Many businesses are shifting their business models to accommodate work-from-home setups due to the coronavirus pandemic. With the restrictions on face-to-face interactions, business owners must use modern technology to make their digital workplace function.
Conducting meetings is an essential part of running a business. It helps keep everyone in the loop on the company’s progress while checking up on the employees’ status. As a business owner, you must know how to go about having virtual meetings with today’s altered working conditions.

How to have a productive virtual meeting

Ensure that you have quality earphones, webcams, and a stable internet connection if you’re hosting the meeting. If you already have issues with these three, you would likely face more troubles later on. After getting the right hardware to set up your online meeting, you should learn how to hold a virtual conference using modern digital etiquettes.
If you’re still having trouble with video conferencing, here are four tips to optimize your business’s virtual meetings:

1. Set an agenda

Whether you’re having meetings in person or online, it’s always helpful to have an agenda to guide your discussions. It will prevent you from getting sidetracked by having an outline of topics to talk about.
You should send the agenda to your meeting attendants in advance so that they can prepare the necessary materials if they have to report or present findings. Additionally, you should open questions or concerns before the meeting if there are clarifications that you need to discuss with your attendants individually.

2. Open with an icebreaker

It’s best to have an icebreaker to get everyone well-acquainted. You can go with something formal, such as asking everyone to share their names and occupations. On the other hand, you can go more casual and ask them to add a fun fact about their quarantine lifestyles.

3. Establish ground rules

A typical issue that business owners and educators are learning about virtual conferences is that it’s easy to talk over each other. It can look and sound humorous at first, but it can be frustrating during time-sensitive meetings. You can prevent this from happening by setting up ground rules during the call.
Remind your participants to mute their microphones if they’re not speaking. Also, you should consider opening up chat boxes to allow people to interject without interrupting the current speaker. Most video conferencing platforms have a group messaging feature that will let you pop up a question or clarification while someone is presenting or talking. Having these virtual etiquettes in place can reduce interruptions and optimize your time.

4. Utilize your digital documents

Although you and your attendants aren’t meeting in person, you can still use the digital platform to share files and other resources. Take advantage of the share screen option of the video conferencing platform you’re using. It can help showcase slideshow presentations, visualize current data analytics, and access different files from your office’s digital records.
Additionally, it can be a helpful tool to guide your attendants to follow submission processes. You can show how to upload or access a file or log in to your digital workspaces. It’s a feature that many people underutilize since most people are familiar with using different online platforms. Nevertheless, it’s a welcome addition that helps the older generation learn the different quirks of digital mediums.

Conclusion

The coronavirus pandemic shows how adaptable organizational systems are with the use of digital tools and platforms. Since it’s unclear when the world will be back to normal, it may take a while before you return to your offices. On the other hand, it may be better to retain some new work practices even if you go back to safer outdoor conditions.
Investing in digital tools is one effective way to optimize your business’s operations. At My Firm 360, we provide our clients with an accounting client management software to help them keep track of their finances. Get in touch with us today to learn more about how our app can streamline your accounting processes.