52 WEEKS: WEEK 28 - 6 Factors #5 - Meetings/Team Practices

Focus Question: What are the shared team practices – meetings, huddles, social events – which keep the team connected and in conversation?

Description 
Meetings and team practices are a key part of “keeping the conversation going”. This is crucial for remote teams who may quickly find that their focus and understanding of each other without regular touchpoints started to morph outwards, away from your common purpose.

Team Practices might include:

• Team Huddles

• Formal Team Meetings
• Project Status Updates
• Social Time Every Week/Bi-Weekly (Yes, virtually.)
• A Quarterly Retreat (virtual)

What do team practices look like for you?

One of the recent challenges posed by everyone shifting to stay in place and quarantine has been the shift of poor meeting etiquette into the remote space.

A reminder of these 8 Essential Meeting Questions:
Taking some time to pre-plan your virtual meetings can go a long way. It can be useful to frame out your conversations with these essential meetings questions. Consider using these 8 essential virtual meeting questions I share in Effective Virtual Conversations:
1. What’s the purpose?
2. What takeaways do we want?
3. Who needs to be on the call?
4. What preparation is needed for us to be most effective in the meeting?
5. What pace to do we want in order to keep it engaging?
6. What will help keep the focus?
7. What’s absolutely essential? (Versus what will be nice to cover or where can people go for more information around topics?)
8. What follow up might be required?
(Excerpt: Effective Virtual Conversations, Britton, page 304, 2017)

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Activity
Take stock of the team practices you use. What’s important to note?
 
For more on this topic check out Chapter 9 of Effective Virtual Conversations on Meetings in the Virtual Space.

Wishing you the best,
Jennifer​

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Jennifer Britton
Co-host of the Remote Pathways Podcast
Potentials Realized – Coaching, Training and Consulting Services for remote teams, leaders and professionals 
 
Check out the most recent Remote Pathways Podcast Episode, where we explore the people, places and processes of exceptional remote work. You can listen to the latest episode here, or on your favorite podcast player.