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 #8: Virtual Meetings That Don’t Suck – Leading through Connecting

Transcription of Video

Hello, everyone! It’s Carolyn Ellis from BrillianceMastery.com and thank you for joining me for this short video! This is part of my series Virtual Meetings that Don’t Suck. I want to share with you today a tip called Leading through Connecting.

It’s been several months now, and who knows how long into the future, we’re going to be in a situation where the work that we do, and the conversations that we have, aren’t going to be happening in person. We have to get adapted fully to this virtual way of working together. We are so fortunate that we have so many tools that we can choose from. We have a lot of ways to connect different platforms, and different ways to engage people – it’s all good.

But here’s the thing – great technology will never replace or be more important than the quality of the relationships we have. We need to really keep the relationships and the connection that we have with each other and with the mission, and then with the purpose of the work that we do together at our core. Otherwise, what we’re doing is we just have these virtual meetings more as a transactional kind of thing that we need to do, rather than as an opportunity for really creating something that can transform how our clients’ lives are impacted, the kind of work we do in the world, the kind of meaning that we get from the work that we do. So technology will never trump relationship. When we dive into all these new ways of connecting and working virtually and remotely with each other, we always need to remember to keep the human connection at the heart of what we do and how we have our conversations.

So here’s a few quick tips for you on how we can do that better in our virtual meetings. First, one of my pet peeves is how are we welcoming people when they start a meeting with us? So many times, you show up at a meeting and people are logging in You can see people’s faces on the screens appearing and the leader of the meetings says, “Oh, yeah, we’ll get started in a minute.” And then they’re just off doing something else. It’s not very warm, not very welcoming. It’s not really taking that early opportunity to establish some connection. We can do better at that. Really look at people on the screen and welcome them as if they’re coming into a physical room because they are coming into your virtual room. Treat people virtually like you would when you were in an actual meeting setting, in real life.

The second thing is to consider how you are using eye contact. I’m still astonished sometimes, how many people are still struggling to get the right camera angle on their eyes. We’re looking up the chins and the noses, or we’re seeing somebody down here with lots of screen above. Eye contact is really where we can connect, which is more than just making sure that we’re filling the screen properly and having our eyes at the proper level for our cameras, etc. I also like to imagine that I am actually reaching through the lens with my energy, trying to connect with the people that I’m talking to. So just a little eye contact and shooting an energy through your eyes through the technology, I believe that that will have an impact in terms of building that relationship, and leading through connecting.

Thirdly, make sure we create a space to hear from people right at the beginning. Let’s not do it like you know 40% into the meeting where we have a breakout session or we then finally engage people in chat. Give people a chance at the beginning to gather to welcome to share how they’re feeling. Have it be that casual coffee chat conversation that we don’t get any more when we’re not in rooms together. Make sure you build in a time in your meeting early on to hear from people just on a casual basis. Then you can transition into the formal part of your actual agenda.

Leading through connecting – give it a shot, dial it up! I think we can do way better at that so our virtual meetings don’t suck. If you have any questions or if you want to share with me what your experiences have been, I would love to hear from you. Just reach out to me by email at Carolyn@BrillianceMastery.com. If you need some help with figuring out your virtual meetings and how to do them better, I’d be happy to speak with you as well.

Thanks so much and have a great day!

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 5 – Dynamic Game Plan
Tip 6 – Watch Your Costs
Tip 7 – Digestion Time