Checklists for Virtual Meetings

I have been reading books trying to get a better handle on how to manage and get the most out of virtual meetings. So far, there is one book that I have come across that talk about virtual meetings. "The Hamster Revolution for Meetings: How to Meet Less and Get More Done" by Mike Song, et al. is a fast read and tells the story of an executive who morphs into a hamster who is caged up and running endlessly on their exercise mill and likens it to running from meeting to meeting in our hectic business lives. 

As with all meeting books, this book is no different in that they offer some meeting-preparation advice on how to have a successful meeting.  Their P.O.S.E. method is unique and provides some valuable tips for any type of meeting whether virtual or not. I really liked their calendaring suggestion of using the draft folder to create and store a meeting template.  Each time you need to calendar a meeting, all you do is drag the template from the draft folder into the calendar, and it will automatically create a meeting invite that has your template. Complete the necessary information and send it off is all you do.  Of course, the template has all the meeting preparation information you will need to have in order to run a successful meeting.

My purpose in reading the book was to find some helpful information and tips for running successful virtual meetings. They briefly covered virtual meeting tools such as web conferencing, wikis, blogs, Instant Messaging, and Social Messaging.  Their book focused mainly on web conferencing because it is 'live' and more 'controllable' by the meeting organizer.

The main idea I took away to help virtual meetings be successful is to create an environment to get people participating through useful tools that boost interactivity such as highlighters, pointers, chatting in answers, voting, brainsurfing (interesting brainstorming technique) and being an interesting facilitator.  The authors also provide some checklists to help you as a facilitator. A couple of checklists that were very helpful to me were the 1) facilitator checklist that reminds you of your specific tasks and roles while leading others in a virtual setting, and 2) the premeeting checklist for those who are planning to present a formal webinar or presentation to clients, customers, or management.  It is imperative that you get it right the first time. This checklist will help your credibility instantly.

This book is one I highly recommend. Any book that helps us be better meeting organizers or facilitators is doing us a service, especially, when studies are showing nearly 30-50% of meetings are inefficient or a waste of our time.  Enjoy!

Song, Mike, Vicki Halsey, Tim Burress, "The Hamster Revolution for Meetings: How to Meet Less and Get More Done", 2009, San Francisco, Berrett-Kohler.