How To Hold A Virtual Meeting

As a consultant for boards of directors, I find myself flying all over North America to meet with clients. But sometimes the flight is hard to squeeze into the schedule. Sometimes it's not financially justifiable. Maybe you have experienced these same difficulties! Recently I facilitated a Skype session with a board, and although doing a facilitation with this technology presents some very different dynamics than a regular face-to-face meeting or a conference call, in the end, both the board and I were very pleased with how well it went.

Some advance preparation for the meeting ensured that it would go as seamlessly as possible. We both connected from rooms that were wired for internet service, and the board's room had a large wall-mounted screen, a wide-angle camera, and good speakers. I connected from my notebook computer using a webcam and the internal microphone. A few days prior to the meeting, their technology expert and I connected on Skype and made the necessary adjustments to the volume, connection, and placement of the equipment. The day of the meeting we met about twenty minutes before it started, and were able to adjust where some of the board members were seated so I could see them all on my screen.

Some of the dynamics I observed during the virtual meeting were:

- I wanted to call participants by name when I was seeking their input, so I asked them to have large print name tents. Unfortunately, I could only read those closest to the camera. Solution? As everyone introduced themselves, I wrote down their names on a quick map of the room. (This, of course, was only helpful until I had them change seats to work with other small group partners...!)

- Microphones are another thing to think about. There were several instances where I had to ask people to repeat themselves, as the mic did not pick up voices in some areas of the boardroom very well. I also had to keep my distance from my microphone because when I leaned too close my voice did not come across clearly in the boardroom.

- The video feed was highly effective for me when I assigned activities to small groups of two or three. I addressed each person around the board table to give them their group number, and I indicated where in the room I suggested they meet. When I could see that everyone was situated in their new groups, I assigned them their task. Then I was able to keep an eye on all the board members as they engaged in the task with their group members.

I received very positive feedback from all the board members. The board concluded that it was much superior to an audio-teleconference (and I agreed!). We started to develop relationships. By watching their body language, I was able to get a feel for when they were done each assignment. They could focus on my picture when I was talking instead of their mind wandering when they looked into space. Everyone agreed that although being physically present is the best, the experience of meeting virtually using video far exceeded that of doing an audio-only teleconference. Video-conferencing technology enabled quality interaction with a moderate budget.

The obstacles to facilitating long-distance meetings are not nearly so intimidating after exploring video-conferencing applications such as Skype. A successful video conference doesn't have to be complicated or intimidating! All it takes is proper preparation beforehand and a flexible attitude during.