With many in-person job functions now operating remotely, virtual meetings have taken the place of conference room meetings. If your business is in this unique position due to the pandemic, you need to be ready. Contrary to what you might think, virtual meetings aren’t as simple as just signing onto Skype and talking. You can use them to set an example for your team and show them what a good leader looks like. Knowing this, it’s better to be prepared, and these tips should help you during your next meeting.

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Keep your time commitments

Yours and your team’s time is important. As the leader of your team, you need to show them respect by respecting their time. As such, starting your meetings on time, and ending them in a timely manner, will help achieve that. Starting the meeting late infers to your team that their time isn’t one of your concerns.

Ending the meeting late infers the same thing, too. It can also cause frustration and cuts into your team’s productivity time.

Be organized

Because you value yours and your employees’ time, keeping your virtual meetings organized is key. You don’t need send your team a rigid meeting schedule, but it helps to keep a schedule for yourself. This way, you don’t get distracted by tangents or off-topic discussion, which leads to longer meeting times.

In the same way, being organized helps make sure your team members get adequate time to speak. If there’s something they need to report on or address, you can budget time for them to do so. This ensures that they will stay on task and won’t get interrupted.

Stay focused

It’s hard to stay focused when you’re in a meeting using your computer. Computers come with a range of distractions. However, it’s important to maintain your focus during your virtual meetings.

One way you can focus your attention on your meeting is by looking at the camera (if you have one) while you’re speaking. Doing this allows you to focus on something that isn’t distracting and brings your attention to the meeting and you team. It also makes it seem like you are looking directly at your team members in the call.

Another thing you should do is close all non-meeting related windows on your computer screen, where applicable. This is to reduce your chances of getting distracted during the meeting and coming across disinterested to your team members.

Are you struggling to find key members for your team? Contact us today to find out how we can help.