A virtual meeting, occurring at regular intervals, in which a team comes together to exchange information, monitor progress and plan next steps.
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Face-to-face meetings of departments and project teams are common. If a physical meeting is costly or not feasible, virtual meetings are a good alternative. The meetings can have various objectives but they typically entail exchange of information, reporting and monitoring progress, discussions, planning and decision-making.
Meetings are characterized by a high level of interaction among the participants as they are mostly conversation driven. The meeting is attended by a relatively small number of people. In case meetings occur at regular time intervals (e.g. monthly or annually), the composition of the group should be kept as stable as possible to foster familiarity and trust in the group.
In virtual meetings, it is more challenging to stimulate participation and keep the motivation and open exchange alive. In addition to the work-related objectives of the meeting, the social aspect, such as a trustful and open working atmosphere, must be deliberately set up and actively maintained.
Enough time and effort should be invested in warming up and in ongoing team building activities, to lay the social basis for good topic-centered collaboration.
The agenda and the minutes are central instruments for structuring meetings and achieving meeting results.
A meeting follows an agenda, which is circulated in advance and can be amended at the beginning of the meeting.
It is good practice to go through the minutes of the last meeting and select a minute-taker for the current session. A template can be used for the minutes. It should include the date, the participants, the agenda and the results of the meeting. To provide clarity on sensitive issues, it might be good to share the screen with the notes for the minutes, to ensure everybody has the same understanding.
In addition to minutes, other tools might be used for visualization and documentation, e.g. whiteboards or mindmaps. These might grow over time. Therefore, it might pay off to properly introduce these tools to all team members.
To make the meeting more efficient, specific rules can be agreed upon, e.g. that during the meeting, all cellphones are switched off, cameras are turned on, participants interact in the chat or by videoconferencing icons, etc...
The length of a team meeting depends on how frequently the team meets and their workload. A typical weekly meeting should be about an hour and meetings in general should not last longer than two hours. Punctuality at the beginning and end strengthens the commitment. Team meetings should take place regularly, e.g. weekly or bi-weekly. A jour-fixe facilitates the participation of all departmental or team members.
Meetings are typically conversation-driven. The attendees speak and listen. Information can also be presented in PowerPoint presentations or on virtual whiteboards.
The communication platform usually used in the organization should be used as the medium.
