This past week, I was able to sit alongside my kindergarten daughter as she had her first online classroom meeting with her teacher and class. First and foremost, she has an amazing teacher and deserves all the credit in the world. But second, and more importantly, a kindergarten virtual meeting went EXACTLY how you imagined.
Half of the kids didn’t know how to mute themselves and were constantly talking over everyone, the teacher lost internet connection halfway through and disappeared for a few minutes, the children became restless and started showing their favorite stuffed animals on screen, and whenever someone shared, it was either too-loud shouting or too-soft whispering. After 45 minutes and only answering two simple questions, everyone was exhausted and ready to be done.
Minus the stuffed animals showing up randomly (which might still happen!), I basically described nearly every virtual meeting happening across America today.
VIRTUAL MEETING FATIGUE
As the working world largely continues to work from home, you’ve probably noticed the incredible difference between an in-person meeting versus a virtual meeting. It can be clunky, disjointed, unfocused, and take significantly longer to accomplish anything of substance. If you are leading the meeting, you may feel frustrated and helpless, wondering if it’s worth even trying.
If you try and apply the same standards and practices of an in-person meeting to a virtual meeting, you’re going to struggle and, most likely, fail. As a leader, you need to be able to adopt new roles within the virtual meeting to compensate for the differences. Check out the five new roles you need to take on in order to make your virtual meeting a success for all involved:
1. The Patient Explorer
The patient explorer knows that a large team meeting may take a lot longer than normal. With everyone needing to take turns speaking, messages being lost in translation, technology and internet issues, and the normal flow of conversation being stunted, the patient explorer sinks into the stress and slows down. They know that if they give up too soon, they won’t discover the hidden gems that good meetings often uncover.
They patiently wade through the tedious conversation, willing to give the meeting and teammates space to flourish. The patient explorer controls her stress, understanding that if focus is lost, she won’t learn what she needs to learn. You can adopt the patient explorer role by paying attention to your stress levels, keeping your mind focused on the purpose of the meeting, and slowing down to ensure you find the meeting’s “treasure.”
2. The Commanding Director
On the flip side, the commanding director knows that an online meeting can be inherently chaotic. Background noises, choppy internet, echoing sound, kids running into the frame, people checking email or phones while pretending to listen, and everyone playing loose with the mute button, it all adds up to a less-than-productive situation. Like the director of a 100-piece orchestra, the commanding director leads the way towards efficiency and productivity.
By taking charge and directing people towards useful conversation, they help the meeting establish a degree of harmony amidst the chaos. He knows the agenda and how everything fits together, so he doesn’t quit until everyone is working together towards the same goal. Taking on the commanding director’s role means to willingly rein in the madness, bringing order out of chaos.
3. The Emotionally Intelligent Detective
A lot of our communication is non-verbal. Think about it: when you sitting in the room with a group of people, you can generally sense the vibe. You can sense who is disengaged, who is angry, who is checked-out, how confused or in-tune people are with what you are saying, and so on. In a virtual setting, these things can be nearly impossible. The emotionally intelligent detective is constantly looking for clues from their people during these virtual meetings.
They know that it’s easier to hide your true feelings virtually, so the detective is “sniffing out” the truth by asking good questions, revisiting points that may be confusing, and asking for feedback when none is given. By anticipating issues ahead of time, the emotionally intelligent detective can come prepared to not only answer questions but help bridge the gap for others.
4. The Thoughtful Includer
It’s incredibly easy to slip into the shadows during a virtual meeting. It’s easy to hit mute, check out, and disappear mentally for minutes on end. Furthermore, it’s easy to get left out: if you are naturally quiet and introspective, it’s possible that the meeting will be over before you’ve had a chance to speak your mind. Much like during in-person meetings, it’s often the loudest and most exuberant voices that are heard first and foremost, and this discrepancy is felt even more virtually. The thoughtful includer, however, actively works to prevent this from happening.
By remembering that there is a full group of minds, hearts, and ideas in the virtual room, the thoughtful includer can call out specific people for their input. This is not intended to put people on the spot, but instead to help voices to be heard. Much like a traffic guard at a busy intersection, the thoughtful includer makes sure that each person has an opportunity to “pass through.” By not letting anyone’s ideas get left behind, she ensures that the meeting’s value is maximized.
5. The Insatiable Communicator
Communication can never be left to chance. When everyone is together in the office, it’s easy to call a quick standing meeting, pop over to someone’s desk, pass by someone on the way to the bathroom, or see them in the breakroom to talk about the urgent news. In a virtual setting, nearly all of the typical, casual lanes of communication are lost. Non-verbal cues are stunted, distractions are at a maximum, and internet connections can be choppy, so communication is at a premium.
The insatiable communicator relishes the opportunity to share the message one more time, ensuring that everyone is on the same page. He doesn’t use the same mode of communication each time, as he knows that a wide variety will help each person hear it as they need to hear it best. Furthermore, she knows that repetition is crucial to comprehension, so she will work diligently to ensure that the message has been delivered several times.
Your virtual meeting doesn’t have to be a source of frustration. If you can begin to take on some of these roles, you will begin to experience greater success. You may still have random stuffed animals pop up, but at least your people will feel like the meeting was worth their time!