Great online working is good for business.
Zoom. It was kind of novel at first. We tried out those funny backgrounds and we have even done an office quiz. Now we have had time to get used to online meetings, we find out that they suffer from the same problems as every other meeting. Things like:
- Zoom meetings are just as exhausting as normal meetings, sometimes ever more so.
- Poorly managed meetings are just as poorly managed online as they are in a physical space.
- Zoom fatigue sets in, people feel excluded or incompetent with the technology.
- Encouraging people to talk about their children or feelings doesn’t work the same way it does in the physical office.
Meetings – too many, badly run, apparently pointless – can demotivate people, lead to poor engagement, frustration and they steal time. When some of your people are furloughed and the rest are trying to do several jobs, time becomes even more precious.
All the more reason to make your online meetings productive and enjoyable.
As online and remote is likely to be the new normal for many of us, we need all our people to work effectively in this environment. It means managers having the right skills, the confidence and tools to do their job. It also means teams feeling engaged, relaxed with the platforms and having a sense of purpose.
Here are some resources you can use now. They can be helpful in dealing with our current situation. Try them out:
Practical ideas on improving meetings. Tim Sims is one of our senior facilitators and delivers management skills training, globally, to private and public sector. He trains managers in how to run meetings which actually do what they need to do. In this short article he gives some practical tips to use. Running good meetings is an art and most of us can improve the way we run them.
HBR’s article on How to Combat Zoom fatigue gives useful practical tips you can implement now.
You can also use the handy bingo card created by @inagfatt. Use it as a gentle way of helping everyone to get a bit more out of their meeting. People score a point for every cliché.
For a very short TED talk, with just one simple way to improve every meeting you are asked to attend, try this.
10 practical tips for managing people more effectively. Managing people remotely is a genuine challenge for a lot of managers. This article reminds managers of the importance of getting the essentials right, whatever the situation.
If improving your managers’ skills and confidence and your teams’ productivity is something you need to address now, we can help. Get in touch to discuss your challenges. Let’s talk about what would make a difference to you and your staff. We’ve been delivering practical and engaging training – always experiential – since 2007. That’s why so many of our global clients not only partner with us, they stay with us for the long term.
Help for managers and leaders
If improving your manager and leadership populations’ Virtual Team Leadership, Virtual Performance Management and Meeting Management is something you need to address now, we can help. Get in touch. Let’s talk about what would make a difference to you and your staff. We’ve been delivering practical and engaging training – always experiential – since 2007. That’s why so many of our global clients not only partner with us, they stay with us for the long term.
Our expert, international facilitators create hands-on workshops, which enable managers to apply their learning immediately. Our workshops:
- Engage learners. They are interactive, experiential and practical.
- Deliver personal impact; by practising their skills in the workshop, delegates can apply them as soon as they return to work.
- Fit your organisation. Everything we do is designed in response to your challenges to achieve the change in behaviour you need.
- Draw on participants skills and take them up a level. All our learning is tailored to the unique needs of each group.
- Can be delivered on a range of platforms. CLS is technology agnostic and we use many different virtual tools to create virtual wow! experiences.
- Use pre and post workshop content, to set the scene and follow up on every workshop – maximising the value of the time we spend together online.
Get in touch. It's good to talk.
Try out our resources! I hope you will find them useful. Our expert trainers, facilitators and coaches work globally and virtually. When you need reliable, transformational, expert development for leaders, managers and teams, CLS is here to help you. To discuss your organisational needs, do get in touch.
Cecilia Westin Curry is sales lead for the UK, Ireland and Nordic countries. For an informal discussion on whether we are the right people to partner with you, do get in touch with her. Cecilia moves between Scotland, Sweden and Zoom.
