Virtual Offsites That Work

We need to know how to hold an event, meeting, seminar virtually, just as we do every other vital work process. The foundation of an effective virtual offsite remains the same as basic meeting management - clear objectives, weel managed agenda, concise summaries, well-chosen set of attendees, documented decisions. 

But virtual offsites were an exception till a few weeks ago. Hence many executives who are convening and conducting meetings are now uncertain of its direction and outcome. Let us look at some processes, practices that can make this effective.

Preparations for virtual offsite 

How you prepare for the virtual offsite determines to a large extent how successful it would be.

• Provide attendees with all tools they need: Set up the required software required to participate. Have detailed documentation and/or pre-meeting briefing to instruct everyone on how to install the required tools.
• Make sure everyone knows how to use technology: Provide opportunities to practice using the tools and features to be used when offsite. 
• Design the offsite's flow and conduct a dry run: Start with what you want to achieve, sketch out the exercise without technology and then consider what's possible with technology. Keep the activities simple so that everyone can follow. Organizers and facilitators must practice every module or section of the meeting to envision how it pans out. It may be difficult in a virtual meeting to change give the technological challenges/ limitations and so have a plan B and plan C
• Assign clear roles: Individuals running the meeting should be clear on their roles. Who will facilitate conversation, who will handle the technology, who should the attendees call for technical support etc.,
• When in doubt, limit the number of attendees: Do not invite too many attendees. In a virtual setting with no physical constraints, it is easy to send a link and expand the list and it may become unmanageable. Use scope and objectives as a guide to determine who should attend.

Conducting your offsite 

Virtual meetings may prove more challenging and require the full attention of everyone and active participation. Consider the following

• Display welcome screen when joining a meeting: Welcome attendees with specific instructions/reminders to ensure they are set up for the meeting. 
• Make it interactive from the start: Have an icebreaker/activity n the beginning to make attendees comfortable with each other and the virtual setting. 
• Set clear ground rules: FOr any meeting you need ground rules or a clear understanding of what is expected from the attendees. Besides the standard rules that apply for an in-person meeting certain rules unique to virtual meetings include - use raise hand tool instead of interrupting, stay on video throughout, mute when not talking, etc.,
• Take more frequent breaks: It is recommended that you give a 15 minutes break for every 90 minutes of the meeting to help attendees attend to their work, get away from monitor glare and in short to reset themselves and come back refreshed. 
• Minimize presentation, maximize discussion: Long presentations can destroy meetings momentum. Background information should be well edited and shared before the meeting. Use screen sharing to show the material for the attendees to follow along and focus on discussions rather than presenting. 
• Use technology to maximize participation: gathering input during meetings are difficult as visual clues are difficult to understand. There are various tools given in the meeting software that should be used appropriately to engage the attendees and gauge the pulse of the meeting. A few techniques discussed here
• Breakouts - Putting the attendees in smaller groups helps break the monotony and make it more interesting. Have a facilitator to give support and manage the groups. They require careful planning and can be as useful in a virtual meeting as a real one.
• Voting -  Poll people early and often. Polls allow the attendees to vote anonymously in real-time. Instead of asking a simple yes-no question, ask participants to rank on a scale that would get a response closer to their opinion.
• Stamping -  Asking attendees to stamp an online screen is a powerful way to ask attendees to provide feedback, indicate preferences, and also put up where they have questions.
• Chat -  All virtual meeting software have a chat facility where the attendees can post their opinion, their queries directly to the presenter, or the entire group. 
• Gather feedback: Solicit feedback from the attendees while the experience is still fresh in their minds - what they liked, what could be improved etc.,

It is impossible to replicate an in-person meeting but with the right preparation and the use of the right tools at the appropriate time, an offsite virtual meeting can be made equally engaging if not better.

Virtual Offsites That Work

by Bob Frisch, Cary Greene and Dan Prager HBR March 25, 2have a 020