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April 21, 2009

What’s wrong with web meetings

“Please join this web meeting,” the invitation reads, and, at the appointed date and time, I do. But I’m disappointed when the facilitator runs the meeting as a glorified conference call, showing PowerPoint slides but providing no opportunity to participate.

And that, in a nutshell, is what’s wrong with web meetings. Although service provides (like Microsoft, WebEx, Citrix and Adobe) all offer nifty features, most users are unaware of all but the most basic web tools.

The result is a one-way experience that’s more even boring than the most static face-to-face meetings. It’s no wonder people zone out or multi-task.

What should you do differently? Practically everything. Here are five ways to start:

Focus on the purpose of your meeting. Maybe you’re trying to facilitate understanding among participants, or get people to work together to solve a problem. In any case, be sure that your agenda is designed to achieve your objectives, and that you’re using the best web tools to support your agenda.

Become familiar with the features offered by your web service. Your company is paying a lot of money to subscribe to the service, so free on-demand or scheduled training is usually part of the contract. Sign up for the training—in an hour, you can find out what features are offered and how to use them.

Try one new feature. The easiest tool, which is available on most services, is “Chat.” It allows participants to write a question or a comment, which is then posted for all to see. I use “Chat” to encourage participants to ask a question at any time, without interrupting the presentation. But you can use “Chat” in many different ways, including as a message thread.

Take a test drive. At a small team meeting, experiment with running the session completely differently, using all the options available. Instead of presenting, try the “Sharing” feature to show participants a sample document or web site. Create a poll and allow participants to vote. Play with the whiteboard feature. Hand over the controls to another participant and let him or her play.

Trust the force. Web meetings can be a great way to communicate and get work done, if you give them a chance. So leave behind your assumptions and see what’s possible.

Posted by Alison Davis at April 21, 2009 01:05 PM