Leading Virtual Meetings for Real Results, 100-pack

Introduction

The Basics

• Understand the fundamental problem
• Adopt a strategy for dealing with the fundamental problem
• Understand how our past experience causes trouble
• Know how to observe and track optimistic expectations
• Make virtual meetings more predictable
• Understand General Morphological Analysis
• Know which factors characterize virtual meetings
• Know the roles of people attending the meeting
• Define a framework for applying GMA to managing virtual teams
• Decide which contexts are relevant for your organization
• Select a set of "spices" to define the flavor of your virtual meetings
• Understand the importance of knowing the mode of a meeting
• Understand the characteristics of the Arriving Mode
• Understand the characteristics of the Break Mode
• Understand the characteristics of the Announcing Mode
• Understand the characteristics of the Presenting Mode
• Understand the characteristics of the Questioning Mode
• Understand the characteristics of the Discussing Mode
• Understand the characteristics of the Deciding Mode
• Define the consensus-based decision processes
• Define the voting-related decision processes
• Define the authority-based decision processes
• Understand the characteristics of the Polling Mode
• Understand the characteristics of the Process Checking Mode
• Understand the characteristics of the Recess Mode
• Understand the characteristics of the Adjourning Mode
• Create a program, not just an agenda
• Notify attendees of changes in the meeting program
• Include in the meeting program links to attendee bios with photos, audio, video, and contact information
• Include in the meeting program links to Zip archives of relevant exhibits
• Include in the meeting program links to calendar files
• Include in the meeting program links to minutes of previous meetings
• Include in the meeting program a link to the virtual meeting room
• Include in the meeting program links to the virtual test meeting room
• Include in the meeting program Tech Support contact info: email, phone, text, …
• Include in the meeting program links to prep work
• Include in the meeting program links to electronic discussion media: chats, email lists, wikis
• Include in the meeting program the summary of behavioral norms
• Include in the meeting program links to definitions of modes
• Include in the meeting program links to the agenda and not-agenda
• Know what a performance issue is
• Understand why performance issues are so problematic for virtual meetings
• Know how to deal with performance issues
• Understand the nature of digressions

Infrastructure Risk

• Know what kinds of difficulties arise from Infrastructure risk
• Understand how communication software can create Infrastructure risk
• Understand how document software applications can create Infrastructure risk
• Understand how connection quality can create Infrastructure risk
• Know when Infrastructure risk is most likely to materialize
• Mitigating Infrastructure risk: Human Factors focus
• Mitigating Infrastructure risk: Technology focus
• Mitigating Infrastructure risk: Testing focus
• Mitigating Infrastructure risk: Policy and Process foci
• Mitigating Infrastructure risk: Contracts focus

User Equipment Risk

• Know what kinds of difficulties arise from User Equipment risk
• Know when User Equipment risk is most likely to materialize
• Mitigating User Equipment risk: Human Factors focus
• Favor symmetric meetings
• Know how to manage asymmetric meetings
• Deal with the technically challenged
• Mitigating User Equipment risk: Technology focus
• Avoid exploiting sophisticated technologies
• Avoid dependence on a particular product or release
• Beware required equipment policies
• Anticipate software localization issues
• Anticipate problems with passwords
• Use a fresh password every time
• Use trailing-edge technology when possible
• Use virtual flip charts for the agenda, parking lot, …
• Become familiar with low-tech last resorts
• Pay special attention to BYOD-permissive environments
• Mitigating User Equipment risk: Testing focus
• Mitigating User Equipment risk: Policy and Process foci
• Mitigating User Equipment risk: Contracts focus
• Beware required equipment policies

Schedule Risk

• Know what kinds of difficulties arise from Schedule risk
• Know when Schedule risk is most likely to materialize
• Regard Schedule difficulties as data
• Mitigating Schedule risk: Contracts focus
• Eliminate pro forma project managers
• Collapse layers of subs
• Require participation in retrospectives
• Specifically mention mid-course retrospectives
• Monitor lessons learned in other efforts
• Schedule difficulties might be only temporary
• Have a Scheduling risk mitigation plan
• Mitigating Schedule risk: Policy and Process foci
• Use Team Standard Time
• Rotate the inconvenience
• Be aware of standard time transitions
• Keep current on holidays
• Mitigating Schedule risk: Technology focus
• Mitigating Schedule risk: Testing focus

Behavior Risk

• Know what kinds of difficulties arise from Behavior risk
• Know when Behavior risk is most likely to materialize
• Mitigating Behavior risk: Contracts focus
• Mitigating Behavior risk: Human Factors focus
• Establish behavioral norms
• In serial meetings, allow for roster evolution
• As a meeting lead, decide in advance which behavioral norms you need
• Understand the risks of virtual retrospectives
• Train team members in participation skills for virtual retrospectives
• For virtual retrospectives, weave preparation into execution
• Choose the virtual retrospective facilitator carefully
• In virtual retrospectives, emphasize successes
• Know what to do when a bully attends the meeting
• Mitigating Behavior risk: Policy and Process foci
• Understand why delegating meeting administration tasks is so important
• Master the art of delegation
• Know which roles to delegate
• Understand why inattentiveness plagues virtual meetings
• Know the indicators of inattentiveness
• Know how to manage participants' attentiveness
• Delegate responsibility to enhance overall attentiveness
• Know the hidden techniques for enhancing attentiveness
• Know how to tell who's speaking right now
• Deal with technology-driven Behavior risk
• Tailor slides to manage participant attention
• Learn how to flash mute
• Test everything
• Gather experience data about behavior
• Tips for multi-lingual and multi-cultural contexts
• Designate a meeting language
• Know how to deal with documents in the multi-lingual context
• Verify mission-critical document translations
• Know how to name things in the multi-cultural context
• Know how to choose interpreters and translators
• Vet materials for cultural sensitivities

Remote Facilitation Risk

• Know what kinds of difficulties arise from Remote Facilitation risk
• Know when Remote Facilitation risk is most likely to materialize
• Understand why Remote Facilitation presents difficulties when Novelty is high
• Understand why Remote Facilitation presents difficulties when Emotion is high
• Understand why Remote Facilitation presents difficulties when Stakes are high
• Mitigating Remote Facilitation risk: Human Factors focus
• Create and maintain a shared understanding of Facilitation
• Conduct high Stakes meetings face-to-face
• Know how to recognize speakers in discussion mode
• If you maintain a speaker queue, make it visible
• Know how to deal with disorder
• Use policy to mitigate Remote Facilitation risk
• Design the facilitation process to mitigate Remote Facilitation risk
• Know how to brief the facilitator
• Know how to deal with virtual controversies
• Dealing with facilitator bias
• Avoid queue branching
• Know how to partition complex discussions
• Track incidents of Remote Facilitator bias
• Know what to do when you detect Remote Facilitator bias
• Know what to do when participants dislike the facilitator

Meeting Process risk

• Know what kinds of difficulties arise from Meeting Process risk
• Know when Meeting Process risk is most likely to materialize
• Resolve inter-organizational records retention policy conflicts
• For serial meetings, negotiate agreements about Infrastructure issues
• Understand and manage "break risk"
• Know how to manage runaway dialogs
• Mitigating Meeting Process risk: Process focus
• Know the art of agendas
• Have a not-agenda
• Create and maintain a parking lot
• Know what terms other cultures use for the parking lot
• Devise norms for pre-meeting behavior
• Devise norms for post-meeting behavior
• (Possibly) define an onboarding process
• (Possibly) define an offboarding process
• Mitigating Meeting Process risk: Testing focus

Presentation Risk

• Know what kinds of difficulties arise from Presentation risk
• Anticipate a reduced desire to present a polished presentation
• Expect problems with exhibits
• Understand what kinds of problems can appear when people ask questions
• Anticipate special problems with large audiences
• Understand what can happen in highly dynamic group environments
• Know when Presentation risk is most likely to materialize
• Be captivating
• Build your presentation around one big idea
• Keep it short and terse
• Get to the point — NOW
• Use videos to add interest
• Use a news-anchor structure
• Unless legalities are at issue, don't read or over-practice
• Stand, don't sit
• Present in three- to five-minute bites
• If you're using slides, use a remote mouse
• Use avatars
• If you're on video, get coached
• Change your approach to slide design
• Recognize that contributing is a form of presentation
• Mitigating Presentation risk: Human Factors focus
• Have defined periods for Q&A
• Know how to ask and answer questions
• Have a contributor protocol for speaking
• Consider offering (or getting) training for virtual presentation
• Define criteria for "taking it off line"
• Understand the effects of performance management processes
• As a supervisor of a virtual presenter, pay attention
• Mitigating Presentation risk: Technology focus
• Consider using Presenter View
• Back up all presentation materials redundantly
• Know how to tailor exhibits for virtual meetings
• Distribute exhibits in advance
• Use podcasts
• Present from a private space
• Use a high-quality mic
• Know how to test your presentation

Politics Risk

• What is politics?
• Know what kinds of difficulties arise from Politics risk
• Know when Politics risk is most likely to materialize
• Mitigating Politics risk: Contracts focus
• Mitigating Politics risk: Human Factors focus
• Workplace politics is not a game
• Know what to do when Power attends the meeting
• Know how to make durable deals
• Understand what factors degrade trust in the virtual environment
• Understand why toxic virtual conflict thrives in the virtual environment
• Know how to deal with toxic virtual conflict
• Know how to recognize and deal with "Plopping"
• Mitigating Politics risk: Policy focus
• Choose site names carefully
• Value the skill of technical diplomacy
• Value the skill of finding a third way
• Educate high-level decision makers about the true cost of travel
• Rotate geographical configurations
• Eliminate coercive management
• Minimize split assignments
• Limit changes in team composition
• Mitigating Politics risk: Process focus
• Make it easy for people to get to know each other
• Understand that silence is ambiguous
• Know what to do when Power attends the meeting secretly
• Mitigating Politics risk: Technology focus
• Know who is virtually present
• Know who has downloaded what and when
• Measure meeting performance
• Know how to measure the incidence of misunderstandings
• Track attendance
• Mitigating Politics risk: Testing focus

Epilog

Endnotes