You have a remote team meeting coming up. How can you ensure it’s productive and engaging?

2 Set the agenda and goals

Before the meeting, it is essential to have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish and how you plan to do it. Communicating the agenda and goals to your team in advance will help manage the time and scope of the meeting, assign roles and responsibilities, prepare materials and resources, and define expectations and etiquette. You should consider how long the meeting will last, what topics will be covered, what tasks or decisions will be completed, who will lead or present in the meeting, who will take notes or handle technical issues, what documents or slides might be needed or shared in the meeting, how they will be distributed or accessed, and what ground rules should be followed for interruptions, questions, or feedback.

3 Engage your team

During the meeting, you want to keep your team interested, involved, and motivated. Video technology can help you create a more human and dynamic interaction, but you also need to use some strategies to engage your team. To begin with, break the ice with a fun or personal question, a joke, a game, or a positive comment. This will help you build rapport and trust, as well as set the tone for the meeting. Additionally, make your presentation more appealing and memorable with images, graphs, videos, or animations. Use your body language and facial expressions to convey your emotions and messages. Furthermore, ask open-ended questions, solicit opinions, invite comments, or conduct polls. Acknowledge and appreciate your team's contributions while addressing any concerns or issues. Finally, use breakout rooms, screen sharing, whiteboards, or other tools to divide your team into smaller groups so they can share ideas or work on tasks. Encourage your team to chat, brainstorm, or problem-solve together.

4 Follow up and evaluate

After the meeting, it's important to ensure that your team understands and remembers what was discussed and agreed. You may also want to assess the effectiveness and satisfaction of the meeting. Video technology can help with these steps, such as summarizing and reviewing at the end of the meeting, recording and sharing with other stakeholders, and soliciting and providing feedback. Recap the main points, actions, and outcomes, ask your team to repeat or confirm their understanding or commitments, share the recording, notes, or minutes with any relevant links, files, or resources. Ask your team to rate or comment on the meeting experience and share their suggestions for improvement as well as provide feedback to your team on their performance, achievements, or areas of development.