Normally, I ascribe to the 80/20 rule when it comes to planning meetings or designing training. That is, I know I can’t possibly predict every single situation that might arise, so I do my best to anticipate what I think will happen 80% of the time for 80% of the participants. As far as the other 20% of the time—well, we just have cross that bridge when we come to it.
In the land of virtual meetings, we don’t have very much time to cross that bridge before the entire meeting can go irredeemably off track. (The fact that we have no visual cues when things go awry makes it even harder to regroup and redirect the conversation.)
Here are some practical tips for anticipating and addressing problems that arise frequently during virtual meetings. Of course, in an ideal world we think through every possible risk and what to mitigate each one with before a problem occurs. But in the real world, which admittedly is not quite perfect, we can only take our best guess about what might go wrong and plan accordingly.
We are experiencing technical difficulties at this time
Whether it’s a bad phone line, a passcode that doesn’t work, or a spotty network that boots us off at critical times, there are times when the technology does not work as planned. As meeting leaders, it’s up to us to have a backup plan for whatever we expect could go wrong. For example, be ready to call an operator who can detect the source of that annoying buzz. Give people your cellphone number (your colleague’s) if they need help dialing in. Make sure a tech support rep is ready to receive your IM if your web meeting tool acts up. Test all passcodes before the meeting, just in case. Enlist the help of a colleague who can work with people offline if they’re having technical difficulties, letting you facilitate the meeting. Above all, maintain a calm demeanor and a good sense of humor to help deflect even the most challenging situations. People may quickly forget about the snafu, but they are likely to remember your poise and grace under pressure.
When time zones collide
A colleague and I recently led a webinar with people joining from several time zones. Initial invitations were sent by our sponsor, which we followed up with several more emails, spelling out the time in both EST and PST. We also posted times in different time zones in our virtual conference area. Nonetheless, three participants missed the call, assuming that the time was noon PST vs EST. Lessons learned: Use a meeting request in addition to email, and confirm that it computes the time zone conversion. State the meeting time in GMT, and also state the start and end times in the time zones of most participants. You can also give a link for a time zone calculator (e.g. www.timeanddate.com). If you’re expecting people who are late joining, send a message (or have someone else do it) if you suspect they have the time wrong.
Dealing with uninvited guests
People seem to feel more free to invite others to come along to virtual meeting, vs. a face-to-face meeting. (After all, if they’re very quiet, no one will know they are there. Plus, the host doesn’t have to order food or provide a chair, so what’s the harm?) Depending on the guest, this additional person may throw things off track in a hurry. What to do?
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