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How to Run Online Meetings that Don’t Suck
Online meetings can be an efficient way to get work done — or they can be painful. The choice is up to you. Here are some things to keep in mind as you prepare for your next meeting.
What is the Primary Point of your Meeting?
Do you want push out information? Do you want to hold a discussion or brainstorming event? Different video conferencing tools are good for different things. Choosing the right program can mean the difference between a productive meeting and one filled with awkward silence.
If your meeting is short and focused around discussion, choose a program that puts attendee’s faces in the foreground. Programs like appear.in and Zoom are great for this. My co- authors and I used a combination of Google docs and Google Meet to edit and discuss our book before its publication. We wanted to see each other’s faces as we talked through what should stay in and what should get edited out of the book. Those close knit meetings are a big part of why we’re still speaking to each other after writing a book together.
Conversely, that face-to-face meeting style is awkward in meetings designed to deliver information. This is where meetings can go wrong. In a misguided effort to simulate an in person meeting, some organizers will insist that everyone turn on their…
