Not Another On-Line Meeting $%#@!

Over the past few weeks I’ve participated in several on-line meetings, and a few webinars. The technology is great! Graphs, charts, PowerPoint slides, information, connectivity – all without having to pack a suitcase! Great. But wait, if it’s so wonderful, why were they so painful? It dawned on me after the GoToMeeting I attended on Thursday… the reason it’s painful is that the attitude of many attendees is that they’re just taking another phone call. That’s the problem. It’s not a "phone call" it’s a "business meeting!" It’s time to shift our paradigm.

I think for many, it’s difficult to look at the experience as a "business meeting" because for the most part we are still only connecting via a phone – something we all use a thousand times a week and never give a thought to. Perhaps as more of us move to video cams and internet phones, the fact that others will be able to "see" what’s going on may help with the shift. But let’s not wait for that! Let’s take as much pain out of these events as we can right now. We’re all professionals; let’s make the most out of being productive and respectful.

Conducting the meeting
If it is your responsibility to conduct an on-line meeting, here are a few things to consider:

• Send out your meeting request as early as possible. Utilizing a calendar feature such as Outlook helps attendees respond, as well as take care of noting their calendars at the same time. Make sure you detail the call-in information such as phone number and meeting code. If the service you are using needs to be downloaded, suggest participants plan to download the software before the meeting.
• Have you ever experienced the chaos that happens when the presenter says, "Ok, who do we have attending today?" And at that point, attendees are trying to decide when and if they should call out their names. Ridiculous. The presenter should have a list of planned attendees and read down through the list asking if the person is in attendance. That way, everyone hears the name and knows who is online. At the end of the roll call, the presenter can ask, "Did I miss anyone?" as a method for identifying anyone else sitting in on the meeting. It’s only common courtesy that everyone know who is "in the room."
• Before you begin, share ground rules:
• Turn off all other phones
• Put your dial-in phone on mute if you have background noise
• Don’t put your phone on hold. (Haven’t we all heard the on-hold music and wondered who wasn’t participating?
• Be clear about how you would like to handle questions. Depending on the forum, you may want to take questions and discuss issues as you go through your agenda. If you’d rather wait until certain points in the meeting, let attendees know when you will be entertaining questions.
• Even though everyone is not sitting in the same conference room, have an agenda. If your meeting includes an online presentation, include a slide of what will be covered and the objectives for calling everyone together. 
• Use more visuals. According to Olivia Mitchell, an expert on presentation skills, since the audience can’t see you, keep them engaged with visuals so their attention doesn’t wander. In fact, she suggests that you insert a photo of yourself, or your team, at the beginning of the meeting, so attendees can visualize who is speaking.
• In face-to-face meetings presenters usually use a pointer or special graphics so attendees know where to focus their attention when viewing a slide. This is even more important for an on-line meeting. Use graphic highlights to call attention to the points on your slide that you are speaking about so it’s easier for participants to follow.
• Have a slide prepared for questions. The question may not be relevant to the last slide you showed, so have a generic slide in the deck you can go to when pausing for questions.
• Most on-line meeting software works best if the moderator is using a headset. This cuts down on echoes. Check with your webinar service provider to determine the best hardware for optimum sound quality.
• The beauty of all these technology changes is that we can now be anywhere to conduct or join in on a meeting. However, this also presents a new responsibility: think about the "noise" your location might magnify on the call and take all steps to turn it off. That means other phones, dogs, kids, planes (yes, I was attending an on-line meeting where the presenter must have been sitting on his deck on a beautiful afternoon, and we were treated to trying to hear what he was saying while a plane was passing overhead!).
• Be aware of time and keep to your agenda. Often the structure of the on-line meeting will include having a moderator to manage questions and/or help manage time. Make sure, as with in-person meetings, that you start and end on time.
• Silence in a face-to-face meeting can be easier to interpret because everyone has a chance to look around the room and observe what’s going on. With on-line meetings we don’t have that luxury. So remember, if you’re going to pause for attendees to read a slide, or contemplate an issue, say something like, "I’ll let you read the next slide about the project goals, and then we can discuss."
• Leave time at the end of the meeting to do the following:
• Reiterate actions to be taken and who will do them
• Ask for feedback about what attendees felt was accomplished at the meeting
• Ask for comments about what they liked about the meeting format and what should be changed for the next meeting
• End on time

Attending the meeting
Just because everyone can’t see you doesn’t mean this is your time to "listen in" while you catch up on emails – yes, we all know that folks do this. If you’re not going to really be present, then why are you attending? On-line meetings require the same level of participation, courtesy, and respect that you would demonstrate in a face-to-face meeting. Here are some tips:

• Just like in a face-to-face meeting, be on time. If you’re going to be late, let the organizer know.
• Be prepared that the meeting will take an hour or so, and usually there is not a bio-break scheduled; so plan accordingly.
• As technology advancements allow us more freedom to merge our professional and personal lives, it’s important to make sure the tone set in the meeting is professional, even if attending from home or while on vacation. Make sure noise, distractions, and your attitude are respectful of the business event attendees are coming together to participate in.
• Plan to participate. If you were attending a face-to-face meeting, you would prepare. The on-line meeting requires the same level of preparation and participation. This is not the time to hide behind the phone and do other tasks. Again, if you’re not going to participate, why attend? Someone must have felt you had something to contribute or you wouldn’t have been invited.
• Be aware that there are a few no-no’s for on-line meetings and respect them:
• Do not put your phone on hold – the reason for this is that everyone else gets to listen to on-hold music, or an on-hold message. Either way, it’s very disruptive.
• Do not call in from your cell phone, if at all possible. There’s often a lot of static, which can also be very disruptive.
• It’s helpful to put your phone on mute, until you have something to say. That way, background noise is not transferred.
• Don’t hold sidebar conversations without putting your phone on mute.
• Be on time – you know how disruptive it is when someone walks in late to a meeting. Magnify that a few times, when the organizer has to keep saying "And who just joined us?" Very disruptive.
• When offering a comment or asking a question, say your name first so everyone knows who is talking.
• Abstain from checking emails, answering cell phones, or working on your computer. Be present and participate. You know how rude it is to look around a meeting room and see people working on their laptops or Blackberry’s. Keep your mind focused on the meeting you are attending. Resist the need to multi-task.
• Know the features of the phone and computer you are utilizing for the meeting, especially how to mute and un-mute. Also, if this is the first time you are attending an on-line meeting that requires a software download, visit the site before the meeting so you are ready when the time comes.

So What's Next?
Somewhere I read that an on-line meeting was like a drive-in movie. You show up, plug in, and then do whatever. We’re all adults, so each of us has to manage the ‘whatevers.’ All the rest of us are asking for is that while you’re plugged in you show the same courtesy, respect and professionalism you would if you were in the theater with us.

What are your thoughts about the ground rules for facilitating and participating in on-line meetings? Do you find there is a difference in behaviors when video features are included? What tips can you share for helping us all improve our on-line meeting performance? I’m looking forward to your comments.

It’s funny – but it does impact productivity.
Dave Grady