Do your virtual team meetings need more focus? More engagement? Better results? In this “Virtual Meetings That Don’t Suck” video series, visual facilitator and engagement specialist Carolyn Ellis of BrillianceMastery.com shares her tips to help you create conversations that count!
TIP #5: Virtual Meetings That Don’t Suck – Dynamic Game Plan
Transcript of Video
Hello, everyone! It’s Carolyn Ellis from BrillianceMastery.com! Thank you for joining me for this short video, which is part of my ongoing series Virtual Meetings that Don’t Suck. Because haven’t we had a lot of those lately?
This week’s video tip is about a principle I call “Dynamic Game Plan.” You need to build your game plan in a way that it not only makes sense before you have the meeting, but that you can respond and adapt it to what’s actually happening in the meeting. There are three key ingredients I’m going to share with you today that will really help you with creating that dynamic and effective game plan so you get the maximum participation, creativity, innovative thinking and collaboration in your next virtual meeting.
So what are we talking about here? The first tip is Attention. You might feel it yourself, but our attention spans are shorter than they’ve ever been. Distractions are higher than they’ve ever been. Here we are in a situation where we’re on our screens, everything’s pinging at us, the temptation to go and just quickly check something else, rather than keeping our focus on that virtual meeting, is so high. Really think about how do you earn that next moment of attention from your participants. It is that stance of earning it. You don’t just deserve it, because someone works for you. In terms of building a relationship, and really getting the most out of people, we need to really step it up a notch. We need to ensure that we design things that are engaging and allow people to really get right in there and feel so much passion for what you’re discussing that they’re not even going to care about the distractions around them.
The second ingredient is Awareness. A meeting needs to be designed with a space for people to reflect, to learn something new to celebrate that new perspective, to share their ideas and to build on each other’s ideas, which is crucial. Having those moments where the light bulb can go off, and people say, “Oh, I understand this now!” is critical to effective thinking and teamwork and taking your meetings to the next level. Honestly, just sitting around watching other people talk and flip through PowerPoint slides is not going to do it.
The third thing I think is critical is Action. The meeting isn’t over when it’s scheduled to end. The meeting is over when the work gets done. What’s going to be meaningfully different tomorrow? What is your ask of your people going to be? What might their ask of you be and allow them to make that request is part of the meeting. If nothing changes as a result of you spending and investing your time and energy in that conversation, then really what was the point?
For your next virtual meeting, think about attention, awareness and action. I hope that’s been helpful for you to help create your dynamic game plan.
If you want some further assistance or brainstorming around this, feel free to reach out I’m happy to schedule a call. Here’s wishing you a great day and an awesome next virtual meeting that you go to! Thank you so much!
Missed a tip? You can check out other “Virtual Meetings that Don’t Suck” video tips by clicking below:
Tip 1 – Start with the End in Mind
Tip 2 – Less is More
Tip 3 – Engage at the Start
Tip 4 – Wisdom is in the Room
Tip 6 – Watch Your Costs
Tip 7 – Digestion Time
Tip 8 – Leading Through Connecting
