The rapid shift to remote work has transformed how teams collaborate. According to Gallup, the percentage of employees working remotely has grown from 31% in 2016 to 44% in 2020. As distributed teams become the norm, mastering virtual meetings is a must for effective collaboration. 

In this guide, we’ll provide actionable tips to help you run engaging and productive remote meetings. We’ll cover establishing a clear agenda, choosing the right video conferencing tools, setting virtual meeting etiquette, encouraging participation, screen sharing best practices, the importance of breaks, following up with notes, and gathering feedback. With the right approach, you can bring the same energy and collaboration of in-person meetings to the virtual setting. Let’s dive in!

Have a Clear Agenda

It’s important to set a clear agenda for remote meetings to help keep things focused and productive. Here are some tips for establishing an effective agenda:

• Send the agenda out to attendees beforehand. Give them time to review the topics and prepare for the discussion. 
• List the objective and specific topics that need to be covered during the meeting. This helps set expectations upfront.
• Keep the meeting focused on the agenda. If certain tangents arise, politely steer things back on track by referencing the agenda topics. 
• Format the agenda so it’s easy to follow along. Number the items, include time limits, and designate a facilitator to keep things moving.
• Leave time at the end for closing comments or questions. This allows people to give final input.
• Adjust the agenda as needed. If certain discussions run long, see if some items can be shortened or tabled for a later time. 
• Share the next steps and action items to wrap up. Recap any decisions made and assignments given.   

Following a clear agenda helps remote meetings stay efficient and on-point. Participants can come prepared and discussions will be more productive. Make sure to establish and communicate the agenda in advance so everyone’s on the same page.

Use Video Conferencing

Video conferencing is a crucial component of successful remote meetings. Here are some of the key benefits of using video:

• Improves engagement over audio-only. Video allows meeting participants to see each other, making the conversation feel more natural and personal. Participants are more likely to stay focused and engaged when they can see their colleagues’ facial expressions and body language.
• Allows reading body language/facial expressions. Without video, it’s impossible to pick up on nonverbal cues. Having everyone’s video on helps prevent miscommunications and makes sure nothing is lost in translation. Subtle facial expressions can say a lot.
• Tools like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet. There are many great video conferencing platforms to choose from. Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet are all popular options that make it easy to connect with remote teams. Most platforms have free versions with all the core video features needed for productive meetings.

The bottom line is that video enables more effective remote collaboration. Turning cameras on makes virtual meetings feel more like in-person interactions, leading to better discussions, ideation, and team cohesion. Make video the default to get the most out of your remote meetings.

Set Virtual Meeting Etiquette

When working remotely, it’s important to maintain professionalism in virtual meetings. Follow these etiquette tips:

• Mute your microphone when you are not speaking. Background noise can be very distracting. Mute yourself to avoid disrupting the meeting.
• Avoid multitasking during meetings. Actively listen and participate instead of replying to emails or messages. Stay focused on the discussion. 
• Dress professionally for video meetings. Imagine you are meeting colleagues in person and dress accordingly. 
• Be mindful of your background on camera. Choose a quiet spot with a neutral or professional backdrop. Avoid backlighting that obscures your face.
• Speak clearly and don’t interrupt others during the meeting. Use features like hand raise or chat to take turns and avoid talking over each other.
• Be respectful and courteous to other attendees in your verbal and non-verbal communication. Nodding and smiling show you are engaged.
• Position your camera at eye level if possible for a natural eye contact perspective. 

Setting ground rules upfront and demonstrating proper etiquette helps create a productive and professional virtual meeting environment.

Encourage Participation 

Participation is key to keeping remote meetings productive and engaging. Here are some tips for encouraging more active involvement from attendees:

• Use poll questions: Launching polls during meetings is a great way to break up long presentations and stimulate participation. Polls drive engagement by letting attendees vote anonymously on topics. They provide real-time feedback to presenters too. There are many free tools like Mentimeter or Poll Everywhere that make launching polls easy.
• Do round-robin updates: Give each attendee a minute to provide an update on what they’re working on. This ensures everyone speaks up during the meeting. Round robins drive accountability too since team members know they’ll have to share. 
• Break into virtual breakout rooms: Split up attendees into separate breakout rooms of 2-3 people for small group discussions. Breakouts allow for deeper conversations and more intimate knowledge sharing versus a large group setting. Attendees can then report back key insights to the wider team. Most video conferencing platforms have breakout room capabilities built in.

Share Screens 

One of the best features of virtual meetings is the ability to share your screen with participants. Visuals help keep people engaged compared to just hearing a voice on a conference line. 

Take advantage of screen sharing by doing demos of products, walking people through presentations, or annotating in real-time during discussions. Some tips:

• Know how to quickly share your entire desktop or just a specific app window. Practice beforehand.
• Close unnecessary windows and tabs to avoid distracting participants with visual clutter.
• Ask if everyone can view your screen once you start sharing. Adjust the size if needed.
• Use annotation tools to highlight, write, or draw on your screen to focus attention.
• Pause sharing if you need to switch apps or deal with notifications. 
• Check the chat window for any questions or feedback during your screen share. 
• Consider sharing PPT slides in presentation mode so you control slide changes.
• Record your screen share to review or share later if needed.

Keeping people engaged with relevant visuals makes your virtual meetings more effective and collaborative. Don’t just speak into a conference line if you can share your screen.

Take Breaks 

It can be hard to focus when staring at a screen for an extended period. Consider taking a brief break every 45 minutes or so to let people stretch their legs, grab some water, and refresh their minds. Breaks help meeting participants recharge and regain focus.

Aim to keep breaks brief, around 5-10 minutes. You don’t want to lose momentum or have people disengage from the meeting completely. Consider designating someone to gently bring the group back if the break goes over. 

You may want to build in time for longer breaks every 1-2 hours for meetings longer than an hour. This gives people a chance to step away from their desks, rest their eyes, grab a snack, or take a quick walk outside if the weather permits. 

Just be sure to agree on a set time to reconvene after the break. Remind people before ending the meeting break that you will be starting up again soon.

Send Notes After the Meeting

After the meeting concludes, send out a summary email to all participants recapping what was discussed and any action items or decisions that were made. 

The email should include:

• A list of all attendees 
• A high-level summary of the topics covered
• Key decisions made and discussion outcomes
• Action items and owners – who are responsible for each task or follow-up item
• Deadlines for any action items
• Any resources, links, files, or documents that were shared or discussed

Sending a follow-up email allows attendees to review the information again after the meeting when they may retain it better. It also ensures everyone is on the same page regarding responsibilities and next steps. 

For decisions made, summarize the discussion and note what the group agreed upon. 

For action items, indicate who is responsible, what needs to be done, and by when.

List any resources that were shared so participants can easily find them for reference later. These may include links, documents, slides, recordings, and more. 

The email wrap-up helps keep everyone aligned after the meeting ends. It also provides a reference document that attendees can use to stay up to date on responsibilities and actions.

Gather Feedback

Getting feedback after remote meetings is crucial to improve collaboration and engagement over time. Here are some tips:

• Send out a post-meeting survey to collect feedback. Ask participants what worked well in the meeting and what could be improved. Anonymous surveys often lead to more honest input.
• Specifically, ask for feedback on the technology used. As remote teams rely heavily on video conferencing, screen sharing, and other tools, it’s important to know if they are enhancing or hindering the meeting experience.
• Pay attention to feedback mentioning meeting length, pacing, start time, and facilitation. Look for ways to adjust the format to be more inclusive and engaging based on the feedback.
• Don’t take negative feedback personally. View it as an opportunity to iterate and improve. Thank participants for taking the time to provide suggestions.
• Close the feedback loop. Share themes from the survey with the broader team and address how their input will lead to changes in future meetings. This shows participants their voices are heard and valued.
• Avoid making major changes based on one piece of outlier feedback. Look for themes and consistent comments to guide your adjustments.
• Reflect on your observations as the meeting host. What did you notice about the technology performance, energy levels, participation rates, and general experience? 
• Make incremental changes over time to refine the remote meeting experience. Improving collaboration is an iterative process. Stay open to feedback and be committed to continued growth.

Conclusion

Running remote meetings effectively takes more intention than in-person meetings, but with the right strategies and tools, virtual collaboration can be equally or even more productive. In recapping some of the main tips covered here:

• Have a clear agenda and send it out ahead of time so everyone is on the same page. Set expectations for the meeting objectives and outcomes.
• Use video conferencing instead of just audio to help people stay engaged. Seeing faces and body language fosters better communication and collaboration. 
• Establish some basic etiquette like muting when not speaking to minimize background noise. Encourage participants to use chat or raise their hands to avoid people talking over each other.
• Get everyone involved by directly asking questions and soliciting input from those less vocal. Do quick polls or reactions to gauge understanding and agreement. 
• Share your screen to walk through documents, presentations, or demonstrations rather than just describing them.
• Take regular breaks every 30-45 minutes to give people’s minds a rest from constant concentration. 
• Follow up with meeting notes recapping decisions, action items, and next steps to keep everyone accountable.
• Ask for feedback on what worked well and could be improved to continually optimize your virtual meetings.

With intention, preparation, and these tips, distributed teams can collaborate every bit as effectively as if they were face-to-face. Virtual meetings simply require some adaptation to the medium to ensure they are inclusive, productive, and human-centric.