Covid-inspired advances in the adoption of remote presence technology and videoconferencing have the potential to create benefits, but like all technologies, there is also the potential to create significant disadvantages, often due to people trying to do more with the system than it was intended to achieve.

In the context of remote meetings by video conference, this often takes the form of assuming that people develop a relationship with each other just as well over video as they do in “real life”. Typically, the relationships people form using video-only forums take longer to form, are not as deep and break down more easily than the relationships between groups that meet in person. This is important to understand, as particularly in governance contexts, the relationship between meeting members directly contributes to the meeting's effectiveness. Video calls let people fill in a speaker’s intent and motivation more than text-only or voice-only communication, but this is kick-started by having pre-existing face-to-face relationships.

All the tips and hacks we have learned to make running meetings easier in a lifetime of face-to-face meetings, now need to be re-learned (or discarded) to suit the digital meeting medium we tend to use. This article presents tips for running meetings and events online to mitigate this issue. “Meetings and Events” is a large scope, and not all events will need the same level of attention. Each meeting will have its own requirements for formality, record-keeping, interaction and relationship; and these requirements will translate into different ways to manage the specific meeting.

Planning and Preparation

Because video communication leaves out a lot of the subliminal content we unconsciously take for granted for in-person meetings, good planning and pre-meeting communications are arguably even more important.

· Set up the meeting and invitation as far in advance as possible, and configure it so that participants can join the meeting (at least to the waiting room) before the meeting and encourage them to check they can access the meeting with all the audio, video, sharing etc working as they expect. For a presentation or seminar, you may even consider doing a “dry-run” with the presenters.

· Produce a “running sheet” for the event. This is like an agenda but is typically more detailed and focused on the production requirements, not the content. It could indicate things like timings, backgrounds, and resources needed when things like notices need to be put in the chat, when videos need to be played etc.

Minutes

It is really, really hard to both run a meeting and take good notes and contrary to a lot of opinions expressed to me, this doesn’t get easier in an online context. In fact, if the host has to manage the technology as well, they are then to do three things at the same time instead of two.

· Appoint someone whose job is to take notes. If you need to do more than fire up the meeting and share a screen once or twice, appoint someone else to manage the technology. If it’s even mildly complex, consider producing a running sheet for them.

· Consider using a software notetaker. With the surge in AI that’s happening in the tech space just now, there are some significant advances. I’ve been playing with a Zoom plug-in called Fathom AI notetaker and the results are impressive. At a recent meeting, I was impressed by the two-sentence summaries it generated on the fly for each section of the meeting.

Screen sharing

· If you are sharing a document or a PowerPoint slide, consider logging into the meeting from a separate computer (no camera or microphone needed) and sharing the document from there. Then you can Pin the screen or remove it as required. You can also pin the document side by side with the speaker, giving a much better view of the speaker than Zoom’s default thumbnail view.

Running the Meeting or Event

• When hosting a video call with a large group, try to ask specific questions to specific people, and use their names when doing so. This establishes who will be answering the question and avoids the ever-awkward “No, you go ahead. No, you!” situation.
• If you (or your technical delegate) need to share information in the Chat during the meeting, set all the information up beforehand in a document, then cut and paste it at the relevant time. This avoids getting it wrong at the crucial moment or forgetting. Don’t forget to put the name and location of the file in the running sheet!

Consider these golden rules for better video meetings (adapted from a Trello™ blog post):

• Use video for strengthening existing relationships.
• Have equipment that works –test it before your meeting.
• Look professional and aim for a professional-looking, smooth flowing delivery.
• Ensure everyone feels included.
• Set up team rules to make video meetings more manageable. Rules should match the requirements and purpose of the meeting. Eg, if you are running a brainstorming meeting, preventing people from speaking till called on may be counterproductive.