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Archive for the ‘Virtual Meetings’ Category

Sheltering at Home Successes – A Day in the Life

Posted in Association Management Companies, CM Services, Conference Calls, Leadership, Meetings, Shelter at home, Social Networking, Video Calls, Virtual Meetings, Volunteerism, Work from home on April 7, 2020| 2 Comments »

Many of us have been sheltering (working) at home for at least two weeks now.  It’s important that we all do our part to “flatten the curve” we’ve all heard about related to COVID-19.  It is a challenge for most people – to be “cooped up” in their homes.  Human beings are social, so only seeing and interacting with the same people day after day can become challenging – no matter how much you love them.

We’ve all heard the complaints about how difficult it is to work from home or how irritating a spouse is (try having three college aged children back at home with your wife and 12 year old starting to go through puberty if you want to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes). 

We’ve also heard the funny stories about people forgetting they didn’t put pants on during their Zoom call and standing up to reveal their boxers (or worse). 

I thought it would be good to share some thoughts about how to have a successful work from home day while under “shelter”.  DISCLAIMER:  These are things that work for me and may not work for everyone.  If you have other tips that are working for you – or just want to share a funny story, please feel free to add them.

Work from Home Tips:

  • Have a routine and stick with it
  • Have an area of the house that is your work area and do all your work there – just as if you were at your office
  • Don’t sit for more than one hour at a time – get up and walk around the house, stretch your legs, take a “brain break” (But make it short…you don’t need more than a few minutes)
  • Eat healthy food in small quantities several times per day
  • Even if dressed more casually than if you were at your office, dress completely
  • Make sure you spend some time for yourself (reading, exercising, thinking, listening to podcasts or music) at least four times daily.  HINT:  I choose to spread this time out throughout the day – reading when I wake up and just before bed, walking right after breakfast, exercising around Noon. 
  • Make sure you spend time each day doing something fun or relaxing together as a family.  (Play games, read, watch tv, take walks, etc…)  You are all stuck in the house together and it is easy to skip the “fun things together” part – DON’T!
  • Remember some-day this will all be over.  When it is, don’t just go back to the same old ways – keep some of the new habits you’ve created that are healthy, good and help you be more productive and happier.

MY TYPICAL DAY:

Wake up at 4 am and read the latest news about COVID-19.  If possible, go back to sleep until 5 am.

Wake up at 5 am.  Read more news about COVID-19.  Read news and other publications about government assistance programs for small businesses.  Scan the Wall Street Journal.  Read emails from overnight.  Read daily Bible story.  Feed the dog and make breakfast (two or three fried eggs, Ezekial bread toast and sausage).  Walk the dog. 

8:30 – 11:30 am.  Review daily plan.  Adjust as necessary based on readings and emails.  Video conference call meetings; approve various communications; work on projects.

11:30 am – 1:00 pm.  Workout, eat lunch, shower.

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm.  More video conference calls; work on projects and tasks assigned to today.  Eat at least two small, healthy snacks between 2 and 5 pm.

5:00 pm – Enter time for the day; Review plan for tomorrow; Empty email inbox.

6:00 pm – Shoot hoops in driveway with children; play ping pong with family; walk the dog; assist with dinner preparation; eat dinner and clean up

8:00 pm – Play games with family.  Dominos, Psych, Head’s Up, Talk about what we learned today (the college aged children especially like this)

9:30 pm – Read for pleasure and/or watch TV. 

10:30 pm – Lights Out 

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Virtual Meeting Etiquette (Best Practices for Conference and Video Calls)

Posted in Association Management Companies, CM Services, Conference Calls, Leadership, Meetings, Video Calls, Virtual Meetings, Volunteerism, tagged , , on March 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Associations, companies and other organizations have been using conference and video calling to meet and conduct business for many years.  Most of us are very experienced with the process and have developed methods to be productive and polite when holding these “virtual” meetings.

During the last few weeks the sheer number of virtual meetings and volume of participants has grown exponentially.  Because of this increased use it seems some calls may be less productive than they should be and many of us have forgotten our virtual meeting etiquette.  Check out these videos of what some of your calls may be like:

A conference call in real life:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYu_bGbZiiQ

A video call in real life:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMOOG7rWTPg

It seems a good time to share the best practices for virtual meetings. 

Here are some to consider.  If you have additional best practices you think are effective, please feel free to add them by replying to this blog posting. 

  • Login to your call at least 10 minutes ahead of time to make sure your technology is working and you have time for any new updates to run before the call.
  • If a video call, make sure to view what your video looks like before the call begins.  Are you framed properly?  Is the lighting good enough so people can see your face? 
  • When entering the meeting, don’t just start talking.  Wait for an opening and say your full name clearly.
  • When you aren’t talking, leave your phone/computer on mute.
  • If you’re the chair of the meeting, make sure to start the meeting on time.  Time is precious and people who planned ahead and prepared for the meeting shouldn’t be made to wait for latecomers. 
  • Have an agenda for every call.  The best practice should be to share that agenda in advance with all participants.  If that’s not possible, share your screen and/or review the entire agenda at the beginning of the call so all participants understand what’s to be addressed during the meeting.
  • Clearly state the purpose/goals of the meeting at the beginning.
  • When you would like to talk, don’t just jump in.  Wait for a pause, then say, “This is Rick” and wait for the meeting leader to acknowledge you.  If you’re using a video call, you can also use the Raise Hand feature and wait to be acknowledged by the meeting leader before you speak. 
  • Keep your remarks brief.  Don’t repeat what others have said.  You can say, “I agree with Beth.  Additionally, I think …”. 
  • If you’re doing other things while on the call, freeze your video frame or turn video off so you aren’t distracting the other meeting participants.
  • When the meeting is concluding, the leader should summarize the actions taken and any assignments made.  If another call is necessary, plans for scheduling that call should be made.

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