I don't think I'd be exaggerating to say that about a dozen times a week I see another list of how to be a better virtual team. Mainly these lists--in my opinion only--are off the top of someone's head, a mishmash of good ideas and sort of unthoughtful ones. Every now and then a very good one comes around and I try to remember to post it.
Today, thanks to New Zealand's collaboration treasure, Michael Sampson, I was alerted to this list from HRZone, a site for the UK human resource community, on which are a set of good pointers on how to run a good virtual meeting (or conference call) with my commentary:
- Constantly re-engage by calling on each person once every 10 minutes
- Set boundaries by which the authors mean "highlight expectations and desired outputs but also to set guidelines for interaction." Yes, yes.
- Stay in touch, meaning between meetings as well as during them. Critical.
- "Don't 'wing it': Sometimes it is assumed that because a meeting isn't being held at a physical location it requires less preparation. The opposite is true. Have a back-up plan if technology fails." I've quoted this one in full because it is absolutely true.
- Set the pace, which is directed at the leader. You know when you've got the right rhythm going in a face-to-face meeting. Same is true in virtual meetings - only more so.
NB: HRZone credits Right Management as the source for this list but I can't find it on their site.
