clarification , or challenge .
Remind everyone at the beginning of the meeting that it ’ s essential they share the page number / bullet they are speaking about . It can be infuriating to not be able to see the paper or point they are referencing .
You will need more minutes to take minutes
You may also be the person tasked with taking minutes , and that can be a little more tricky on a virtual meeting for many reasons . Wi-Fi is not infallible , and audio dial-ins are famously challenging , so how do you respond to the challenge of minute taking ?
Firstly , ensure that the Chair knows to check in with you at the end of each item before proceeding to the next . Most will do that anyway , but it matters more in a virtual environment . If you don ’ t know people well enough to recognise their voices ( if it ’ s telephone only ), get them to say their name before they comment .
If the signal is poor , don ’ t be afraid to chip in and ask people to repeat what they said if you missed it . Make use of the app ( assuming you ’ re using a portal ) to highlight key items during the discussion and then in your notes you can just refer to page X - this will save you time trying to find the relevant element when you ’ re typing the minutes up .
Read all the papers before the meeting . For a virtual meeting , knowing what ’ s in the papers will really help you understand and keep up with the discussion and recognise any names or technical words you ’ re not familiar with .
Rather than just sending the draft minutes to the chair , send relevant sections to the presenter or sponsoring Exec member to check you didn ’ t miss anything before completing the minutes .
After The Meeting
Circulate the minutes on the meeting and invite questions , clarifications , and challenges ; ensure that minutes are
electronically signed and tracked ; and most importantly learn from each virtual meeting - make sure you ask for your and leadership ’ s feedback to get a sense of how they feel about the quality of the papers , the new tools used , and the value they got from the meeting .
Conclusion
Organizing and running a remote meeting can seem like a daunting task at first , but with the right technology in place and some forward planning your virtual meeting is bound to be a success . If you carefully consider the points we discussed in this guide , you are well on your way to planning a successful remote meeting .
Dr . Clifford J . Ferguson is the Managing Partner of Rainmakers , and Chairman of Glad ’ s House . You can commune with him on this or related matters via email at : Cliff . Ferguson @ rainmakers . uk . com , or visit their website : Rainmakers . uk . com .
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