The pandemic changed the way we meet, and Zoom became a term spoken in nearly every business environment. This year Zoom will host 3.3 trillion meeting minutes. Zoom welcomes 300 million meeting participants each day. Even if you are back in the office full-time, you’ll likely engage online in a meeting with others on a regular basis.

Our society is structured to value face-to-face interaction. Friendships, family and even business relationships are primarily built on connection. When we are face-to-face, we foster important elements of culture, we develop rapport with one another and we communicate at a deeper level. What makes it deeper? Our growth and development from childhood on teaches us how to analyze behavior like body language, facial expression, eye contact and other non-verbal cues that give insight into how someone feels and understands. We cannot deny that a significant level of these non-verbals are difficult if not impossible to convey and perceive through even the very best online meeting systems.

How, then, does a leader give value to those relationships that in many cases are now happening over a video monitor? We can use specific cues, content and processes to communicate in ways that are not as subtle as non-verbals, but still help meeting participants engage online, and pick up more than just what is said.[1]

Have one person in charge. Who leads the meeting? Their position within the leadership structure and the choice of this person based on their ability to move the meeting along and accomplish the agenda communicates broadly to your team. If the CEO leads the meeting, it’s obviously very important and should include some elements of organizational vision and values. If a department head leads the meeting, it’s significant but more nuts-and-bolts or process-driven. Make it clear from the start who is calling and leading the online meeting. Value the level of importance you want your team to assign to the online meeting.

Prepare participants ahead of time. During the pandemic, the first few online meetings were a novelty. But then they began to stretch on and wander off topic, just like in-person meetings. A dozen heads in little video blocks made it difficult to see who is really paying attention, and at the other end, a participant could more easily tune out or work on something else on their computer screen at the same time. To combat this, keep the meeting tight. Have a clear agenda with just a few items—no more than 2-3. Communicate ahead of time what you will discuss and anything you expect participants to bring to the Zoom call. Value the time your team is investing online.   

Ask simple questions. Brainstorming, casual discussion and pie-in-the-sky dreams aren’t good courses for online meetings. Reserve deep collaborative opportunities for times you are in-person. Avoid broad, open-ended questions that lead to long stories and off-topic opinions. Focus questions toward your 2-3 agenda items. Who will accomplish what and by when?

Never shame attendees. An online meeting is not the place to discipline or review performance of one or more attendees, especially if the meeting includes people not directly related to the issues. Leaders should make a habit of speaking personally and privately on negative matters. Further, have a policy that your speech related to people is always positive and complimentary online. A Zoom call is not the place to come down on people or speak ill of them, especially if they are not present. As the pandemic ended and some large companies reduced their workforces, poor handling of these layoffs made national headlines—especially of leaders did this by Zoom call or email. People expect personal matters to be handled personally. You value people online when you reserve personal matters for in-person opportunities and act professionally. Value your team by acting online with a positive demeanor.

Declare an end. Finally, end an online meeting on time. If it’s supposed to last for 30 minutes, then be wrapping up at 28 minutes. Better yet, if you can end early then do it. You are communicating the value of people’s time when you utilize as few online minutes as possible. This is also true for in-person meetings. If you have a staff of 20 people in a meeting and it lasts an hour, you have just used up 20 man-hours of time—half a work-week for one employee. A two hour meeting of 20 people is the same time commitment as one person working a full 40-hour week. When meetings meander and drag on past their intended stop, it clearly communicates that you place little value on others’ time and that you do not know how to efficiently utilize the man hours you are afforded. Value your team by ending on time or early.

[1] https://www.entrepreneur.com/growth-strategies/face-to-face-meetings-are-important-for-so-many-reasons/432422

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