Have you ever led an online meeting or teleconference and had trouble getting input from participants? Does it feel like nobody is responding or participating? I’m going to guess that the problem isn’t whether you are asking for questions and feedback, it’s how you’re asking. Most of us honestly try to engage our audience and give them a chance to participate. We often ask, … [Read more...]
Treating Remote Workers Equally Doesn’t Mean Treating Them the Same
If you have a hybrid team—one where some of your folks work in a central location and some are teleworking or off-site—you have probably heard your share of whining that you’re treating one part of the team differently than the other. It might sound something like this: “The people who work from home, have it made. They don’t have to commute, can wear what they want, and don’t … [Read more...]
Hello, Is Anybody in There? 6 Ways to Elicit Feedback in Web Meetings
One of the most frustrating things about leading virtual meetings is not being able to answer a simple question: are they out there and just listening silently, or are they silent because they aren’t really paying attention? The problem is that they can sound the same to your ears. How do you know the difference? Here are just a few simple ideas to help you get the feedback … [Read more...]
What’s a Hybrid Team and Why Should I Care?
by Wayne Turmel When we think of remote or virtual teams, we think of groups where either everyone is scattered all over the place, or they are all co-located. Most of us, though, aren’t lucky enough to be all one or the other. Most of us have a team where you have some people working in the office full-time, and others working from home or another location (either … [Read more...]
How to Keep Your Remote Conference Call Audience Engaged
by Kevin Eikenberry Remember the movie, Alien? The marketing tag line was, "In space, no one can hear you scream." Well, the tagline for remote meetings might be, "On a conference call, no one can hear you check out." Yes, all the names might be there on the screen as being present, but are they all really there? Or are they playing games on their phones, doing other work, … [Read more...]