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2020 Issue 4 | GearedUp
16
PF Michigan Group Knocks it out of the Park With Virtual Meetings
With COVID-19 causing a massive shift away from in-person events and activities , many businesses have had to adjust to hosting meetings and other events online . It can be a challenge to organize and facilitate an online meeting , particularly when there is a need to have a lot of people in attendance , but PF Michigan took that challenge in stride .
Though the group had utilized Zoom for online meetings before , they had to shift to conducting their usual in-person meetings online , which they ’ ve now been doing since March 2020 . When states began to shut down , there was a pressing need to meet with different groups to make sure that concerns , strategy and other moving parts were being addressed . Before the pandemic , the group made an effort to do in-person meetings whenever they could , but now their meetings – from department or team meetings with only a few people to company meetings with over 100 attendees – are online . Jess Mace , operations support specialist for PF Michigan , explained that the group uses Zoom to conduct their meetings , and they use screen sharing if there are presentations or visuals that need to be displayed . Of course , the switch to doing virtual meetings did not come without its obstacles . “ The biggest challenge we
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Adjusting to virtual meetings came with its challenges , but PF Michigan took it all in stride .
faced was getting everyone on the same page as far as expectations ,” Mace said . “ An in-person meeting has etiquette that is widely understood , but on Zoom , it was challenging determining what we as a company expected out of the audience . For instance , cameras should be on , mics should be muted unless speaking , and as tempting as it may be , distractions such as computer work and phones should be avoided .”
To help with establishing etiquette for Zoom calls , Mace advises setting your expectations from the start , noting that creating a document with these expectations can be beneficial . Then the team has to be held accountable to those established standards , no matter if it ’ s a smaller , more informal meeting or a large meeting with many attendees . Mace explains that if these expectations are upheld during every meeting , “ acceptable meeting behavior ” will organically happen .
As far as facilitating the meetings goes , PF Michigan has created a strategy . “ For large company meetings , we have department / region leaders check to make sure everyone on their team is in attendance ,” Mace said . “ We recommend that attendees test their technology and connection before the start of the meeting . Sharing a presentation with the audience and pausing for questions has worked well for our group .”
Mace also advises keeping the virtual meetings as similar in structure to an in-person meeting as possible . That might mean allowing for breaks during longer meetings ( which she recommends ) or , perhaps , still doing prizes or rewards for participation , if that is something a group has done in the past . For example , small prizes like $ 5 or $ 10 gift cards to Starbucks or Amazon can be emailed rather than given in-person .
Though there are challenges to organizing virtual meetings , there are potential benefits , too . Cost-saving is one of them . Mace points out that while Zoom does have a price-tag , other expenses of meetings ( a conference room , refreshments , etc .) are no longer in the picture . Along with that , employees don ’ t have to travel to the meeting – they can stay where they are and head back to work when the meeting wraps up . “ While cost and efficiency are great benefits , the biggest benefit of all is the consideration of everyone ’ s health and safety ,” Mace said . “ In such uncertain times , we are so thankful to be able to leverage technology like Zoom to keep our team close together and efficient while not risking their health !” G