Strong Agendas Make Virtual Meetings Effective
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic many of us are now collaborating and managing teams virtually, some for the first time. In this context Google Meet, Zoom, and other video conferencing tools provide opportunities for us to read each other’s non-verbal cues, which can support a more comfortable “flow” of dialogue and other benefits of face-to-face interaction. But, while video is not as awkward as the dreaded multi-person conference call and has some obvious advantages, it is still not quite the same as meeting in person. The extensive screen time can take a toll on us mentally, causing social exhaustion and stress, and can also have negative physical effects such as eye strain and the achiness that comes with sitting in the same place for extended periods of time. Some things in particular that we’re hearing a lot from our clients and colleagues in the field is that they now have more trouble managing their time and feel higher levels of fatigue, physically but also emotionally.
One way to mitigate these negative effects is to make sure our video meetings are both productive and efficient, allowing us to cut down on those long hours of screen time while still accomplishing the important work. This is easier said than done but creating thoughtful meeting agendas can help. You can see a sample agenda here and a few things below that we’ve found to be useful when crafting an agenda that sets up our virtual meetings for success.
Relevance and Purpose. One element that we have found to support effective virtual meetings is alignment on the meeting goals and objectives. Establishing a clear, shared understanding among participants about why you are meeting and what is most important for you to accomplish sets up this time together to be productive and to feel impactful for everyone. Gathering the right input in advance will help inform meeting goals and objectives and ensure that they are relevant and timely. And your objectives don’t all have to be task-oriented but they should be explicit and planned, with your agenda naming any team or community building activities and reflecting adequate time and space for them. When working virtually one of the things we can lose is “water cooler” or “break room” time, those casual but important interactions with co-workers. Now scheduled meetings may be the only time we see each others’ faces. Building community in a purposeful way might actually be one of your most important meeting objectives and can become your main opportunity for modeling ways of communicating and other behaviors that are part of your team or organizational culture.
Action! Instead of general topics, we try to include language in our agenda items that clearly communicates the actions or activities that we’ll undertake in the meeting. We’ve all been in those meetings that feel unproductive but somehow still drag on because no one is entirely sure what actions they should take. Verbs tell your participants how they should expect to participate in the meeting and what they should know or do in advance; for example, “FY2021 Budget” vs “Review and Approve FY2021 Budget” or “Family Engagement Event” vs “Brainstorm Themes and Select Working Group for Family Engagement Event”. Agenda items that include verbs communicate expectations and invite full participation but they also lead to more actionable and concrete plans for follow-up. In a virtual work environment this is even more important and allows our time together to feel both efficient and productive while reducing those long days of video conferencing.
Agenda Item Owners. We have found that assigning each agenda item to an owner who is responsible for taking the lead allows everyone to participate and engage more fully in your virtual meeting. Transitions between participants and agenda items can still be a little awkward over video, so assigning owners can make the flow of dialogue and managing meeting progress easier. It also creates a sense of shared ownership, investment, and feeling of responsibility over the meeting. An added benefit of assigning item owners is that it can set up achievable, relevant “stretch” tasks for some team members. Taking the lead on an agenda item can provide a mini-leadership opportunity for that team member who is hungry for more challenging work or a strengths-based approach to engaging a staff member who might not always feel heard or appreciated. Just make sure that you are setting up agenda item owners for success with clear expectations and plenty of advance notice to prep. For any team members taking ownership of an agenda item for the first time or managing a high-stakes project, consider scheduling some time for a quick debrief/coaching session as a follow-up to the meeting.
Timed Agenda Items. Including a time for each item on a meeting agenda can sometimes feel like a little too much structure but we urge you to give it a try. It can really help communicate expectations to the group about the flow of the meeting and how to prepare. Will this item be a quick update or will it require deep discussion? Will one of us just briefly share out some information or will we all build consensus together as we try to make a difficult decision or solve a complex problem that requires independent work in advance? It encourages planning for transition time too, especially in meetings that involve breakout groups. Using realistic timed agenda items also dovetails nicely with assigning item owners on your agenda. I learned this the hard way years ago as the new manager of a portfolio of youth development programs. I inherited a team with lots of potential and was excited to give everyone growth and leadership opportunities; however, I didn’t initially provide them with the appropriate guard rails and, in their enthusiasm to lead parts of our meetings, they began sharing extensive materials and planning deep discussions that just weren’t achievable in the time we had. Once I shared clear expectations for timing, they were able to plan for their agenda item more appropriately and our meetings became much more efficient while also leveraging the strengths of the team.
These principles and practices for developing an effective virtual meeting agendas are, of course, applicable to in-person meetings as well and can be used in a variety of settings. We’ve found them to be relevant for Boards of Directors and executive leaders but also for afterschool site teams, cross-functional school teams, and multi-partner initiatives. Let us know if you are part of a team, a Board, a network, or a partnership and would like to improve your virtual meetings...we’re here to help!
Contributed by Mike Jolley, Senior Consultant, Development Without Limits
