🎒 Microlesson

🪞 Reflect

In your team’s virtual meetings, how quickly do you just get down to business?

💡 Concept

When meeting virtually, it’s tempting to dive right into the first action item on the agenda. Everyone’s busy, plus small talk on Zoom can be awkward.

But making all meetings 100% transactional is a missed opportunity: taking the time to develop meaningful connections with colleagues builds trust and leads to greater satisfaction and well-being.

As shown in the Placeless Taxonomy, connecting is the most challenging objective to accomplish asynchronously. That means that at least some of the synchronous time you do schedule with your distributed team should be reserved for connecting with one another.

Here are some ways to cultivate connections during your remote or hybrid team meetings:

• Convert information-sharing and other lower-order tasks to async processes, saving time for connecting with colleagues.

• Encourage small talk before the meeting starts—consider posting a prompt in the meeting chat or virtual whiteboard to get conversation going.

• Reserve time at the beginning of a meeting for an ice breaker.

• Incorporate virtual team-building exercises that encourage collaboration, problem-solving, and healthy competition.

• Encourage digital lingering, that time after a meeting ends when people might stay to chat or ask additional questions.

🎬 Take Action

Here are some actions you can take immediately to build time for connections into your virtual meetings:

• Check agendas for your meetings and add in opportunities for connecting.

• Join a meeting early and engage in small talk with your colleagues.

• Encourage team members to linger after a meeting is over to ask questions or chat.

• Schedule an informal coffee chat with a co-worker you don’t normally work with.

✅ Check In

🧠 Keep Learning

Learn more about how to lead effective meetings in the Leadplaceless virtual leadership program.

🎁 Learn with your team!

Refer our weekly microlessons to your team members to learn as a group! Just follow the instructions in the section below to get started.