As the world adjusts to the changes wrought by the pandemic of COVID-19, one thing remains apparent. The remote work movement that had already begun and was pushed into full swing with the coronavirus lockdowns is set to remain for the long haul. People who once had on-site jobs are finding that they can be just as efficient and productive, if not more, by working from home.

The snafu here comes with team meetings and management. When you’re a manager, it’s hard to corral all your employees once they’ve gotten the hang of working on their own. But mega corporations like Apple and Facebook are adjusting to digital employment, coming up with new processes to make their team meetings run smoothly, and embracing this virtual work concept, and so can you. These tips will move your team meetings from drudgery to productive, helping you better your management skills and bring your team together more cohesively.

Companies That Are Working Digitally

Whether the initial push for digital work was done because of government lockdowns or because the companies themselves saw the benefits before they were forced to, the fact is that a lot of massive corporations are now encouraging their employees to work remotely. It’s cost-effective, improves employee morale, and can be just as efficient. On top of those advantages, it’s also the safest way to avoid exposing an entire office or business to infectious diseases.

These companies are working digitally currently and have vocally expressed the goal of doing so in the future, as well:

●      Facebook, with over 50% of the team working remotely

●      Twitter, allowing some of its workforce to continue working from home as long as they’d like to, as in, “forever”

●      Shopify, whose owner states that office-centric work is obsolete and his company will continue to be digital by default

●      Slack, whose owner understands that to force employees to return to the office after they’d gotten used to working from home would be very difficult on morale

Once the advantages are maximized, it’s possible to do a lot of work from home, making a cost-effective, health-conscious, and morale-boosting decision for big and small businesses. By implementing some new processes for team meetings, the obstacles to remote work can be predicted, prevented, and overcome.

Expanding Digital Work in Business

The world today is interconnected in ways we take for granted. In the business arena, this means that companies are able to hire talent that might have otherwise been out of their reach. By expanding their recruitment criteria and allowing employees to work remotely, the new working practices bring many advantages to the company and its staff. Employees are more likely to be loyal to the business and engaged in their work if they are satisfied with the benefits they receive, and working from their home is one of the dream perks for almost every person, regardless of their job.

This employee satisfaction, even if it comes at a cost in some ways, inevitably helps the business in their overall bottom line. It’s a smart investment, provided it’s done correctly. With regular team meetings to keep everyone on the same page, your projects can be successfully completed, on time, and on budget.

Strategies to Improve Your Team Meetings Virtually

Employee morale and satisfaction is important, but so is progress and communication. These tips can help you effectively manage your remote team meetings with the least stress possible:

●      Get input on the scheduling. There are lots of scheduling apps available and your business probably already has one. If not, send out an email or message with a few options for the next meeting. Let everyone anonymously vote on their preferred time and then use the majority’s preferences to schedule a convenient meeting time. Chances are, you won’t make everyone happy, but it’s their job and you did the best you could to make the meeting work for most everyone.

●      Send out guidelines and expectations ahead of time. How do you want everyone to communicate? Is there a signal that needs to be expressed before someone speaks? Do you have the “no talking while someone else is” rule? If so, how does a person know they have gone on too long with their question, story, or answer?

●      Determine the agenda through collaboration with your team so you ensure you’re covering things they feel are important in addition to your own required topics. Put this all on one email agenda, including talking points, and send it out ahead of time so the team can be ready with any questions or concerns.

●      Don’t forget about building ice breaking and bonding opportunities. Even from a distance, the team needs to feel interconnected.

●      Assign each person a role that keeps them interacting and engaged in the meeting. This could be something as basic as taking notes or minutes.

Make sure to follow up with each team member who attended the meeting after it is over. Let them know you’re there if they need more clarity on anything that was discussed. With all of these strategies from start to finish and beyond, your meeting will be successful, as much as possible.