With the intensification of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the home office is no longer an alternative and has become the solution for several companies and Educational Institutions to keep working.
If your employees, and you, are also working from home, you will inevitably need to have an online meeting. When that happens, how should it be done and what needs to be considered?
Nos últimos anos, mesmo com o fim do isolamento social, o modelo de trabalho remoto se consolidou em muitas empresas e instituições de ensino. Atualmente, reuniões online fazem parte da rotina e contribuem para integração de equipes distribuídas, independentemente do contexto pandêmico.
To help you answer these questions and create an excellent meeting for this work model, we've separated 12 tips. Check out!
1. Keep in touch with your team by chat
More important than starting a good meeting is keeping in constant contact with your team. Choose an online chat tool and always be available to chat with your team.
Questions may arise and answering them is the first step to ensuring that nothing goes wrong during this period.
A great tool for this job is Slack. It leaves communication centralized, it is possible to create groups for each topic that you are working on, it allows you to make integrations and has numerous plugins (gifs in chat, integration with Trello, files from Google Drive and Dropbox, Soundcloud audios, among many other functions).
Slack has native integration with Google Meet, Zoom, and its own quick call features (Huddles), allowing you to start video conferences without leaving the chat and facilitating the dynamics of remote work.
2. Have a shared and well-organized schedule
When working remotely, you need to have one idea in mind: organization. The more transparent and organized the routine of your Educational Institutions and your collaborators is, the better your virtual meetings will be.
Thus, having a virtual agenda shared with all people is fundamental. Employees need access to schedules to plan to be present on scheduled days and times.
3. Avoid rescheduling or changing the time of online meetings
As distance is, whether you like it or not, a hindrance to the exchange of information, meetings must strictly follow the time they were planned to take place. Postponing, anticipating or canceling an online date can be a problem.
Despite this, we know that unforeseen events happen and that at one time or another it will be necessary to change the agenda. Therefore, we suggest that you use Google's calendar to make appointments, as when someone changes the time, the person can send an email notifying everyone involved of this change.
Even with this feature, it is important to be careful to always reschedule as far in advance as possible. Did you just find out that the meeting needs to be postponed or anticipated? Then go to the calendar and make the change. The sooner the change is made, the fewer problems there will be.
Image: Productive online meetings: how to ensure efficiency, engagement, and collaboration in remote environments.
4. Choose a good platform to make your meeting room
Today, there are excellent videoconferencing services available for your company. Some alternatives include:
When choosing a platform, consider criteria such as ease of use, integration with other team tools, and security features like end-to-end encryption and two-factor authentication.
5. Create an agenda and leave it attached at meeting time, along with connection information
In addition to leaving the meeting scheduled, also define the topics that will be discussed at the meeting and leave them listed in the agenda. This allows your collaborators to prepare for the discussion and reduces the clutter of having to “search” for some information that should already be there.
Another positive point of the agendas is that you can stick to the subject of the meeting, preventing other subjects from interfering with the progress of the discussion. And as everyone is aware of which agenda is being debated, this control becomes easier.
In addition to that, also leave a tutorial on how people should connect in the meeting. Will it be through a link? What time does the person need to click, how does he enter the meeting room, how does he enable his own microphone? Make it all clear.
To complete, leave a list of the meeting participants and avoid inviting people who are not part of the topic discussed — the fewer people, the more organized the meeting will be.
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6. Make your “home office” a quiet place
Be careful where you will have your meeting. Look for a quiet place, preferably without external noise. In addition to children at home or pets, see if any neighbors are playing loud music, doing some construction job, or any other sounds that could be picked up by your microphone.
Keep in mind that you are the example that will be followed, from now on, when it comes to remote work for your team.
7. Arrive at the meeting room five minutes early and greet people
Punctuality is also crucial. It's easy for people to get scattered when they're in a virtual room and have nothing to do. Therefore, arrive five minutes early and start receiving each employee.
8. Introduce everyone in the room and avoid waste time
Before starting the actual meeting, introduce everyone in the room if they don't know each other. This avoids that introduction that each one would make of himself (which ends up consuming a lot of time).
9. Lead the meeting and act as a mediator
Have you finished presenting what you needed and it's time to listen to your team? Don't be silent! Act as a mediator, get the word out to people and guide the meeting to avoid problems.
In virtual conversations, there is a scenario that happens quite often: everyone is silent, giving up their turn to talk to their colleagues. After a few seconds of silence, everyone speaks at the same time, and it is impossible to understand anything. And this cycle keeps repeating.
As a mediator, you can avoid this situation.
10. Focus on real-time conversation and use video calling if possible
The most important thing about remote meetings is the real-time conversation. However, if the number of participants in the room is not very large, it is possible to do the meeting by videoconference.
This strategy is interesting because people are more attentive and less distracted when they know someone is looking at them.
11. Have a containment action prepared
If someone's internet goes down during a meeting (which can happen, especially with remote teams in different regions), what should you do?
You need to have a contingency plan. One strategy that can be used is the phone call. In addition to keeping your team in the online conversation, put the employee who was disconnected to listen to the meeting in a phone call and repeat the things he says to the others in the meeting.
12. Use the screen sharing feature to facilitate information exchange
During virtual meetings, you may want to explain some graphics or show some information. Instead of sending this data by email and asking people to open it during the meeting (and keep talking, look at the value X in the upper left corner, for example), use screen sharing.
Show people your computer screen and use a note-taking program, like Epic Pen, to make notes and notes.
Many video conferencing platforms now offer collaborative whiteboard capabilities, allowing you to draw, write, and highlight important points in real time without the need to install external applications.
In addition to all these measures, it is also interesting that you ask your team for feedback and see if they have any suggestions to improve the progress of the meetings. As this is a new format for many people, adjustments need to be made.
To maximize meeting progress, consider creating structured feedback routines. Tools like Google Forms or Microsoft Forms allow you to quickly capture feedback at the end of each meeting, helping you identify areas for improvement objectively and anonymously. This practice strengthens remote team engagement and collaboration.
Summary: Online meetings have become an essential part of the hybrid model. To ensure efficiency, maintain constant contact via chat, use a shared calendar, define clear agendas, and choose the right platforms. Punctuality, active mediation, a quiet environment, and features like video, screen sharing, and structured feedback make all the difference in engagement and results.
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How to run effective online meetings
How to keep the team connected in a remote environment?
Use chat tools like Slack to ensure constant communication. This helps solve questions in real time and keeps the workflow organized even remotely.
Why use a shared calendar for remote meetings?
It helps everyone stay organized, avoid scheduling conflicts, and ensures all participants are aligned on the meeting topics and timing.
Why is it important to stick to the scheduled meeting time?
Last-minute changes disrupt team planning. Keep the agreed time and notify any rescheduling as early as possible.
Which platforms are best for online meetings?
Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack Huddles, and Skype are reliable and secure for video calls and team integration.
Why is it crucial to create an agenda for the meeting?
It guides the discussion, keeps the focus on important points, and allows participants to prepare ahead of time.
How to choose the best location to join the meeting?
Quiet, organized spaces minimize distractions and ensure clear audio and video communication.
What’s the benefit of joining the virtual room early?
Arriving five minutes in advance lets you welcome participants and prevents delays in starting the meeting.
How to avoid wasting time on introductions?
Quickly introduce everyone at the beginning so the meeting can start without lengthy personal introductions.
How to act as a meeting mediator?
Guide the conversation, encourage participation, and manage the flow to avoid awkward silences or overlapping speech.
Is video really necessary during online meetings?
Yes, especially with small groups. Seeing each other increases focus and strengthens participant engagement.
What if someone loses their internet connection?
Have a backup plan — like calling them by phone — so they can still follow the conversation without missing important content.
Why use screen sharing?
It helps illustrate data and visuals clearly. Tools like whiteboards also allow collaborative, real-time interaction during the meeting.
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