In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are moving to remote work. There are many factors that go in to creating an effective remote workforce, but one of the biggest factors is communication. Employers and managers need to set up team meetings to keep those lines of communication open and ensure that work is being completed. Here are some tips for creating and leading an effective remote team meeting:

• Have an agenda – People need to know why they are attending the meeting and what to expect.
• Anticipate meetings at least two hours in advance – Employees are working from home where the environment is different from that of the office. People need time to prepare, and communication about meeting times is important. Be respectful of parents with screaming kids, naptime or any other potential conflict. Try to find a common time that works for everyone.
• Facilitate more video meetings – Face-to-face meetings help people stay focused and keep people from talking over each other.
• Relax the dress code – People are working from home. Don’t expect them to show up on a video call in a suit, it’s probably not going to happen. Set the tone so that employees understand they still have to dress appropriately, but T-shirts and hoodies are probably going to be prevalent, especially among the parental population where chasing kids is slightly more difficult in a suit than sweats!
• Have a meeting facilitator – Having a designated person to run the meeting will keep things on task according to the agenda, as well as help with people talking over each other. If your software has a hand-raising function or something similar, utilize that so people know when others have something to contribute.
• Try to have a good microphone, equipment – Where it is possible, ensure the use of good equipment to lessen technical problems, like an inability to hear people.
• Before saying anything, make sure people can hear you – Asking if you can be heard prior to contributing and important idea will ensure that everyone hears everything you are saying. If people can’t hear you, or can’t hear you well, figuring out the problem early in the meeting will make everything run smoothly going forward.
• Take notes – Have a designated note-taker, someone who can record minutes and send them to all attendees when the meeting is over. This step will make sure that important information is not lost in translation. Automated transcription services are out there, but someone will still need to edit those due to a machine’s inability to understand all intonation.
• Make sure everyone is in attendance – You have a list of people who are supposed to be attending the meeting, so take a quick role call to make sure everyone is present before getting started.
• Leave space between meetings – Remember that people need to eat and use the bathroom. Give 20-30 minutes between meetings when possible.
• Minimize the number of meetings – Work still has to be completed, so make sure there is time in between meetings to get that done.
• Get used to screen sharing – Pick someone to drive. There are great tools out there like white boards that live update. You can illustrate a point, share images and reports, and coordinate things with screen sharing.
• Be patient – There are going to be problems. Tech issues, batteries dying, calls dropping, screens freezing, regular meeting interruptions like throat clearing and people getting calls. Be patient. Understand that these things happen and you can still find a way to complete the task at hand.
• Be kind to your co-workers – The person who is having the tech issue or problem is more stressed than you are. Create a culture of understanding.
• In the case of a delay, count to 5 – If it seems like people are continuing to talk over each other, run a test. The facilitator can give a counting order to attendees, the facilitator will start by saying, “One,” and the next person will say the same and so on. This will help determine if there is a delay. If there is a big delay or it doesn’t clear up, then you can discontinue the meeting and re-start it to see if the issue resolves.
• Household coordination, quiet spaces, etc. – With many households having more than one person working from home, it’s important to coordinate meeting times where possible, especially for parents with children at home. Try to schedule meetings at different times, set up a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed that’s away from distractions. 

Working remotely is a very real possibility for a lot of people in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Schools are closing, sports leagues are canceling events, people are isolating themselves in order to slow the spread of the virus. If you utilize these tips when organizing your remote meetings, your business is more likely to continue running smoothly.