The Lark Guide to Better Virtual Meetings

Introduction

The virtual meeting, once a niche concept, has now become the new business norm.

Whether you love it or hate it, for a lot of companies, 88 percent according to Gartner, virtual meetings have very much become the new normal.

With the explosive pace that this new paradigm has adopted, there comes the need to codify best practices in regards to virtual meetings and to reduce new issues like screen fatigue.

After all, the old way of meetings relied heavily on human interaction, body language, and various other environmental factors to create collaborative moments. But with virtual meetings, things like tonality, vocabulary, and technology play a far bigger role.

In this whitepaper, we present a number of simple tweaks that should work well with teams big and small in order to create a better virtual meeting experience.

We will also share a new way of meeting we call the "Same Page Meeting," that we use internally in Lark, especially for virtual meetings. This method was designed to be scalable across various organizations and is all about efficiency and productivity during meetings while respecting the time and circumstances of participants who work remotely.

Virtual Meetings: The Numbers

45% of teams use video calling tools daily or weekly

80% of employees use video calling for 1:1 meetings

78% of employees say they use web conferencing tools for team meetings

75% of senior management say that video conference calls will entirely replace audio-only conference calls

55% of businesses say video conferencing effectively increased employee engagements

87% of team members say video calling has helped to speed up the decision-making process

Studies show 77% of attendees join video meetings on laptop or desktop computers, 31% on mobile phones, and 13% on tablets

The All Important Agenda

This paper is split into 3 main sections:

Stage 1: The Prep

Stage 2: The Meeting

Stage 3: After the meeting

Each of these sections is designed to act as a stand-alone set, to help you at every step of the virtual meeting experience.

The Prep

1. Set up the “virtual room” in advance

Unlike regular meetings where you must set up the room (moving chairs, loading presentations, and gathering your notes), virtual meetings require much less effort. However, this does not mean there is no room for error. Instead of setting up a physical room, you must ensure the platform in which you are hosting your meeting on such as Lark, is working correctly, not just for you, but for all employees and those attending the “virtual meeting.”

Setting up the “virtual room” in advance is the best option, much like a regular meeting. This allows you to troubleshoot any issues early on, alongside providing all attendees the necessary passwords, codes, or links to join the meeting. If possible, the call should be tested beforehand, ensuring everything is up to speed and fully functioning prior to proceeding with the meeting.

2. Know your tools

A craftsmen is only as good as his tools and in today's modern era of digitization, that adage still holds true.

The modern business collaboration platform is a powerful tool that will often, as is the case of Lark, offer the user far more than just simple video calling functions which bundles together powerful document editing, instant messaging and cloud storage in one handy package.

Mastering these tools takes time, training and most of all structure. If your business does not have regular training in these platform, the time to start is now.

Start by having regular bi-weekly or monthly training for the platform either through the use of an in-house expert or by engaging a specialist from the service provider you work with.

These sessions are immensely important in creating the sort of efficiencies and skills that make meetings shorter, more interesting affairs.

3. It’s important to look professional, even in virtual meetings

Despite virtual meetings being, well, virtual, looking professional, and dressing the part goes a long way. Maintaining a professional appearance can be as simple as wearing a shirt and tie or casual smart outfit, conveying a dedication to your role.

Think of it like this: one employee shows up to a meeting in jeans and a t-shirt, another in a shirt and tie. Which one would you trust more to get the job done? Chances are it’s the one in the shirt and tie. So, why change this during a virtual meeting? Whilst, of course, you don’t need to wear a suit, a trim of the beard, neaten up of the hair, and some semi-smart clothes help gain the respect of others.

4. The use of names

Although it may sound basic and somewhat patronizing, we often find ourselves forgetting to refer to people by their actual names. Perhaps in regular meetings, we make eye contact with who we want to speak to, or maybe it’s more of a group discussion. However, in virtual meetings, each participant of the meeting is looking directly at the camera, there’s no telling who’s looking directly at who.

For this reason, it’s even more important to use names. This increases effective communication, allowing you to ask for contributions from staff or meeting members with little confusion. Also, on video/conference platforms such as Lark, you can enable name tags under each user. This is an excellent feature for those meetings in which you don’t know everybody’s name, perhaps meetings with clients or extended/whole staff meetings.

5. Create ground rules

We all know the basic ground rules for standard meetings (e.g., no phones, texting, responding to emails, respecting and listening to those speaking, and muting technology, including places phones and laptops on silent.) However, you should also create some basic ground rules for virtual meetings, with this shared with all participants and staff members before the session commences.

These ground rules are not created as some form of “punishment.” Instead, these rules are implemented to ensure a respectful, productive, and communicative environment in which all attendees feel comfortable speaking in.

Examples of ground rules for virtual meetings include:

● Not responding to emails, texts, or answering calls during the meeting

● No sidebar conversations

● Users mute their microphones/devices when not speaking (this helps minimize background noise)

● No multi-tasking during the meeting (full attention should be paid to the meeting itself)

You can also create other basic ground rules for your virtual meetings. However, ensuring all staff members are made aware of these ahead of time is essential. Inform employees or those attending the meeting ahead of time with a quick email or notification prior to joining the call as a gentle reminder.

6. Clarify the meeting roles from the get-go

Some virtual meetings, like physical meetings, will contain more employees or those attending the meeting than others. For this reason, whoever is introducing the meeting should clarify all meeting roles from the beginning, introducing each attendee and why they are there.

This helps to avoid confusion during the meeting(s) and creates expectations for all to follow. If various people in the meeting are solely there for observation, let all other meeting members know this. This prevents them from communicating or attempting to actively involve them in the conversation, even if this is a polite gesture.

Clarifying meeting roles is not just for those who are unsure either; it’s also to remind and inform meeting members of THEIR role in the meeting, whether it be strictly observation, note-taking, or lead speaker.

7. Create a brief and share this with meeting participants before the virtual meeting

As with regular meetings, a brief should be created and shared with those attending the meeting. This can be sent via email or uploaded to a collaborative workspace platform such as Lark. This brief should include the meeting agenda, who’s attending the meeting, the date and time of the meeting, any required reading prior to attending, and any other necessary information before the meeting commences.

This brief should be sent in good time, at least 24-hours before the meeting is set to start, however, ideally two to three days ahead of time (sometimes longer). This allows all meeting members to dedicate a chunk of time to the meeting, sufficiently prepare, and to balance or perhaps re-schedule other commitments.

If using software such Lark, ensure all active participants have notifications enabled. This will make sure they don’t miss any updates, also reminding them of the meeting prior to attending (if this is added to the shared or personal calendar on these platforms.)

The Meeting

8. Keep everyone on the same page

In a physical meeting, the office whiteboard is often the center of attention. In offices around the world, this humble plastic board has been the focal point for success, serving as the catalyst for greatness.

In the virtual setting, the lack of a central nexus for collaboration can diminish the impact of the virtual meeting.

It's for this reason that a collaborative workspace, like the many kinds available in Lark Docs is essential for virtual meetings.

Have the meeting lead share the link for the doc with everyone prior to the meeting while at the same time customizing the doc for the meeting.

This ensures that the meeting proceeds along an organized path while at the same time allowing for a cloud-based collaborative space for note-taking, ideas and everything else under the sun.

9. Make good use of ice-breakers

According to some experts, over 90 percent of all communication is nonverbal 9. Things like body-language, expressions, eye-contact and even the way you breathe help inform the people around you.

In the virtual sphere however, where nonverbal communication is limited to what you can see on camera, it will take a special effort from managers and team leaders to ensure that what is lost in nonverbal translation can be recreated.

A great way to do this is through regular icebreakers, especially for teams that may have never met each other physically.

These icebreakers can take the form of activities, questions and generally, anything to get teams talking and interacting in a scope outside work. These moments, ideally in the beginning of virtual meetings help to create a positive group atmosphere, break down social barriers and foster a sense of camaraderie. Most ice-breakers that work physically can work virtually so let your creativity run wild.

10. Inclusion and the use of polls

Much like in regular meetings, but even more so in virtual meetings, asking what everyone thinks in response to a proposition or piece of news is an in-effective method of communication. This is because it’s too broad, with participants not knowing who wants to speak, or perhaps speaking over one another.

Instead, polls should be used. This is where the meeting leader asks each individual meeting member their opinion or poll; for example, it could be a simple yes or no in response to a basic question. When asking each individual meeting member their opinion, they should refer to each member by their name. This further reduces confusion and adds to a sense of inclusivity as opposed to exclusivity.

This method can be used several times throughout virtual meetings, whether it’s a vote for a certain product or advertisement, a summary of a project, or the opinion of employees in response to topics on the meeting agenda. Also, if group members know they are going to be called upon during the meeting, they are more likely to pay more attention and less likely to doze off. This too, increases productivity during virtual meetings.

11. Use verbal descriptions

In regular meetings (non-virtual), you, and other meeting participants can physically see what is going on. However, in virtual meetings, you cannot see or hear everything that is going on. This can create some confusion; therefore, it is recommended to use verbal descriptions to increase clarity.

For example, if one person is gathering their notes, they should inform all other active meeting members. The same applies to group discussions, perhaps awaiting other teams’ opinion, a specific meeting member, or if anything is going on in the background that will perhaps interrupt or distract meeting members. With more and more meetings held from virtually, with members joining from their own homes, distractions are inevitable. However, if a meeting member urgently needs to deal with a situation, this should be conveyed to the group to eliminate confusion and subsequently increasing efficiency.

12. Focus on what’s important first

As a general rule of thumb, and this also applies to regular meetings, you should focus on what’s important first. Doing this is for several reasons, however, it’s important to note that meetings, virtual or not, take up peoples valuable time. The less time spent in the meeting, the better. Also, if one or two meeting members only need to stick around for the “important parts,” getting these out of the way immediately frees up others to focus on other tasks.

Also, it is well-known that as meetings and other tasks go on, participants tend to lose focus and attention span. Therefore, ensuring the crucial points are taken care of early eliminates this challenge, making sure all participants are aware and up to date on the latest organizational decisions or business.

13.Keep virtual meetings as short as possible

As briefly touched upon above, virtual meetings should be kept as short as possibly. Ideally, these should last anywhere from 30 to 45-minutes, avoiding passing the 1-hour mark if possible. Meetings can also be shorter than this if necessary, remember: time is your most valuable asset, so don’t waste it for the sake of fulfilling a 30-minute timer.

Creating an agenda before commencing the meeting is an excellent method of judging just how long the meeting will take. If a meeting is going to be longer than an hour, this may be worth splitting into two separate 30-minute meetings, perhaps on consecutive days or alternatively one in the morning and another in the afternoon. This allows all participants to retain focus and attention throughout the meeting, picking up on the most important points, and retaining useful information.

14. Say NO to disrespect

Virtual meetings, just like regular in-person meeting; it’s should not leave one or multiple participants feeling angry or upset. Disrespect should not be tolerated, and this should be made clear to all participants via the brief.

If for some reason a virtual meeting does become heated, it may be worth suggesting a brief timeout for those affected to cooldown. Remind all participants that meetings are for effective collaboration and mutual communication, not disrespect of any kind.

Within the brief, or an introductory email, a further gentle reminder of the NO disrespect policy should be included. Also, ensure to offer support and services for participants should they feel disrespected, upset, or angry, providing them a safe and supportive space to discuss their feelings or issues.

15. Video-on policy

Nowadays, many organizations and businesses adopt a “video-on” policy for all virtual meetings. As humans, we respond well to human interaction; seeing faces, body language, and matching a face to a person’s voice.

Adopting a video-on policy creates a somewhat “normal” meeting environment. This allows participants to pick up on cues and other body language, and most importantly, to experience human interaction properly. Some employees or meeting participants may not want to use video, however, knowing you’re all in the same boat is somewhat comforting. Overtime, participants will get used to this, and may even grow to like it.

This has given rise to the very recent phenomenon of virtual backgrounds. Most advanced video conferencing solutions, such as Lark, support AI powered virtual background technology which intelligently removes your existing background, keeps you in frame and replaces that background with all manner of images.

Want to take that call from an alpine lodge, a seaside café or from the moon, virtual backgrounds are a fun way to personalize your virtual meeting space.

These features within Lark can be found in our "Labs" section which includes all manner of tweaks including a smart face touch-up feature to get rid of those morning eyes as well as the ability to minimize keyboard noise filtering in from your mic and so much more.

Also remember, a common mistake many people make is looking at the screen when speaking during a virtual meeting. Although in reality you’re looking at those you’re speaking too, you’re actually looking away.

Instead, you want to look directly at the camera, creating the illusion that you are making direct eye contact with all other meeting participants. Although subtle, this creates a stronger connection between participants, and thus increases productivity and efficiency during a meeting.

16. Create a remote office or work space

Forbes recommends creating a professional remote office, ideally somewhere clean, tidy, and carpeted. Rooms that are carperted will generally not create an echo, and instead improve the audio experience. If you do not have carpet, you can place several cushions on the floor to create a clearer, crisper sound.

Furthermore, you should look to create a neutral background, avoiding anything too distracting that may sway participants' attention from what you’re saying when it’s your turn to speak. Ensure the lighting is neither too light nor too dark - a standard desk lamp usually fixes this.

For some people, they quite simply don’t have the space to create a remote office or work space. However, you can be creative, perhaps using the dining room table, coffee table, or setting up a makeshift office in the garage, in a quiet and less distracting space.

In none of these are possible, consider using a virtual background, such as the ones found in Lark.

17. Give everyone time on the agenda

Meetings are never a perfect democracy, there is often bound to be some team members who tend to be more vocal and some that are less. As managers, it is important to ensure that all voices are heard, even if those voices would prefer to stay silent.

A potential way to deal with this is to consider giving each member of the meeting time on the agenda, within reason of course. This will help foster a greater sense of collaboration and ensure that leaders are not missing out on potentially key issues to tackle.

There are a myriad of ways to go about doing this but one in particular that we like goes like this: before the start of the meeting, have each team member come up with an issue that they have been struggling or need help with. Each team member gets five minutes to present this issue and it carries around the group like that. Each team member then gets a chance to comment, offer a suggestion or pass on the issue presented. If this is handled constructively, the chance for effective collaboration and problem solving will be vastly increased.

After The Meeting

18. Make time for casual conversation, not just professional

A tip on how to make the most out of virtual meetings is to make time for casual conversation not just professional. In a regular meeting, employees usually engage in what is known as “watercooler talk” after the meeting. Essentially, this is their thoughts and opinions on the meeting agenda, alongside the occasional catch-up.

Including casual conversation after a meeting by dedicating a small amount of time at the end of the virtual call helps release stress, increases clarity, and creates a sense of community and team-bonding between employees and meeting participants.

During this “watercooler talk,” nothing said should be taken too seriously, it’s a time for de-stress, and should not be “punished” or taken to heart.

19. Conclude each meeting with a brief summary

At the end of each virtual meeting, a brief conclusion reminds all participants of key points, decisions, and actions. This is also the time for work to be distributed, a follow-up meeting to be scheduled based on participants’ schedules, and deadlines to be agreed upon. This is an excellent time to discuss issues, concerns, or to announce updates to all participants/employees in-person.

Also, a minimum of 5-minutes should be left at the end of the virtual meeting for any questions to be addressed to the group. The meeting leader should also remind all participants that their emails are open, allowing them to ask questions they may not be comfortable asking in front of all meeting members.

20. Make Meetings a Collaborative Workspace Before and After

A particular downside that good managers need to take note of is that the lack of physical interaction means the chance to have serendipitous moments of collaboration are a lot less.

This makes creating a workspace within the virtual call that you and your team can use as a canvass to put down notes, create process flows and more becomes vital.

Powerful collaboration and communications platforms like Lark allow you to all view and edit individual documents at once. During a meeting, this allows team members to actively engage and collaborate, sharing ideas not only in an audible manner, but a visual one too.

At the end of the meeting, these documents can form the basis for after action reviews, minutes and can even be the jumping off point for the next meeting without the need to spend precious time summarizing the last one.

The Future: The Rise of the Hybrid Workplace

While virtual meetings and the rise of mainstream video conferencing may seem like like a response to the challenges of the pandemic, in many ways, it is a harbinger of what experts have been predicting for a long time: a hybrid workplace that utilizes advanced connected technology to do away with the need for teams to physically occupy the same space, giving companies the ability to have the best of both worlds.

Today's business leaders are at a crossroads between yesterday, when most employees at most companies were physically present at work, and tomorrow, when a vaccine or effective treatment will open the possibility of safe return to the traditional workplace.

This uncertain future has presented business leaders with two major hurdles to overcome, the first being how to manage remote working conditions amid the uncertainty of today and the second being how to prepare for and optimize the hybrid working models of tomorrow, in which in-office work and remote work will both be viable methods to build effective teams for businesses big and small.

The former is a necessity; the latter, an opportunity. Hybrid work models, done right, will allow organizations to better recruit talent, achieve innovation, and create value for all stakeholders. By acting boldly now, they can define a future of work that is more flexible, digital, and purposeful.

Surveys from around the world seem to support this hypothesis with one in May showing that 55% of US workers want a mixture of home and office working. In the UK,it is expected that the amount of people working from home will increase, from 18% pre-pandemic to 37% post-pandemic. In China, experts predict that within a decade, there will be a 60/40 split of onsite/remote work.

In the coming weeks, we will be studying this phenomenon more closely as we come to terms with what 2021 has in store.

To conclude

Although virtual meetings were somewhat forced upon us, it’s not to say they are entirely useless. In fact, they are far from it. If conducted with effective preparation, planning, and guidelines in place, virtual meetings can be a time-saving, effective method of communications internally and externally.

Ensure to implement these tips to make the most out of virtual meetings, allowing you to make the most of current limited resources, and perhaps providing you and your company with the opportunity to thrive in current circumstances.