5 Mistakes to Avoid in Virtual Meetings and Team Chats

Virtual meetings in team chat software have become more and more common in companies. However, without enough know-how on making your virtual meetings a success, you’ll risk making mistakes along the way – some of them unintentional on your part.

Although preparedness won’t keep you from making any possible blunders, it helps you be ready for any worst-case scenarios which you can counter while still meeting the agenda.

Here are five mistakes to avoid when conducting virtual meetings.

Not Acknowledging Time Zones

Although virtual meetings can be beneficial for most companies, it can still be easy to forget about different time zones. It’s best to remember that not everyone will be in the same time zone as you’re in. For example, if you’re up and active during the day, some people on the other side of the globe might be getting ready for bed. Also, if you’re having trouble finding out what times would be best for everyone, you can use a time-zone converter to jot down suitable schedule times, and get people’s input on it, before planning the meeting.

Do you find yourself having to make long distance phone calls like this often? Zangi offers a unique Call Forwarding feature that allows you to make great savings on the price of these calls. You don’t even need to use a new number – when your contacts call you, they still use your existing phone number.

Phone Calls Over Video Calls

With video calls, participants are much more engaged in the conversation than during phone calls. By being able to see each other on video chat, it establishes intimate, human connections, which promotes unity and teamwork. Thus, you won’t find anyone multitasking on other things, when they should be focused more on the discussion at hand.

The takeaway here is that while phone calls may be good for a few things, video calls can make a better impact, when connecting with people. So, why not utilize video calls more often? With Zangi, your video calls will always be delivered securely, in full, crisp HD, at a fraction of the data usage of other messenger apps.

Not Assigning Specific Jobs In Virtual Meetings

Although not everyone can be assigned a task in most meetings, it can still be helpful to have some people do things. Here are some roles that people can have during a virtual meeting:

• Facilitator
• Presenter (more than one, if desired)
• Notetaker
• Timekeeper
• Tech (to make sure that all the equipment is working – screensharing device, computers, etc.)

By letting people have roles in virtual meetings, it would increase participant engagement, and reduce the chance of putting on a boring, less-productive meeting.

Not Properly Screensharing

“Screensharing makes it easy for you to share a screen to help you present a topic,” says Brooke Fitzgerald, a business writer at Essayroo and State of writing. “Therefore, it’s wise to always be mindful of the screens that you’re sharing in your virtual meeting. In other words, instead of running the risk of people seeing a YouTube tab still open, or your Amazon wish list still on display during a discussion, you need to close down any unnecessary tabs or apps prior to the meeting. Also, make sure that screensharing is what you actually need for the meeting, while making sure that relevant content can be seen when it’s enabled.”

Not Breaking Into Groups

When people break into groups, it allows ideas and further discussions to flow, thus making the virtual meeting worthwhile. In groups, people can brainstorm, prioritize, and plan steps that can be taken about a certain topic, or even come up with a discussion topic. This allows more results to be produced, and more valuable input to be recognized.

Here are some steps you can take to make these breakouts more effective:

1. Give each team clear instructions on what they need to do.
2. Assign all teams to work within 20 to 40 minutes, before moving on to presentations.
3. All teams will need to organize quickly, collaborate, and focus on the task at hand. (So, there’s no need to focus on process or perfection. Just get to work!)
4. When time is up, the facilitator can call on people to present their findings.

It’s important for groups to be formed in virtual meetings, or else a handful of people may do all the talking, while others with potentially valuable ideas are left in the dark.

Online meeting platforms such as Zoom and Google Hangouts allow you to set breakouts when needed so that you can run remote meetings more effectively. As a team chat app, Zangi also offers great group chat features that are not available anywhere else, such as delivering messages faster than any other messenger apps in the market.

For better brainstorming and collaboration among each group, you can also choose to create a virtual Kanban board where each team member can share ideas by adding Kanban cards on the board and providing details about each idea. This way, once their ideas are approved, the team can then immediately proceed to assigning relevant tasks to team members based on the ideas that were initially presented.

Conclusion

Like any other meeting, virtual meetings need preparation in order to be a success. Online meetings can make collaborations and discussions more engaging and fruitful. By using the right tools and platform, teams can be more efficient in running their virtual meetings.

By straying away from these five mistakes listed, you can prevent unnecessary delays, and be ready to counter any mishap that might arise.

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