7 Tips To Get Started On Your First Virtual Meeting

04 July 2022

Virtual meetings are a great way to get your team together from different locations and are used for various purposes.

Whether you need to conduct training, hold a brainstorming session, or keep communication open with your remote employees, virtual meetings can help you reach your goals.

Yet before you start planning your first virtual meeting, it’s essential to know how to set up and manage these types of sessions.

Here are seven tips to get you started:

1. Set An Agenda

If you’re new to virtual meetings, it can be tricky to know where to start. One important thing you can do is set an agenda for your meeting—this will let everyone know what to expect and ensure that all essential topics are covered.

Some tips for setting an agenda for your first virtual meeting are as follows:

1. Write down all of the topics you want to discuss. Ensure they are relevant to the meeting’s purpose.
2. Order the topics by importance. It will help you to focus on the most critical issues first.
3. Decide how much time you want to spend on each topic. It will ensure that the meeting stays on track and doesn’t run overtime.
4. Send out the agenda in advance so that everyone has time to prepare for the meeting.

Setting a plan will ensure that the meeting is productive and focused, and it will help everyone to know what to expect. Planning can ensure that your first virtual meeting out of many fun virtual events is a success.

2. Know Your Audience

Know who you will be speaking to when planning a virtual meeting. It will help you to tailor the content of the meeting and ensure that everyone can participate.

The following are some things to consider when planning your audience for a virtual meeting:

Size: How many people do you need to reach?
Location: Where are your audience members located?
Accessibility: How will your audience access the meeting?

When you know your audience, you can ensure everyone can participate in the meeting. You can also tailor the content to ensure that it’s relevant and valuable for everyone involved.

3. Choose A Platform Wisely

When it comes to having a virtual meeting, the first step is choosing a platform that will work best for you and your team. Many different options are available, each with its features and benefits. Some platforms allow for videoconferencing, while others focus on audio-only format.

Others offer a variety of features, such as file sharing and screen sharing. Still, others are designed for team collaboration. The key is to choose a platform that will meet your specific needs.

Once you’ve selected a platform, the next step is creating an account and signing in. Then, create a meeting space and invite your team members. Once everyone has joined the meeting, you’re ready to start collaborating.

4. Set Up A Test Run

The best way to get started is to set up a test run with a few friends or colleagues. It will help you get familiar with the software and figure out any kinks before you have to lead an important meeting. To start, choose a videoconferencing tool that you’re comfortable using. You can choose from many options, so take time to explore what’s out there.

When you’ve chosen one, invite a few people to join you for a practice run. You can use this time to test out the various features of the software and figure out how everything works.

Observe the sound quality and image clarity, as well as how easy it is to use the various features. It will help you ensure everything is working correctly before leading an actual meeting.

5. Establish Ground Rules

You can establish a few ground rules to help everyone feel more comfortable and get the most out of the experience. First, set some expectations about etiquette. For example, let everyone know that it’s okay to take breaks as needed and that it’s perfectly acceptable to mute your microphone when you’re not speaking.

It can also be helpful to establish a ‘no interruptions’ policy so that everyone has a chance to be heard. Next, ensure everyone knows how to use the meeting platform you’re using. Everyone must be familiar with the basics of how the system works.

Finally, take some time at the beginning of the meeting to check in with everyone and see how they’re doing. Small talk can go a long way towards making everyone feel more comfortable and setting the tone for a productive meeting.

6. Consider Logistics

When you’re planning a virtual meeting, there are a few logistical considerations to keep in mind. Choose a time that works for everyone involved. It can be tricky, especially if you have team members in different time zones.

It’s crucial to find a time that works for most people involved. Once you’ve selected a date and time, ensure you send out reminders to everyone so they’ll know when the meeting is taking place. Lastly, think about how you will share information with your team.

Decide whether you will use audio, video, or both. Determine how you will share any documents or files you need. Making these decisions in advance will help the meeting run smoothly.

7. Have A Backup Plan

Even if you’ve planned everything perfectly, there’s always a chance that something could go wrong. Hence, a backup plan is critical. Start by ensuring everyone has the contact information for everyone else on the team.

This way, if the meeting platform you’re using goes down, you can still get in touch with everyone. It’s also a good idea to have a backup meeting platform should your first choice doesn’t work out.

Finally, ensure you have all of the necessary files and documents saved in a safe place so you can access them even if your computer crashes. By taking the time to plan for the worst, you can help ensure that your virtual meeting goes off without a hitch.

Takeaway

The tips discussed here can set you up for success when leading your first virtual meeting. Remember to be prepared, establish ground rules, and have a backup plan. With some planning, you can ensure that your meeting is productive and successful.

Additionals:

Sumona

Sumona is a persona, having a colossal interest in writing blogs and other jones of calligraphies. In terms of her professional commitments, she carries out sharing sentient blogs by maintaining top-to-toe SEO aspects. Follow more of her contributions in SmartBusinessDaily

View all posts

7 Best Employee Recognition Awards Ideas For 2021

When you are running a business, your employees become your assets. If your employees grow, so does your organization. Hence, it becomes very important that you take care of your employees. Custom employee recognition can be one of the best ways to make your employees feel comfortable and encouraged working in your organization. Showing your employees that they are being valued for their hard work and reward them accordingly will help your business in the long run. The key to achieving this goal is understanding Employee award wording ideas. If you can develop the best and innovative ideas, you can boost your employee's morale and motivation. Why are Employee Recognition Awards Important? It has been seen that the employees who have been appreciated by their organization are more likely to feel satisfied with their work. Once you start encouraging employees for their good work, you will see a boost in productivity. As we have started cruising through 2021, we hope that this is the best time to understand employee recognition's importance to boost your business productivity this year. Fulfilling Careers Workplace loyalty is not derived from the job. The workplace environment and fulfilling careers nurture it. According to a report, it has been seen that 78% of the employees agree with the fact that they will stay with the currency employers if they know they have a career in this organization. With employee recognition, you can motivate your employees and ensure that they see your organization as the best career opportunity rather than a job. Respect Knowledge Everyone works hard to build their skills set and expects others to respect that. According to a report, almost 53% of the employees believe that if their knowledge and skills are being respected, they will spend more time with the respective organizations. Understanding Progress Yes, goals are important. But that can only be achieved by understanding the working process. Employee recognition is not limited to big win; it can also support and nurture the next generation of employees in your organizations. Best Employee Recognition Awards Ideas There are multiple ideas that you can adopt to recognize your employees. We have prepared a handful of them. Let's explore. 1. Formulate A Proper Plan To Recognize Your Employees Before you can prepare yourself to recognize your employees, you need to formulate a proper plan to track their achievements. Remember that these awards programs and recognition events are not just for show. They are meant to boost your employee's morale and the organization's productivity. Hence, it becomes very important that you figure out an appropriate strategy. Do not forget about your work culture. Employees' recognition ideas should be relevant to your work culture. 2. Celebrate Employees Birthdays Birthdays are the best event to make your employees feel special. You can start targeting your employees' birthdays. This will make them feel special and a part of the organization. When you celebrate your employees' birthdays, they will feel connected to the organization on a deeper level. This practice can make them feel an inseparable part of the organization. This will act as a driving force and help them to boost their productivity. Even a small event like celebrating employee's birthdays can motivate them to give their best performance to the organization. 3. Cheers From Peers Creating the best working environment is the role of the pers. The working environment should be like this where the co-workers can celebrate the achievement of the other co-workers. And when the time calls for it, they stand alongside the organization's bad times. This will ensure that the whole organization can perform as a team and bring positive results day in and day out. 4. Reward Them With Trophies Every sport has trophies. These trophies change hands every year depending on the champions. You can use the same concept in your organization. This practice will motivate your employees to be the best in the organization. Once they know what they can achieve by working hard, they will try their best to achieve that goal. 5. Collect Employees Feedback We have hardly seen any organization taking feedback from the employees. Feedback is a necessary part if you want to improve your organization as a whole. Taking feedback from the employees will give them an idea that their views matter in the organization. You can take feedback on the followings: What do they feel about the organization? What do they think needs to be improved? What drives them to work for you? What will drive them further? Ask your employees these questions, and take their answers as suggestions. This practice will kill two birds with one arrow. Not only are you getting valuable feedback, but you are also getting to know what your employees think about you and your organization. 6. Public Your Appreciation Recognizing your employees is a good thing but recognizing them in public is even better. You must devise a perfect appreciation program where you or the employee can recognize the best performer among the employees. By appreciating the best employee in public, you are not only boosting the morale of the employers, but you are also giving them a goal to achieve. The public execution of the appreciation shows that you are confident in your employees and want others to step up their game and reach this podium. 7. Track Team Wins Every organization has several teams, and every team competes among themselves subconsciously. You must track your team every year and award the winning team. This will not only help you understand how other teams are performing, but you will have an idea of how the organization can improve. Working with the team will help you understand the working of your organization, and you will know what you need to expect from them. This is a perfect device to find out non-performing teams and motivate them to work better. Conclusion From the points mentioned above, you now know how employee recognition can help you develop a perfect plan for your employees' recognition. If you want to cope with the market and stand back on the feet again, employee recognition might play an important role. Read Also: Why In-Company Training Results in Better Employees 3 Steps to Hire the Perfect Employee What Are the Ways to Prepare a New Employee? Possible Reasons Why Your Employees Aren’t Too Productive and What to Do About It How to Increase the Safety of Your Employees

5 Strategic Ways To Automate Your Internal Business Workflows

Setting up a business requires a lot of effort, time, and money. On top of that, making sure it becomes a success is an even harder job. It requires capital, investment, and constant attention. After going through the complicated process of making a business stand on its feet, if you also have to keep yourself engaged in all the jobs that your business requires, it may pose a big problem for you. As the meme goes, modern problems require modern solutions; technology has an answer to every problem that we encounter in whatever spectrum. Workflow automation has emerged to be one of the most sought-after forms of technology. It simply refers to the automatic functioning of a few processes with just the input of a few data. It saves a lot of manpower. Here are 5 ways in which automation can be strategically utilized. Use automation only where applicable You must not overdo it by using automation in every step of your business. Instead, you should decide where it is necessary. For example, a process that is prone to mistakes if conducted by a person may be given over to automation to minimize time and errors. Automation may be used for repetitive processes There are all kinds of jobs that constitute a business. In the past, they all had to be done by people, which gradually became quite exhausting. The job may involve a few processes that need to be repeated over and over again. It becomes very difficult and tedious for an individual to continue doing the same thing for hours on end. Thus, automation is recommended for such repetitive tasks where all you have to do is put in your data, and certain software will record it and do the rest of your job. Automating tasks that have a bigger impact You may assign automation to a simple and trivial task and not see much of a difference. But, many small tasks together would have taken up a lot of time and effort, which you have saved by using automation. For example, a company has reached out to say that they have used automation to send emails to their partners at their convenience without worrying about them being disturbed. AUse automation to form a connection between two software You must make the most of automation by using it to connect two software and get the work done. It will be like living up to the phrase of killing two birds with one stone. Automated by using a step by step process You may be faced with errors if you automate a process in one go. Instead, you should break down a process into simple steps that would have been undertaken by an individual. Enter individual data for every step and then combine them. This will make sure there are no glitches in the intermediate steps. Only then will you end with a successfully automated process. Read Also: Industrial Automation Software Development 5 Reasons Every Business Should Invest in Automation Software Why Sensors are Essential in Machine Automation Top 10 Features to Have in Marketing Automation Platforms

Business potential of stock broking agencies in India

Over the last few years, quite a few stock brokers have been forced to shut shop due to weak business. This is true not only of broking but also of other businesses where automation has been taking its toll. To survive and thrive in the stock broking business you need to be able to extrapolate the key trends in stock broking and position yourself accordingly. How do you differentiate yourself as a stock broker? That is the only way you can realize the full potential of stock broking. Remember, each year Indian investors are investing more than $25 billion into equities either in direct equities or via equity and ELSS funds. That is a lot of money. How do you grab the most of this potential? There are five things that you need to be aware of. The industry is getting divided into two segments: In the broking industry, you either need to run with the hares or hunt with the hounds. The broking industry as a whole is getting stratified into the zero brokerage discount brokers and the full-service brokers. The room for the in-between brokers is increasingly reducing. If you want to be a discount broker then focus on an efficient offering at a very low cost. Alternatively, if you want to be at the full-service end then you need to be prepared to invest in research and technology. In the past, there was room for the median brokers who were somewhere between the full-service brokers and the discount brokers. With both these categories of brokers pushing their boundaries, the gap in between is getting squeezed. First, be clear on your positioning and your strategy should follow after that. Be clear on the value proposition: This is a logical corollary to the first point. What is your value proposition? Are you offering the lowest brokerage in the market? That is an advantage that is hard to sustain over longer periods of time and the model is always vulnerable to sudden changes in the market undertone. Secondly, are you offering the best advisory services in the business? This called multi-level skills in portfolio design, need understanding, portfolio customization, portfolio review etc. This is quite complicated and any advisory is always open to an opinion about success and failure. In a competitive market, this can work both ways. Lastly, is technology your USP? In the past, technology was just a tool, but that has changed. Today it is possible to look at broking as a software company and offering a robust trading model that is super efficient and intelligent. Automate and employ technology intelligently: If you look at how brokers are adding value to their customers, most of the value addition in the last few years is coming through technology. Thanks to broadband and the use of smartphones, it is possible to trade on the fly using your mobile app. Brokers are also employing artificial intelligence and machine learning to make machines increasingly think and strategize like humans. And then there is the all-powerful call to action. Here the customer is guided seamlessly through research, screening, and execution without really realizing that they are different parts of the trading system. Engage the customer continuously through financial planning: Broking is increasingly commoditized. That is more the case when you try to offer broking as a solution rather than as a service. For an investor, the solution is the creation of wealth in the long term. The solution could also be managing risk. The solution could also entail profiting from short-term trends. Most often brokers tend to confuse between the product and the solution. Focus on the solution in this industry. When you are in the financial services industry you always start with the financial goal in mind. Help the client identify long-term goals and then prepare a plan to reach these goals. As a broker you will find out how easily equity, mutual funds, and even bond sit prettily into this scheme of things. That is the best way to increase your customer engagement and improve your ROI per customer. It is just that in this case, the ROI flows naturally. Provide a delivery platform that simple, elegant and actionable: One of the critical success factors in the broking industry will be the variety and robustness of the delivery platform that you offer. If you offer more platforms like online, offline, mobile, call-n-trade, SMS trading, non-market trades etc, then your chances of engaging the customer meaningfully is much higher. Your delivery platform should also be seamless such that the movement between research ideas; advise, screening and execution should be smooth and with minimum clicks. That is when the clients can actually experience the value proposition. The key issue here is that the opportunity in the broking industry is still huge. It is just that the nature of the opportunity is changing. As a broker, you need to position yourself in the bracket that reflects your core strengths the best. The rest will follow! Read Also: How To Become A Sub-Broker? How Businesses Can Use Stock Trading

7 Tips To Get Started On Your First Virtual Meeting

1. Set An Agenda

2. Know Your Audience

3. Choose A Platform Wisely

4. Set Up A Test Run

5. Establish Ground Rules

6. Consider Logistics

7. Have A Backup Plan

Takeaway

7 Convenient Services Project Management Companies Offer Landlords

What Is Intrapreneurship? Definition, Meaning, Development, Challenges

Tags

Sumona

Sumona is a persona, having a colossal interest in writing blogs and other jones of calligraphies. In terms of her professional commitments, she carries out sharing sentient blogs by maintaining top-to-toe SEO aspects. Follow more of her contributions in SmartBusinessDaily

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Popular

Technologies For Creating A Startup Idea

How to Download Facebook Videos on Android?

7 Rules of Effective Ecommerce Web Design

The 10 WordPress Plugins Every Sucessful Blogger Uses

Follow Us

Recent

Is There Such Thing As A Functioning Alcoholic?

Top 11 Most Dangerous Jobs in the World In 2024!

Must-Have Fashion Items From The United States

How To Apply For A Mortgage Loan Without Making Common Errors

Related

7 Best Employee Recognition Awards Ideas For 2021

5 Strategic Ways To Automate Your Internal Business Workflows

Business potential of stock broking agencies in India

7 Tips To Get Started On Your First Virtual Meeting

1. Set An Agenda

2. Know Your Audience

3. Choose A Platform Wisely

4. Set Up A Test Run

5. Establish Ground Rules

6. Consider Logistics

7. Have A Backup Plan

Takeaway

Share this Article

7 Convenient Services Project Management Companies Offer Landlords

What Is Intrapreneurship? Definition, Meaning, Development, Challenges

Tags

Sumona is a persona, having a colossal interest in writing blogs and other jones of calligraphies. In terms of her professional commitments, she carries out sharing sentient blogs by maintaining top-to-toe SEO aspects. Follow more of her contributions in SmartBusinessDaily

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Popular

Follow Us

Recent

Related