Building virtual teams is a difficult task, and one that most of us are involved in. Endless skype meetings or telcons are thick on your agenda – and they often bring very little.
Here is a few rules you can apply, to help make them better:
- Keep them short – anything more than 30 minutes looses momentum and attention
- Purpose – define the purpose of the meeting and stick with it
- No cruising! If you participate on a telcon with your team, you are obliged to listen actively – even if you have nothing to ad
- Discipline and structure – fancy that – make a short and logical agenda. As the leader your job is to inject flow into the meeting so you accomplish full agenda
- Better to have many short telcons than 1 every month with a huge agenda
- Remember to meet face to face sometimes – preferably every 6 months at least to build the social “glue” that keeps you engaged during the virtual meetings
- Reiterate the outcome at the end of the telcon and share a really short decision summary with participants
- Put aside other work when you participate in a telcon – even if you are alone in your office!
Good luck!
Finn