual aid, open it, zoom it, and centre it on your screen. Close any other tabs or windows that might distract your attendees. Scan your screen through your participant’s eyes and clean it. Keep your screen share open, so they can see what’s being shared. Communicate any hiccups as they occur. As new audience members join in, welcome them and share this necessary time as others join.
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Use the mute button:
Sounds can be annoying during a conference call, so encourage everyone to use mute when they’re not talking. This ensures that you can hear each other – not slam keyboards or background noises. Be aware of the background noise around you. Keep pets confined to an area away from your computer. It is easier to click “activate” than to be known as the member of staff making strange noises.
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Make it simple:
For an effective web conference, try to keep it simple with a few topics to cover. Everyone should have the plan available at the start of the audio conference. If you’re using an app like Skype or Google Hangouts, attendees might already know how they work. And they will always have a great experience because you can connect any app and use all the features it contains. Once it has started, the conversation should follow the set schedule. This ensures smooth communication and productive team collaboration.
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Keep the meeting on track:
Everyone’s time is precious, so it is important to move the meeting forward and planned agenda for the meeting. In any meeting, there should be a host, mediator, moderator, or whatever you want to call. If you have an issue that takes too long to discuss and doesn’t involve everyone on the call, ask those involved to resolve the issue in a separate phone call after the meeting. The host helps keep people on track and get topics moving. They should introduce the topics that will be discussed to make sure everyone is on the same page.
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Invite the right people:
Once the meeting starts, the system will display the participant’s link, the conference code, and call information. Send all of this information to your prospect or customer. Title of the email with the subject of the meeting, date, time and your name so the prospect can easily find it. It is difficult to hold a remote meeting with many participants, due to the capabilities of the technology and the ability of everyone to contribute to the conversation. 1 to 10 people is a good number to start because if there are a lot of people on the call, there are fewer expectations you will have to engage in the conversation.
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Summarize the call:
Go over the actions and other important takeaways at the end of the meeting and make sure all participants know what the next steps are. After the call, send meeting notes directly, so everyone can review what was said while the call is still fresh on their minds. Conference calls can quickly go in many different directions. At the end of the call, summarize what you want your attendees to take away from the meeting and write down the actions to take. To personalize the call, wish everyone a good rest from their day and let them know that you are open to additional questions if they arise.
Conclusion:
Just follow these tips and using the guidelines to easily organize the remote meetings. But it’s important to remember that when it comes to participant engagement, it helps to think outside and try to solve. When your meeting is remote, you only need to make a few adaptations to achieve goals. If there is an upcoming meeting, you should mention when it will take place. Thank everyone for their time and wish them a good day. If you have any comments, questions, or meeting advice, it would be great to hear them in the comments section below! Stay Home, Be Active.
