This was written by a colleague of mine, Katherine Ball, and shared with me. Katherine has graciously allowed me to share this on Smartly Remote.
I put together the following text to share with online meeting participants for groups I am a part of and thought others might like it as well. So, here it is…
Pointers for Meeting Online
Virtual meetings are to be conducted like face-to-face meetings; allowing interaction during periods set aside for input, questions and answers or by raising of hands to indicate a need to interject.
Role of the Moderator
- The moderator’s role is to help maintain control of the virtual room by interjecting as needed.
- Please be patient with individuals serving this role as they may need to adjust talking points during speaker pauses and transitions and guide discussions, remind speakers to repeat questions from attendees before answering them, and/or call on people notably quiet throughout the meeting to be sure everyone has an opportunity to voice their thoughts.
Role of Participants
- We strongly encourage the use of video cameras so everyone may benefit from reading non-verbal communications.
- Try not to multi-task.
- “Because of the interactive nature of this meeting, it would be best if we could have everyone’s undivided attention. As such, we hope you can avoid checking email or entertaining other distractions. Feel free, of course, to take notes.”
- Avoid over-talking, miscommunication and the potential for diminished sound quality.
- “Please mute or turn off devices.”
- “Please speak clearly into a microphone/headset when possible.”
- “Raise your hand in the camera, use “raise hand” features or send a message using the chat or other messaging feature of the tool (Teams, Zoom, etc.) to indicate you would like to speak.”