Your Guide to Host the Most Productive Virtual Meetings

By Jaci Bitner

As we all know, a meeting can go sideways very quickly.

The mute button has moved on Fred again, and we can all hear his three-year-old screaming in the background.

Renee keeps trying to say good morning, but all we can see is her mouthing the words “can anyone hear me”?  But the mute button just won’t unmute.

Karl is always eating on camera, no matter what time of day.

Becky’s wifi is “iffy” and no matter how many different places she moves to in the house while we all get motion sickness watching her traipse about, she still cannot locate the right signal.

Roger gets excited for his announcement and completely derails the meeting.  Yes, Roger, there is actually a placeholder for announcements at the END of the meeting which you would know about if you had only read the agenda I sent this morning.  However, I completely forgot to email the agenda to @All Teams and ended up just sending to my direct reports.  Three people are now the only ones who know why this meeting is happening.

What a headache!

The pandemic has changed how we interact, and virtual meetings are now a big part of all of our lives.  Thankfully, they don’t have to be a constant headache.  With a few tips and tricks, the whole team can feel the joy in their hearts that I feel after a productive virtual meeting.

Tools to Host Your Virtual meetings

Microsoft Teams

Pros: My personal favorite because it’s incredibly user-friendly.  I love the different options of viewing all the participants. There are also many backgrounds included to choose from as well.  Most importantly, Teams integrates all my tools in one space.  Simply put, life is easier with Teams.

Cons: I’ve found that sometimes the videos do lag a little and once in a while my status in Teams (available, busy, away, etc..) does not automatically flow from my Outlook calendar as desired. This seems to be getting better though! 

Zoom

Pros: User friendly and good quality on the camera.

Cons: Zoom isn’t as organized as Teams, especially when sharing files  It doesn’t feel very safe and secure after all the Zoom bomber incidents I’ve seen reported.

 Slack

Pros: Slack is simple to use in a way that makes it easy for everyone to use.  I also like how it pairs easily with the Google platform.

Cons: Slack is disorganized and is easy to lose track of conversations.  Conversations also get deleted after a period of time, so being able to search old threads is almost impossible.  Emojis are not easy to find and I love a good emoji.

Now that we’ve chosen a platform, productivity here we come!

Tips and tricks to keeping your virtual online meeting on track.

Use an agenda

This allows everyone on the team to know exactly what will be discussed and how we are moving through the meeting. You may have heard this somewhere: Time is money. Some of these meetings are VERY expensive depending on the participants. With an agenda, you can get right to the point instead of wasting valuable time and money on figuring out what the meeting is trying to accomplish.

When should you send an agenda? No less than 24 hours in advance! This gives people ample time to prepare for whatever the topic is at hand.  The agenda should include:

  1. A quick welcome including the Key Objective of the meeting
  2. Topics for Discussion
  3. Session Structure: This includes how and who will be running the meeting and logistics.
  4. Time for Questions/Comments/Concerns

kevin can wait focus GIF by CBS

Get comfortable with your tools

Practice before the meeting with a trusted colleague who is able to assist if you are feeling uncomfortable. Find the mute button. Learn to raise your hand.  Find out how to post a chat to someone directly (and not to the entire group).  I am personally a huge fan of Teams but it took me a little while to get used to when I was only familiar with Zoom and Slack prior to working at Managed Solution.  I took the time to use it and research it before I went to my important meeting.  I love that I can easily change the background whenever I am somewhere that may be distracting to the team.  Which leads into the next point…

Limit distractions

Yes, we all have to eat.

Yes, we all love your pets and want to know their names.

Yes, we want to know about the artwork hanging on your wall.

Yes, that child playing in the background is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

However, in order to have a productive meeting, we need to limit distractions.  All of them.  Eat before or after, not on camera during the meeting.  If you are going to eat, mute yourself and turn the camera off.  We know Fido may jump up and say hi, but if everyone focuses on your dog instead of the topic, we may never get back on track in order to end the meeting on time.  Fido is welcome before or after any business meeting but distracts us from getting to all the points of making our meeting productive.  This is not the time to multi-task.  Stay present in the meeting for optimal productivity. So, for you in the back, just in case you missed it, just one more time: Please turn off the camera if you are not fully engaged.

Use the mute button

Everyone, and I mean even the CEO (yes, you), needs to mute when they are not speaking.

mute big rich texas GIF by T. Kyle

Logistics

Don’t forget that your virtual team is now living all over the world!  Time zone synchronization is of utmost importance.  Also, if someone can’t attend, you can easily record the session. I tell the team beforehand while we are in our Microsoft Teams meeting that I am going to record.  If they don’t want to be on camera, this is the time to go off screen. From there, I hit the record button and send it to all those who could not be in attendance after we finish the meeting

Post meeting follow-ups

My favorite part of Microsoft Teams is how it pairs so perfectly with Outlook and One Note.  I create a Teams meeting via Outlook.  I send the invite with an agenda in the email.  I enjoy taking notes for the team and sending them out after the meeting. One Note is perfect for that! I just select Meeting Details and the participants list and agenda show up right in the notes. It's just so easy. After the meeting is over, I select Email Page and the participants are automatically in the addresses ready to go. It’s as easy as one click. At this point the joy is overflowing in my heart.

This has been a challenging year.  We are all in this together.  We can allow ourselves to enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

I find the greatest joy in virtual meetings that:

  1. Have a point
  2. Stay on task
  3. Don’t go overschedule
  4. Make me feel part of

It is my hope that by using these simple guidelines, you, too, will be able to find great joy in your hearts the same way I do after virtual meetings.

Interested in what Teams can do for your business?

Click here to learn more about our Teams migration services. Already on Teams? Contact us for an analysis of your Teams environment and see where you might be able to get more organized and improve your security posture!

Microsoft Teams vs Slack Comparison [Updated for 2020]

When it comes to office collaboration and communication tools, Microsoft Teams and Slack are the significant competitors that come to mind. Slack is best known around start-ups and digital agencies circles. It has been the first such collaboration tool of its kind, providing companies and organizations with chat and file-sharing capabilities.

With so many businesses now partially or fully remote, these tools are more important than ever, and even have benefits for teams in the same building. In this article, we'll compare the two and look at both similarities and differences so you can make a well-informed decision on what's best for your business.

What Do Microsoft Teams and Slack Have in Common?

Since both Slack and Teams are communication tools, there is some similar functionality between the two. The major commonalities include:

The Differences between Teams and Slack

Slack’s strength is that it was built for startups so it's easy to get started - plus it integrates with ~800 third party applications.  Microsoft Teams' strength is its built-in security features and strong integration with Office 365.

Truth be told, these two tools share a lot of the same features but the differences are in the details. Let's dive in and take a closer look.

Third-Party App Integrations

With over 800 third-party apps that it can integrate with, Slack beats Teams, which can integrate with over 200 apps. That said, Teams can integrate with all Office 365 apps (Skype, Outlook, etc.), making it the ultimate collaboration hub on top of its communication features. Teams is constantly adding new third party app integrations to try and keep up.  If you're an Office 365 user, Teams is definitely the way to go when it comes to integrations. If you use Google or otherwise, Slack might be better suited for you.

Sharing Files and Content

If your primary collaboration source is Google Drive, Slack allows you to create and share these kinds of documents easily while Teams operates on the Office 365 package. You can view, collaborate on, and edit files within Teams, without having to leave the platform, which is not possible in Slack. This is a game-changer when it comes to productivity. Teams users can access, share and edit files with just a few clicks and within one single application. It also allows for co-authoring documents and simultaneously working on a document with your colleagues in real-time.

Communication Options

Both tools are built for communication and therefore instant messaging, calls, meetings and video conferencing are built into both tools. However, with Slack you can only video conference with up to 15 users at a time. Within Teams, you can have up to 250 users in the most basic plan. So again, if you're a startup or small business, Slack will work, but if you have an organization with more than 15 people, then you should look at Teams. Both have features within their video conferencing to change the background, share screens, and more, but this does depend on the plan you have.

Security

Both tools provide users with security measures to encrypt files, data, and messages. They both offer two-factor authentication, channel controls, and data loss prevention, but Teams has the edge over Slack thanks to its integration with the Microsoft Admin Center and Slack only provides some of these features at the Enterprise plan level. Microsoft is known to bake security into every product and because of its integration with Office 365 the security policies spread across platforms making it extra secure. Additionally, Microsoft has Advanced Threat Protection, communication compliance, secure guest access, cloud app security, sensitivity labels and more. If you’re in a highly-regulated industry or are concerned about compliance and security (as all businesses should be), then Teams has the advantage here.

 

Deployment

Both systems are fairly easy to deploy, though due to some of its security and accessibility layers, Microsoft Teams takes a bit longer to add a new user. Depending on how sophisticated you want your Teams to be, it may require someone with technical skills to set up and deploy Teams, where as with Slack, you can get set up pretty quickly. However, once Teams is set up by your admin, it's quite user friendly and easy for new users to set up new Teams, channels, and start sharing files. If you're a startup or without a technical resource, then Slack is the way to go.

Pricing

Regarding cost-effectiveness, both platforms have a free version, making them available for small companies that don't need the extra features. The open Teams version offers more capabilities than Slack. Also, companies that have an Office 365, Teams is available in many different licensing SKUs or is an easy add-on. Slack's plans start at $6.67/user/month and Microsoft Teams starts at $5/user/month.

 

In Conclusion

In summary, both tools are great options for communication in the office. If you're a startup or small business that is simply looking for a communication tool, Slack should solve your needs.

However, if you're looking for something secure with more features (even in its free plan) that not only has many communication avenues, but acts as a collaboration hub for your business, then Teams is your answer.

new-to-or-exploring-teams