The world has changed considerably since March 2020. Technology now means it’s easier than ever to work efficiently with people who aren’t even in the same country as you. With offices becoming a place where physical distance becomes a challenge, more and more people are working remotely. And with just a laptop and an internet connection, you can work easily with clients and colleagues around the world thanks to virtual meeting software.
What is a Virtual Meeting?
A virtual meeting has much the same function as a physical meeting. It’s a place where people can gather to discuss ideas, thoughts, the best ways of completing a project and meet new clients. It’s an important part of the corporate world no matter what industry you work in, but with people working more remotely, a virtual meeting happens entirely on your laptop or mobile device.
A virtual meeting is a group video call that connects multiple people into the same digital space and gives everyone access to the video camera and microphone connected to their devices. Virtual meeting software also includes features for sharing screens, raising hands to ask questions, and other ways to replicate the in-person meeting environment without having to physically be in the same room.
Virtual Meetings Best Practices
But with so many people connecting to their video cameras and talking at the same time, virtual meetings can be difficult to run. Because it’s so easy to connect with someone across the world at the click of a button, meetings can become frequent and inefficient, leaving you exhausted at the end of the day. There are some good practices to consider when running virtual meetings to make the most out of them.
Have an Agenda
Make it clear what it is you will be discussing and include rough timelines for each topic. Send the agenda out to all participants before the meeting so they can review it and go into the meeting knowing exactly how it will play out. This will make your meetings more efficient and discourage people from going off on tangents.
Start and End on Time
Establish a clear start and end time, and stick to them. An agenda will help a lot with this. Keep people on track and don’t be afraid to move things along if meetings are dragging.
Mute Yourself
With so many microphones picking up a wide range of noises, mute yourself when you’re not speaking. This prevents unwanted noise from getting into the meeting, like sirens outside your window or other people in the household making noise. It also prevents feedback and makes sure that everyone can focus only on the person that is speaking at that time. There’s nothing more distracting than trying to listen to someone and for someone else to be making a lot of noise trying to untangle their headphones. Just remember to unmute yourself when it’s your turn to speak!
Virtual meeting software
So what kinds of virtual meeting software can you use? There are plenty of options out there, from Zoom and Microsoft Teams to Google Meet and BlueJeans. BlueJeans is designed with businesses in mind, by including all the features you would need for the workplace. It is secure and stable, ensuring only the people present will be able to hear what is said. It includes the function to record meetings, giving you the option to create online seminars for others to review later, or simply re-watch the meeting to double-check things instead of making notes.
Virtual meeting room
Creating a virtual meeting room is a straightforward process in BlueJeans. Download the app to your desktop or laptop, and follow the instructions to start a new meeting. Set the start time, end time, add a description with an agenda, and invite the participants via email.
These participants will receive a notification to join the meeting at a specific time and can log in to the secure platform via the app or by the browser if they don’t have the app.
As well as virtual meetings with smaller teams, BlueJeans also gives users the opportunity to create conferences and events for many more people. Broadcast webinars, training educasts, and all-employee meetings to up to 50,000 people. With polling and Q&A features, the large-scale events through BlueJeans can be interactive and fully immersive, allowing you to completely engage your audiences.
Check out our BlueJeans Meetings page or Try BlueJeans Meetings free.
About the Author
Priyanka is a customer centric and data driven Product Marketing Manager with a diverse experience. At BlueJeans, she is responsible for driving marketing strategy for the BlueJeans Meetings platform focused on go-to-market activities and product messaging. Prior to BlueJeans, Priyanka was responsible for driving strategy and direction for multiple product families at Fujitsu, intimately involved in creating optimal GTM strategy to achieve business goals. Priyanka has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University and an MBA in Marketing & Business Analytics from SMU in Dallas, Texas. Outside of work, Priyanka loves spending time with her family and traveling the world.
