A complete guide to synchronous meeting and remote communications |

Prior to the shift to remote work I was employed as part of an online team in a digital bank that was always trying out different kinds of mixed remote meetings and generally went smoothly.

But, it's never an simple to increase the efficiency of your meetings or to ensure that you have a good meeting communications via remote, or decide on what type of remote meeting to have in the first place.

This guide (based on research as well as my own experience) will help you understand the various types of remote meetings and the best ways you can effectively run them, along with some helpful tips and tricks selecting the best tools for the job, plus common virtual meeting etiquette.

Different types of remote meeting

It's possible that you didn't give it much thought before however, there's actually numerous types of remote meeting types (and chances are you're already somewhat acquainted with them). Thanks to the advancement of technology in this area it has become possible communicate with remote workers as well as other members of the team through one of the main methods or even using a mix of both!

Teleconferencing

Of all the types of remote meeting we'll speak about, teleconferencing is probably the most tried-and-tested old-school method. Since it's a phone call that is audio only, the technology for it is more advanced and simple than the others in this list.

It is basically that the meeting host will be 'on the line' at a specific meeting time, after which others in the group will be able to 'dial into' by dialing a telephone number. Naturally, this kind of meeting is best suited for small groups of people -- not being able to see each other might get confusing when multiple participants are talking at the same time.

Video conferencing

From the time of the outbreak of a specific pandemic around 2020, video conferencing has become an essential part of our daily lives due to programs like Zoom meetings and Microsoft Teams.

Video conferences (conferences) follow a similar model to teleconferencing in the sense that hosts host an actual-time conference where attendees  connect by dialing a link or phone number. What makes them different, of course, is that you're able to be able to see one another and utilize software that makes the video calls more efficient and engaging.

Web conferencing

Lastly, the third most popular type of virtual meeting is web-based conference. It's easy to combine this with video conferencing, however there's a distinct differenceWeb conferences are typically utilized for virtual meetings (like all-hands gatherings) as well as online training or for project collaboration, where meetings have the benefit of a practical aspect in it.

Naturally, this is great for larger-scale projects or business-wide meetings and can either be setup in a similar way to a video conference, or it can be arranged with ticketed attendance and pre-registration.

For a further layer of the various types of meetings, there is also the option to'sync' or 'async' meetings.

What exactly is an asynchronous conference?

Asynch meetings are a type of communication that doesn't happen in real-time and also doesn't usually require an immediate response.

Synchronous communication vs asynchronous communication

At that digital bank job I talked about earlier They always worked at making sure that remote staff felt comfortable and included in decision making as well as update of status, check-ins as well as team building activities. For this purpose, we had to make use of both synchronous and asynchronous gatherings, however each of them has advantages and disadvantages.

 Benefits of synchronous meetings:

• Most closely resembles in-person meetings.
• Instant feedback on actions things or discussion points.
• Real-time communication can help you bounce ideas off each other more quickly.

 The downside:

• Most of the time you will meet individuals who tend to be quiet or introverted, but struggle to engage.
• However in the event that everyone has a lot to talk about, the gathering could quickly turn into a raunchy mess of people speaking over each other.
• There's a risk of technological delays or network faults in the time you're needing it most.

 The benefits of asynchronous meeting:

• There's no obligation to speak immediately, almost everyone has a chance to allow your voice to be heard.
• Not having to line up appropriate times for meetings for night shift team members or those distributed across the globe. employees of shift teams (something my old workplace benefitted greatly from).

 The downside:

• In Buffer's State of Remote Work report 20 percent of those who participated claimed that loneliness was their main struggle (which I am also able to attest) Sync meetings provide your chance to 'see' other people, so moving to asynchronous comm can add to loneliness.
• If a quick reaction isn't required, staff members may forget to respond or follow up in the first place.
• Another general struggle of remote work according to Statista and also applicable to async meetings (since they are able to go back and forth throughout working hours) is that it's not possible to 'unplug'.

In the end, considering the pros and cons, it's definitely a case of picking the appropriate format for the occasion instead of choosing either of the extreme. In this case, I'll concentrate a bit more specifically on the meetings that are async from here on out (since they're less recognized).

How to run a productive online meeting

So now you know what sorts of remote meetings there are, as well as the various methods to conduct these, but how do you actually run an online meeting? It's an issue for those who are used to having real-time meetings.

As I have no personal experience conducting meetings (only being a participant in them) I reached out to a couple of experts, among them former Project Manager turned freelance writer Laura Bosco, their thoughts on what makes for successful and efficient asynchronous meetings, here's what she said:

 "--the the context and structure of the async message was a major factor for me -- and are still a major factor when I work with clients.

Context: Some types of feedback, announcements or even questions can be more sensitive or susceptible to being misinterpreted. Video can be more effective than text as someone else can hear the tone of your voice as well as be able to see your face. This minimizes misconceptions and relational injury.

Format: Big fan of BLUF (bottom-line-up-front) in most written comms. In addition, it's more efficient. If your request is concise and succinct, you're more likely to receive the answer you want. It's also a way to demonstrate empathy for the recipient. This shows gratitude for their time as well as the daily influx of messages.

 Also, text formatting. Bold, headers, bullets or italics when you are making important requests...these aren't meant to degrade the reader. They help them digest your message ."

Laura isn't the only person to suggest providing context is an effective method to utilize async messaging. Michael Steele, CEO of Flywheel Digital (a remote-first technological marketing company) who is an enthusiastic user of Notion, Google Docs, and Slack as their technology stack. He also said:

 "A major factor in achieving success when it comes to synchronous communications, which includes both clients and staff is to provide context. Everybody involved needs to understand the purpose of communication as well as the latest events and changes of note, and have easy access to foundational documents like strategies as well as marketing personas and report on performance.

 With no context for synchronous communications, miscommunications can occur and time is wasted fixing mistakes and making revisions which could easily be avoided with the right details available from the start."

In terms of the practical side of conducting meetings the founder of ScrapingBee (a 100 100% remote-based company) Kevin Sahin says that in addition to having short, real-time meetings that are facilitated with memos written using Notion as well, they use Slack:

"Slack can be used as asynchronously as we use Slack status to find out if our coworker is available to talk or not. When we write messages within Slack, we don't expect an answer immediately, that's the whole point. In general, our philosophy is to select the right tool for the job."

To run an effective asynchronous meeting, you need to make sure you're using tools that are properly designed, and provide context as well as the issues you're addressing are done so it's easy and easy to handle.

9 suggestions to plan and execute the perfect remote conference

No matter if your remote conference is synchronous or not however, there are a few generally applicable tips to help them run more smoothly. A few of these suggestions come from current research and others are derived from personal experience. The tips will be presented in a before, during, and after format for those favoring real-time, but the content of these tips applies for async meetings.

 In the lead-up to the gathering:

1. Make sure only the most important people can be invited. If you overcrowd the virtual gathering regardless of whether it's an online video conference or Slack channel, the information could quickly get lost and fewer participants will be able to take part.
   
2. Set a crystal clear agenda. You can set agendas for either real-time or async-based meetings using the software of your choice When I worked in a bank, we built Notion templates that had fill-in sections like issues we're facing and action points.
   
3. Establish meeting norms. Laura also mentioned an interesting strategy she likes to employ, which is to create and distribute "how to collaborate with me" documents ( like this one) for helping define norms and expectations in meetings, as well as for other communications.

 During the meeting:

1. End and start on time. This point is especially relevant for remote meetings. There's nothing anything worse than showing up to a meeting late or overrunning. People's time is precious. It's also true for meetings that are scheduled in async. If you fail to respond promptly in a reasonable manner, the information might either get lost or other deadlines could be not met.
   
2. Make it brief. Similar to the previous point, there's not much use in an hour-long meeting in real-time when you can make all the points that you wish to with async messaging or shorter meetings. As for async, avoid writing huge walls of text or long interspersed pauses on recorded videos.
   
3. Make sure everyone can be heard or recognized. As I mentioned earlier, not everyone has the temperament to speak up during real-time chats, but async communication allows those who aren't to do so. But, if you're an administrator or host of meetings is still essential to be vigilant about participants' participation.

 At the end of the session:

1. Receive feedback from your attendees. If you're experimenting using different kinds of gatherings, you must get feedback from the participants to find out what is and isn't working regarding the communication style and the channel. Certain software is more effective than others for different people.
   
2. Create a method of follow-up communication. Generally speaking, it's best to have some kind of way to communicate or a virtual area where people can offer ad-hoc points about the event or update on action points without clogging in the actual meeting.
   

So you might be wondering now, "those tips are all well and good, but what about software?", this next section will help you.

Software to facilitate remote meetings

Of course, one important aspect to consider when hosting remote meetings of every type is to ensure that you're using the correct technology for the meeting to begin with. For synchronous meetings, naturally popular video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams/Skype, and Google Meet do the trick pretty well. However, the process is quite different when it comes to synchronous meetings.

Some of the most common asynchronous meeting software (which also happen to be mostly project management tools) Some, which have already been mentioned, are:

•   Slack
•   Trello
•   Google Docs
•   Asana
•   Notion
•   Basecamp
• If you're part of a group of developers, Gitlab or Github is a good option.

The right software for your virtual meeting

Most of the collaboration tools that I've discussed above are text-based or for messaging and other tools can mix of images, text or video. So, just as Laura said in the past, context and formatting are key.

 For simple project updates

If you're looking for ways to bring people up current on what the project's state is, software like Trello, Asana, and Notion can be great to do this. In my case, for instance I (and my old office) utilize Notion "boards" to give overviews of current statuses for projects as well as diving in for comments.

The same 'board' style organization in every app previously mentioned.

 For continuous updates

If your project or team requires a simple way to reach but not have daily meetings in person, most of the tools listed are good, Basecamp in particular is excellent, however Slack tops the list on this particular aspect.

My old job had every team had an Slack channel that would hold stand-ups that were asynchronous as well as companies-wide channels to share general info. However, I don't have access to that particular Slack workspace anymore, but I do have several Slack workspaces that I utilize similarly:

 For more complex or sensitive data

Just as Laura stated, certain types of data require personal touch. It isn't a good idea to provide data that is misunderstood or is lost in the shuffle of blog posts and other projects. In order to avoid that, you'll need to utilize video. And will be able to count on us.

Additionally as an added bonus, you can keep track of who's viewed your video and collaborate on the comment section.

It's not always easy to determine which software or method to use since every team is different, therefore it's worth experimenting early on and never being afraid to switch gears if one doesn't work for you.

The remote playbook: etiquette to conduct virtual meetings

The last topic we're going to cover in this guide is meeting etiquette. Certain aspects will be familiar considering the topics we've covered previously however it's important to know exactly what common remote meeting etiquette looks similar to.

We've been on a lot of Zoom calls to know these general guidelines (and often, they're broken):

• Be sure to not be on mute when you're speaking.
• Make sure you are in a calm area to allow other guests to focus on your (not your washer running in the background).
• Try out the features that you wish to implement before deciding to avoid wasting time figuring it out at the time of session.

The situation, however, is somewhat different when you consider meeting that are synchronous, and rules of engagement can be different based on the mode of communication or channel of communication.

For channels that use text (e.g. Notion, Slack etc.)

• Keep on-topic information in the right channel/thread/page (or if you're referencing anything of importance, post a hyperlink to the thread or page).
• Do not treat it as email. That's how I define acknowledging an email or even a project instead of putting messages to the inbox (in Slack, you can make a mark on a message using an emoji! ).
• Take note that other people also have their own lives. In asynchronous messaging is easy to forget that you're not working at the same time as you. Find out if anyone is available before potentially making a push message to them.

 For asynchronous video meetings

• Check that your camera and microphone are good enough quality for people to understand what you're talking about.
• Do you have a clear message that you wish to share with other people -- nobody is looking to watch the same video for hours and not know something new.

Of course, these are not a set of general tips. Your business might have its own rules for communicating to each other, and which tools to utilize. If so, it is possible to keep these as you learn how to use them or creating these rules.

You can get off to a positive beginning with online meeting

As with most relationships in life communicating effectively is the most important factor in a successful business day however, communication does not necessarily need to be the moment.

Asynchronous remote meetings will assist you in having more productive discussions, bring in more of your team members as well as create a culture of transparency (since the asynchronous comms are automatically recorded). If you're thinking about adopting a more asynchronous approach try experimenting with various options to discover which one works best for your needs.