Director's Cut - Virtual Meeting Tips

Phil Summers - ACCOC Executive Director

Non-Profit & Small Business Leaders: Your Virtual Meetings are Lacking... Some Tips for Improved Engagement

Meetings are meant to be productive but despite a significant increase in virtual meetings during the on-going COVID crisis, your participants may be finding them unproductive and inefficient. Here are four reasons your meetings may be nonproductive and how to turn them around:

-NO SET AGENDA: It may seem obvious but many

administrators overlook this simple step. With the added element of more and more meetings being held virtually, an agenda is even more important to ensure that participants call in prepared and ready to contribute.

-YOU DON'T BEGIN AND FINISH THE MEETING ON-TIME: You have seen it happen a million times,

some participants are on time while you or others are 10 minutes late. The meeting begins late and as the discussion derails with late comers requiring updates, it ends later than the scheduled end time. With so many meetings being held virtually, it is even more imperative to stick to the schedule so ensure everyone is on the call when they need to be.

-YOU DON'T KEEP ALL PARTICIPANTS ENGAGED DURING THE MEETING: There are plenty of reasons

your participants do not engage but here are a few ways to increase interest and participation:

Visual Support: There is nothing quite as dry as a meeting where a topic is not supported by visuals. Certainly, not all meetings call for visuals, however, when appropriate, quality visual support can help drive interest and engagement.

Encourage Participation: Via questions, comments, POV's and pointing our an attendee's area of expertise for input i.e., "Sarah, you're the marketer in the meeting, what is your advice for the media spend"?

W.W.D.W.B.W (Who Will Do What By When?):

Before ending the meeting, when appropriate, recap who is responsible for what and emphasize the deadlines that were agreed upon. Distribute a W.W.D.W.B.W plan via e-mail so that everyone on the call has a clear understanding of what their "action item" requires.

Phil Summers is the Executive Director of the Addison County Chamber of Commerce. Prior to ACCOC, Phil was the Executive Director of the Virginia Youth Soccer Association and earlier held senior marketing positions at the National Football League, Sirius Satellite Radio and MSG Varsity where he was a two time Emmy Award winner (2011 & 2012) and two time Silver Addy Award winner (2013). Phil has also taught undergraduate courses in advertising and marketing at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia.