{"id":11569,"date":"2020-06-05T07:03:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T11:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/?p=11569"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:06:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:06:49","slug":"online-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Research consistently reports that the three biggest, challenges of leading online meetings are:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Technology challenges<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Distractions (keeping participants engaged)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Participant buy-in and hiding (video)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>In fact, running online meetings requires more skills than leading meetings in person. Groups are less impacted by your good looks and charm while getting lulled into some of the multi-tasking that occurs when they are checking in remotely.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Scheduling Online Meetings<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">While online meetings (including ceremonies, events, meetings, trainings, and workshops), work particularly well for reviewing progress and sharing information, online meetings are not optimal for all results and deliverables. Leading online meetings becomes especially challenging for kickoffs, largely attended phase gate reviews, when building consensus is critical, when the issues are argumentative or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/manage-group-conflict\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contentious<\/a>, or when the situation involves highly political decision-making.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_11586\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"dt-pswp-item\" href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Virtual-Meeting-Considerations2.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-dt-img-description=\"Virtual Meeting Considerations\"><img wpfc-lazyload-disable=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11586\" class=\"wp-image-11586 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Virtual-Meeting-Considerations2-e1591302004411.png\" alt=\"Facilitating Virtual Meetings\" width=\"500\" height=\"467\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11586\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Online Meeting Considerations<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<h4><strong>Online Meetings are Particularly Helpful When . . .<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Information and perspectives from a dispersed and diverse group of contributors remain critical<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Ongoing work teams must manage complex issues and topics<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Product development and process improvement demands daily updates<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Team members are not unable to meet in person<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">There is no alternative<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Online Meetings are\u00a0NOT Especially Helpful When . . .<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Challenging issues, arguments, or disagreements must be resolved<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">People are experiencing job assignment, information, organizational, or technology overload<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Relationship building may be as important as the information<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Talking face-to-face simply makes more sense<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The technology gets in the way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">When Leading<strong>\u00a0Online Meetings &#8212; All or None and NOT Hybrid<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">When some participants gather in person and others remain remote, challenges surmount. Remote participants frequently feel like \u201csecond-class\u201d citizens. The secret to creating equanimity is simple. If some people must \u201cdial in\u201d or \u201cZoom in\u201d, then make everyone zoom in. It is much easier and effective to conduct online meetings with a full complement of remote participants, than trying to facilitate a combination of in-person and remote participants. And don\u2019t forget, keep it small\u2014five to nine.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>1. <\/strong><strong>&#8220;Spit Happens&#8221; &#8212; <\/strong><strong>Technology Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">As the baby&#8217;s bib says &#8220;Spit happens&#8221;. Smart leaders ask participants to reboot their systems prior to logging in, including routers. Clean start-ups improve the chances for clean delivery. Even with stable systems, latency can cause up to a three-second delay between the time the first and final participants hear something. That&#8217;s huge. Even a millisecond can feel like an eternity to a facilitator.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Additional and collaborative meeting techniques and tools can speed idea generation and data analysis. They can also change <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/facilitation-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">group dynamics<\/a> by allowing people to connect better and more frequently (i.e., breakout sessions) and even contribute anonymously (i.e., polling). While technology features may give participants additional time to think, when used in a distributed setting, they may also enable people to contribute at separate times from separate places. Some additional value-add includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Anonymous contributions may remove political overtones.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Everyone can see other\u2019s contributions and build upon them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Participants may work on the same topic at once.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Technology can increase flexibility to adapt to schedules, time zones, and travel budgets.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Setup<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Optimally, the facilitator uses three screens: one for the gallery view or faces of the participants, one for static or transitory material such as legends or definitions for key terms, and one for the speaker view that includes dynamically changing materials, whether it&#8217;s an electronic whiteboard, the camera focused on an easel or some other shared screen platform.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><em><strong>Special Considerations<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>No hiding.<\/strong> Participants stay more fully engaged when they can observe and \u201cfeel\u201d <a href=\" https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/how-to-ensure-neutral-facilitation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">non-verbal clues<\/a> and intonations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Social factors. Trust and team-building needs increase and feeling connected with other people has become paramount with Covid-19.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Thirty to sixty percent of \u2018meaning\u2019 is communicated or expressed outside of the words that are used.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">With English as a second or third language\u2014do not assume that everyone is hearing or understanding the same meaning or intent.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><em>Expect online meetings to take much longer to accomplish the same amount of work conducted in person<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h5><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Invest heavily in scheduling and preparation:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Allow for extra time. Fifty minutes in online meetings may not accomplish as much as in person.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Communicate in local time, or explain how to calculate local time, when sending online meeting announcements.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Consider the impact of the volume of comments on time available when building the agenda. If everyone on a ten-person call provides input on a specific issue, and comments on average two minutes each, you can complete only two issues per hour (in addition to your introduction and wrap).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Get your tech together. Something will always go wrong, so have a back-up plan and use it. Consider building some \u201chand notices\u201d to provide visual updates when you have audio challenges. We\u2019ve grown accustomed to sending out four cards in advance to each participant, such as &#8220;I can&#8217;t hear you.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Inform participants about files or sites that should have open and available.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Provide a written meeting <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/virtual-meeting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">purpose, scope, objectives<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/planning-agenda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">simple agenda<\/a> with clear expectations about what participants (ie, subject-matter experts) need to do in order to properly prepare, even 50-minute calls. Written documents increase focus by keeping everyone \u201con the same page.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">For more extensive workshops, send participants\u2019 pre-read out two weeks in advance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>2. Human Connections &#8212; Distractions and Keeping Everyone Engaged<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Keeping people involved takes a concerted effort from start to finish. Get off to a good start by setting a wonderful example:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Log in first and early. For working groups that know each other well, launch one of our countdown timers and always start on time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Look directly at the camera when speaking. For all intents and purposes, the camera provides the eyes of each of your participants. If you&#8217;re not looking at the camera, then you&#8217;re not looking at them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Consider assigning people separate roles such as timekeepers or specialized note-takers for each of the:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Action Items: to be assigned later if not volunteered immediately<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Decisions: agreements, inflection points, and issues that are closed<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Guardian of Change: specific communications about WHO needs to be informed WHAT about some issue.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/meeting-parking-lot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Parking Lot<\/a>: open issues to be assigned or confirmed later<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Greet each person as they come online and assign a <strong>ROLL CALL<\/strong> sequence or virtual seating arrangement. Please <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/facilitative-leadership-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">smile<\/a> when using video presence. Today especially we need more frequent human connections and confidence in our leaders.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><strong>Virtual Seating Charts<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><em>Seating charts (also known as roll calls) are indispensable and will be used frequently during online meetings. When running online meetings, assign a virtual seat in the sequence to everyone as they join the meeting.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><em>Tell them where they are sitting at an imaginary U-shaped table so that they create a mental picture of the room and their orientation to the other participants. Use their seating to determine the roll call sequence for using at inflection points.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><em>Based on who is attending, setup your breakout rooms in advance. Vary them by issue as appropriate. Some topics need homogenous groups that think alike and others need to be stirred up with heterogenous groups<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">If or when you have a hybrid meeting or participants who may be visually impaired, please establish and enforce protocol demanding that speakers announce their name (could be a nickname) when taking a turn speaking. The ideal protocol is \u201cone name only\u201d as verbs and prepositions add no value.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Install\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/ground-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ground rules<\/a> and then enforce them. Add the ground rule<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong> &#8220;NO HIDING&#8221;<\/strong><\/span> so that your video participants are expected to stay live and not hide behind a still photograph. Be flexible of course and allow people moments of turning off the video, but as an ongoing rule, we should all agree that no hiding should be expected.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Regularly remind participants where you are in the agenda to visually impart progress.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Transition smoothly for each step in the agenda as you advance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><em>NOTE<\/em><em>: <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/icebreakers-meeting-sparks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Icebreakers<\/a> or &#8220;Where are you?&#8221; sharings remain particularly valuable in virtual meetings, even simple questions like \u201cfavorite ice cream\u201d strengthen connections between participants located remotely from each other.<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3><strong>Etiquette and Quality<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">While the following reflects common sense, your role leading online meetings mandates enforcing discipline and standards:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Be aware of the impact of accents. Have participants slow down their pace and tempo, perhaps project louder, and explode their consonants.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Carefully manage cadence and control pace. Slow down during transitions and speed up during the middle of your agenda steps.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Consider body-stretching exercises during longer sessions and take a ten-minute bio-break every 60 &#8211; 75 minutes for longer sessions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Decide how to reach each other if technical problems arise.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Do not permit multitasking. Remind people to \u201cBe Here Now\u201d to avoid keyboard sounds, barking dogs, and flushing toilets. Speak with violators <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">after<\/span> the session so that you do not embarrass them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">For video-presence sessions especially, beware of audio lag. Compression algorithms cause latency that varies up to three seconds. Be patient. Everyone does not hear everyone else at the same time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Have participants put their cell phones in silent mode. Also have participants turn off notifications and secondary noise sources (e.g., landlines).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Silence is OK. Letting people catch up or catch their breath is natural.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Video-presence Tips<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Set the camera at face height, or very slightly above.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Look directly into the camera (e.g., green light), not above or below, or to the side.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Lean forward at critical moments, cutting off your hairline.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Bring your hands forward slowly and in full view to stress key points.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Rely on hand-drawn artifacts more than PowerPoint slides<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Place an analog clock in your background to indicate progress.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Always use an agenda pointer to visually confirm progress.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use one social learning event per hour. Strive for a balance of 20-minute lectures, 20-minute interactions, 10-minute breakout sessions, and 10-minute breaks.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Other Differences Contrasted to Face-to-Face Sessions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use your intuition. Be firm but flexible.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Add a second or third camera to your arsenal to point at an easel pad or whiteboard.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Break up long stretches of any one speaker sooner to prevent scope creep.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">For decision-making points, with cautious precision, restate or repeat key issues as articulated.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Large floral prints, stripes, and bold patterns are not friendly during videoconferences. Plain-colored shirts and pants\/ skirts are optimal. Also, avoid wearing white and red (don&#8217;t ask me why).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Restrict quick movements that disrupt participants, especially with poor video transmission.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use breakout sessions frequently (where two or more go to a separate line or \u201croom\u201d with each other and then return to the large group to share their findings). Remember to appoint a CEO for each team for reporting back, and be more creative with Team Names than simply Team One, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use people&#8217;s names when appropriate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">When appropriate, go \u201ca round circle\u201d (round robin using your virtual seating arrangement) for inclusive participation. If participants understand where they are sitting, there should be no time lag. Everyone has permission to say &#8220;Pass&#8221; at any time.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_11598\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/facilitating-virtual-meetings\/shutterstock_1728343651\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11598\"><img wpfc-lazyload-disable=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11598\" class=\"wp-image-11598 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg\" alt=\"Facilitating Virtual Meetings\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg 500w, https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11598\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><center><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Are your participants checking in or checking out?<\/span><\/center><\/p><\/div>\n<h2><strong>3. Checking In, Checking Out &#8212; Participant Buy-in and Engagement<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The likelihood of engaging multiple cultures in online meetings increases. Therefore, to maintain clarity, closely monitor elements that contribute to <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/clear-communications\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rhetorical precision<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Grammar\u2014Remember to listen and stop processing content. Someone needs to be listening, and that role belongs to you. Use active listening to correct for imprecise word or grammar choices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Jargon\u2014Monitor carefully, such expressions as \u201cshotgun approach\u201d and \u201con the same wavelength.\u201d Avoid idioms that are not universal such as \u201cDon\u2019t make waves\u201d and thousands of other examples.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Local color\u2014from idioms to accents, people need to slow down their rate of speech, enunciate, and project louder.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Officialese\u2014your particular concern here ought to be acronyms or what many people call acronyms (technically, an acronym needs to spell an actual word). Even basic English abbreviations may not be understood by everyone, such as \u201cP &amp; L\u201d or \u201cAC\u201d (air-conditioning or alternating current?) Groups can never be too clear, so be certain to use active listening to provide a clear reflection of what is being stated.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Slang\u2014In Islamic and Buddhist cultures, a simple \u201cthank God\u201d may be considered blasphemous unless meant piously. Avoid even simple comments that lack precision such as \u201cgo for it\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Vocabulary\u2014After providing reflection, confirm that everyone understands what has been stated. If you sense that someone is holding back, consider a roll call approach (round robin) to have each person interpret how the most recent content affects them.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Facilitating Online Meetings: Special Emphasis<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Before bio-breaks, consider a quick <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/meeting-parking-lot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Plus\/ Delta<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(<em>aka<\/em> Retrospective) and ask for immediate feedback on improvements or necessary quick fixes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Enforce \u201c<em>Silence or Absence is Agreement<\/em>\u201d but solicit one-by-one audible responses for critical decisions and inflection points.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">If you don&#8217;t want to ask each person to respond to a general query \u2028(&#8220;Do you understand the new procedure?&#8221;), ask questions so that silence implies consent, and tell them to speak up if \u201cthey can\u2019t sleep at night\u201d with the outcome. If necessary, remind them that they have a fiduciary responsibility to speak up and you will protect them, not reach down their throat and pull it out of them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The larger the group, the more your meeting leadership skills need to keep select people from dominating online meetings. Remember, <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/scope-creep\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">scope creep<\/a> begins in meetings.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Preparing to Wrap<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Throughout, emphasize reflection and confirmation of content. Too frequently, virtual participants are distracted and do not capture or retain as much as they do when meeting in person. Summarize, summarize, summarize . . . a \u201cclear group\u201d may be an oxymoron.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Offer each participant an opportunity for final\/ closing comments. Consider \u201cPASS\u201d or \u201cJust Three Words\u201d for example. \u201cWhat three words describe your experience with today\u2019s meeting?\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/meeting-wrap-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Review<\/a> and confirm next steps, assignments, and deadlines.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Summarize the meeting and end by confirming the next scheduled session.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use the<em> MGR<span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">USH<\/span><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/meeting-wrap-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">review, wrap, and <em>Guardian of Change<\/em>.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use an evaluation form to improve subsequent sessions. A <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/meeting-parking-lot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Plus\/ Delta<\/em><\/a> can also be completed at the conclusion or use electronic polling devices. For longer projects or sessions, send out anecdotal forms.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Distribute notes within hours after the meeting and emphasize the follow-up steps and responsibilities in your email cover note.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Finally: Additional Training Always Helps<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">First, don&#8217;t expect to facilitate successfully online if you don&#8217;t have the training and skills to facilitate a meeting in person. If you&#8217;re not a trained meeting facilitator, now is the time to step up your game. Check out our calendar of professional ONLINE and on-site classes <a href=\"http:\/\/mgrush.com\/public-facilitation-training-calendar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HERE<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">That said&#8230; There are tips and techniques specific to connecting with your participants online. Fortunately, we attended Daniel Mezick&#8217;s class, <a href=\"http:\/\/newtechusa.net\/training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Connect and Communicate: How to Teach ONLINE<\/a> which will help you better connect with all your virtual participants, and yourself. Daniel is a special person and a superb instructor.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>______<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Don\u2019t ruin your career by hosting <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/bad-meetings\/\">bad meetings<\/a>. Sign up for a <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/public-facilitation-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">workshop<\/a> or send this to someone who should. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20260106090117\/https:\/\/mgrush.com\/\">MGR<span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">USH<\/span><\/a><\/em> workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities daily during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Go to the Facilitation <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/shop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Training Store\u00a0<\/a>to access proven, in-house resources, including fully annotated agendas, break timers, and templates. Finally, take a few seconds to buy us a cup of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.paypal.com\/webapps\/hermes?token=54P435142P273634K&amp;useraction=commit&amp;rm=2&amp;mfid=1572884404635_f496afd4222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>coffee<\/strong><\/a> and please SHARE with others.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><em>In conclusion, we<\/em>\u00a0<em>dare you to embrace the will, wisdom, and activities that amplify a facilitative leader. #facilitationtraining #MEETING DESIGN<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>______<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">With Bookmarks no longer a feature in WordPress, we need to append the following for your benefit and reference<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">20 Prioritization Techniques = <a href=\"https:\/\/foldingburritos.com\/product-prioritization-techniques\/\">https:\/\/foldingburritos.com\/product-prioritization-techniques\/<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Creativity Techniques = <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mycoted.com\/Category:Creativity_Techniques\">https:\/\/www.mycoted.com\/Category:Creativity_Techniques<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Facilitation Training Calendar = <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/public-facilitation-training-calendar\/\">https:\/\/mgrush.com\/public-facilitation-training-calendar\/<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Liberating Structures = <a href=\"http:\/\/www.liberatingstructures.com\/ls-menu\">http:\/\/www.liberatingstructures.com\/ls-menu<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Management Methods = <a href=\"https:\/\/www.valuebasedmanagement.net\/\">https:\/\/www.valuebasedmanagement.net<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Newseum = https:\/\/www.freedomforum.org\/todaysfrontpages\/<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">People Search = <a href=\"https:\/\/pudding.cool\/2019\/05\/people-map\/\">https:\/\/pudding.cool\/2019\/05\/people-map\/<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Project Gutenberg = http:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/wiki\/Main_Page<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Scrum Events Agendas = <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/scrum-facilitation\/\">https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/scrum-facilitation\/<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Speed test = <a href=\"https:\/\/www.speedtest.net\/result\/8715401342\">https:\/\/www.speedtest.net\/result\/8715401342<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Teleconference call = <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/DYu_bGbZiiQ\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/DYu_bGbZiiQ<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Size of Space = https:\/\/neal.fun\/size-of-space\/<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Thiagi\/ 400 ready-to-use training games = <a href=\"http:\/\/thiagi.net\/archive\/www\/games.html\">http:\/\/thiagi.net\/archive\/www\/games.html<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Visualization methods = <a href=\"http:\/\/www.visual-literacy.org\/periodic_table\/periodic_table.html\">http:\/\/www.visual-literacy.org\/periodic_table\/periodic_table.html#<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Walking Gorilla = <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/vJG698U2Mvo\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/vJG698U2Mvo<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research consistently reports that the three biggest, challenges of leading online meetings are: Technology challenges Distractions (keeping participants engaged) Participant buy-in and hiding (video) In fact, running online meetings requires more skills than leading meetings in person. Groups are less impacted by your good looks and charm while getting lulled into some of the multi-tasking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[453185952,453185951,13289,11161,453185955],"tags":[453192501,453191996,453192500,453192112,453190720],"class_list":["post-11569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facilitation-skills","category-leadership-skills","category-meeting-agendas","category-meeting-structure","category-meeting-tools","tag-daniel-mezick","tag-facilitating-virtual-meetings","tag-no-hiding","tag-online-meetings","tag-virtual-meetings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leading online meetings effectively requires more skills than meetings held in person. Practical tips for technology\/participant challenges:\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leading online meetings effectively requires more skills than meetings held in person. Practical tips for technology\/participant challenges:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MG RUSH Facilitation Best Practices Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FacilitationTraining\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FacilitationTraining\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-05T11:03:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-21T17:06:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"334\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Facilitation Expert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TerrenceMetz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@terrencemetz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Facilitation Expert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Facilitation Expert\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/33b05e43036ff09de0ddfccfef9a4497\"},\"headline\":\"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-05T11:03:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-21T17:06:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2712,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Daniel Mezick\",\"Facilitating Virtual Meetings\",\"No hiding\",\"Online meetings\",\"Virtual meetings\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Facilitation Skills\",\"Leadership Skills\",\"Meeting Agendas\",\"Meeting Structure\",\"Meeting Tools\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-05T11:03:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-21T17:06:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"Leading online meetings effectively requires more skills than meetings held in person. Practical tips for technology\\\/participant challenges:\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":334,\"caption\":\"Are they checking in or checking out?\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/online-meetings\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"MG RUSH Facilitation Best Practices Blog\",\"description\":\"Compelling observations about structured, facilitative leadership\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MG RUSH Facilitation Best Practices\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/SquareLogo800X800.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/SquareLogo800X800.png\",\"width\":700,\"height\":700,\"caption\":\"MG RUSH Facilitation Best Practices\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/FacilitationTraining\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/terrencemetz\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/teammetz\",\"http:\\\/\\\/pinterest.com\\\/teammetz\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/mgrushfacilitation\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/33b05e43036ff09de0ddfccfef9a4497\",\"name\":\"Facilitation Expert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6a3c33817cc970e9f1c2d60b6bd170c755f6a66e51205d2f0e41842b9814efa9?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6a3c33817cc970e9f1c2d60b6bd170c755f6a66e51205d2f0e41842b9814efa9?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6a3c33817cc970e9f1c2d60b6bd170c755f6a66e51205d2f0e41842b9814efa9?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Facilitation Expert\"},\"description\":\"Terrence Metz, president of MG RUSH Facilitation Training, was just 22-years-old and working as a Sales Engineer at Honeywell when he recognized a widespread problem\u2014most meetings were ineffective and poorly led, wasting both time and company resources. However, he also observed meetings that worked. What set them apart? A well-prepared leader who structured the session to ensure participants contributed meaningfully and achieved clear outcomes. Throughout his career, Metz, who earned an MBA from Kellogg (Northwestern University) experienced and also trained in various facilitation techniques. In 2004, he purchased MG RUSH where he shifted his focus toward improving established meeting designs and building a curriculum that would teach others how to lead, facilitate, and structure meetings that drive results. His expertise in training world-class facilitators led to the 2020 publication of Meetings That Get Results: A Guide to Building Better Meetings, a comprehensive resource on effectively building consensus. Grounded in the principle that \u201cnobody is smarter than everybody,\u201d the book details the why, what, and how of building consensus when making decisions, planning, and solving problems. Along with a Participant\u2019s Guide and supplemental workshops, it supports learning from foundational awareness to professional certification. Metz\u2019s first book, Change or Die: A Business Process Improvement Manual, tackled the challenges of process optimization. His upcoming book, Catalyst: Facilitating Innovation, focuses on meetings and workshops that don\u2019t simply end when time runs out but conclude with actionable next steps and clear assignments\u2014ensuring progress beyond discussions and ideas.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/MGrush.com\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/FacilitationTraining\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/terrencemetz\\\/\",\"@teammetz\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/TerrenceMetz\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/watch?v=j4x3-Qo9Ez4\"],\"birthDate\":\"1955-09-23\",\"gender\":\"male\",\"jobTitle\":\"Managing Director\",\"worksFor\":\"MG Rush Facilitation\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mgrush.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/teammetz7\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips","description":"Leading online meetings effectively requires more skills than meetings held in person. Practical tips for technology\/participant challenges:","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips","og_description":"Leading online meetings effectively requires more skills than meetings held in person. Practical tips for technology\/participant challenges:","og_url":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/","og_site_name":"MG RUSH Facilitation Best Practices Blog","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FacilitationTraining\/","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FacilitationTraining\/","article_published_time":"2020-06-05T11:03:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-21T17:06:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":334,"url":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Facilitation Expert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@TerrenceMetz","twitter_site":"@terrencemetz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Facilitation Expert","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/"},"author":{"name":"Facilitation Expert","@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/33b05e43036ff09de0ddfccfef9a4497"},"headline":"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips","datePublished":"2020-06-05T11:03:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-21T17:06:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/"},"wordCount":2712,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg","keywords":["Daniel Mezick","Facilitating Virtual Meetings","No hiding","Online meetings","Virtual meetings"],"articleSection":["Facilitation Skills","Leadership Skills","Meeting Agendas","Meeting Structure","Meeting Tools"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/","url":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/","name":"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg","datePublished":"2020-06-05T11:03:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-21T17:06:49+00:00","description":"Leading online meetings effectively requires more skills than meetings held in person. Practical tips for technology\/participant challenges:","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg","width":500,"height":334,"caption":"Are they checking in or checking out?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/online-meetings\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/","name":"MG RUSH Facilitation Best Practices Blog","description":"Compelling observations about structured, facilitative leadership","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"MG RUSH Facilitation Best Practices","url":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SquareLogo800X800.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SquareLogo800X800.png","width":700,"height":700,"caption":"MG RUSH Facilitation Best Practices"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FacilitationTraining\/","https:\/\/x.com\/terrencemetz","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/teammetz","http:\/\/pinterest.com\/teammetz","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/mgrushfacilitation"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/33b05e43036ff09de0ddfccfef9a4497","name":"Facilitation Expert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a3c33817cc970e9f1c2d60b6bd170c755f6a66e51205d2f0e41842b9814efa9?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a3c33817cc970e9f1c2d60b6bd170c755f6a66e51205d2f0e41842b9814efa9?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a3c33817cc970e9f1c2d60b6bd170c755f6a66e51205d2f0e41842b9814efa9?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Facilitation Expert"},"description":"Terrence Metz, president of MG RUSH Facilitation Training, was just 22-years-old and working as a Sales Engineer at Honeywell when he recognized a widespread problem\u2014most meetings were ineffective and poorly led, wasting both time and company resources. However, he also observed meetings that worked. What set them apart? A well-prepared leader who structured the session to ensure participants contributed meaningfully and achieved clear outcomes. Throughout his career, Metz, who earned an MBA from Kellogg (Northwestern University) experienced and also trained in various facilitation techniques. In 2004, he purchased MG RUSH where he shifted his focus toward improving established meeting designs and building a curriculum that would teach others how to lead, facilitate, and structure meetings that drive results. His expertise in training world-class facilitators led to the 2020 publication of Meetings That Get Results: A Guide to Building Better Meetings, a comprehensive resource on effectively building consensus. Grounded in the principle that \u201cnobody is smarter than everybody,\u201d the book details the why, what, and how of building consensus when making decisions, planning, and solving problems. Along with a Participant\u2019s Guide and supplemental workshops, it supports learning from foundational awareness to professional certification. Metz\u2019s first book, Change or Die: A Business Process Improvement Manual, tackled the challenges of process optimization. His upcoming book, Catalyst: Facilitating Innovation, focuses on meetings and workshops that don\u2019t simply end when time runs out but conclude with actionable next steps and clear assignments\u2014ensuring progress beyond discussions and ideas.","sameAs":["http:\/\/MGrush.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FacilitationTraining\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/terrencemetz\/","@teammetz","https:\/\/x.com\/TerrenceMetz","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=j4x3-Qo9Ez4"],"birthDate":"1955-09-23","gender":"male","jobTitle":"Managing Director","worksFor":"MG Rush Facilitation","url":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/author\/teammetz7\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_1728343651.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}