Agenda planning for web conferencing

It’s all about the doc!An agenda for smarter web conferencing

Teleconferencing is great.

Video conferencing is brilliant.

And web conferencing is AMAZING.

But it’s also DIFFERENT.Here are some rules for successful web conferencing.

Rule 1:

Think documents

Web conferencing lets people COLLABORATE as well as TALK.

Imagine people huddled around a DOCUMENT, not a table. With their pens out.

What rights do they have?

Who should approve them?

Who can add notes?

Make sure everyone knows what they’re allowed to do... in ADVANCE.

Rule 2:

Friendly format

Web conferencing lets you share many types of document.

Spreadsheets, text docs, slides.

Is your document right for the collaborative task?

Is everybody familiar with the layout you’re using?

Simple and clear trumps clever but complex EVERY TIME.

Rule 3:

Judge bandwidth

There are several levels of web conferencing.

Browser-based over the web works great for simple documents and presentations.

But complex technical collaborations may need more oomph.

And think about security, with private networks.

If it’s casual, stay simple. If it’s mission-critical, look beyond.

Rule 4:

Clear out confusion

Just as meetings can be hijacked by the loudest person in the room.

Web conferences can be dominated by the wrong people.

Have a goal and agenda points for your web collaboration, EVEN IF it’s just one document.

As you would in any meeting.

Rule 5:

Keep it interactive

Even non-contributing team members like to feel involved.

Use polls, questions, and choices to guide your web conference in a way that’s useful to everyone.

Rule 6:

Give feedback

To keep everyone at ease, recreate that feeling of being round a table.

Indicate who’s presenting, display lists of attendees, show links to resources.

They’ll feel less like an audience, more like a team.

Rule 7:

Keep notes

A good web conferencing session is its own Contact Report.

Circulate links to the presentation or session to everyone, with a brief summary of what happened and what was decided.

And thebig one...

Ignore the rules!

Web conferencing can combine voice, text, and visuals.

Which means it’s full of possibilities. Some even we haven’t thought of.

So if you find a way of using that works for you… keep doing it!

A great partner for making these choices is Arkadin.

TakeawaysRemember: it’s a document, not a roundtable

Have goals and an agenda, like any other meeting…...and remember to enable who does what!

Enjoy collaboration, enjoy sharingEnjoy simplicity