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How to Run Meetings

Video First Meetings​

  • All meetings are with video
  • Focus on sound quality first and image second
  • One webcam and mic for one person only - no shared laptops with several people. See Issues with hybrid environment meetings.

Organization​

  • Check to see if the information being presented is substantial enough to run a meeting
  • Synchronous Meetings: Where people are present in a virtual platform
  • Asynchronous: Community pages, Emails, Text threads on Discord
  • Status updates should be done in an asynchronous format

No Hybrid Remote Meetings​

  • Hybrid meetings are when some of the team is physically together attending a meeting, and there are others virtually attending the same meeting

Issue with hybrid environment meetings​

  • Creates an uneven playing field to receive information
  • Those in the shared physical environment have more opportunity for discussion (before and after meeting), and typically talk over those who are in the remote environment
  • Cross / side talk
  • Bad sound: the mic is generally far away from the attendants
  • If 2 people share a laptop, one or both of them end up having an image where we don’t see their face 100%.

Roles in the Meeting​

  • The host of the meeting = the leader of the meeting. Share talking time, encourage people to participate, abd Drive team to go through agenda items. Ensure that team is on topic, and stop off-tangent or too detailed discussions. Produce deliverables.
  • Presenter
  • Scribe = Individual assigned to take notes or record the meeting session (e.g. Zoom recording)
  • Time Keeper = Ensures that the meeting is staying within time constraints For small meetings, this can be the same person.

Pre-Meeting Preparation​

  • Send a detailed agenda with the objective of the meeting and items to be discussed for objectives along with the meeting invitation
  • Send this information minimum three days before the meeting
  • Avoid hidden agendas
  • Define what needs to be accomplished
  • Set clear deliverables: Decision - Ideas/Brainstorming - Approval - Feedback

Time​

  • Set the meeting length to 20, 40 or 50 minutes. Finish before the hour or half hour to give people appropriate transition time for their next meeting
  • Start the meeting even if not all the participants are present
  • Stop the meeting on time, regardless if all of the topics are covered. Schedule a second meeting if necessary

During the Meeting​

  • Minimize amount of slides and minimize amount of information on the slides
  • When screen sharing, share and unshare to keep the attention of participants
  • Allow those who are not directly related to the topic to work on other materials during the presentation
  • If an unrelated topic arises that involves another stakeholder, table the discussion until they can be included

Managing TODOs​

For items that the participant is expected “To Do,” the leader should ask this individual to repeat what is expected, to ensure that the expectation is clear and understood by both parties

Attendees Expectations​

  • Mute their microphones during the presentation. Unmute to notify the presenter that they would like to ask a question, or comment
  • Avoid meeting and speaker interruptions. This is a general rule in life (except for the “appropriate” interruptions), but it is harder to understand people in a virtual environment since there is a lag time for voice and video transmission.
  • Mute phone ringtones during meetings