1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: tip is that when you are waiting for a virtual 4 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: meeting to start, use the time for connection rather than 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: talking just to fill blank space. So for in person meetings, 6 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: people naturally tend to chat as they arrive. Indeed, people 7 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: sometimes encourage new employees or junior employees to arrive early 8 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: at meetings in order to build connections with senior colleagues. 9 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: But somehow chatting before a virtual meeting can feel more awkward. 10 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: How many times have you been in a silent zoom 11 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: call where all the participants are sitting there, muted and 12 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: looking bored. Maybe the host will awkwardly greet people as 13 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: they arrive, but the conversation doesn't really take off. Worse, 14 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: when people are late, you can find yourself sitting silently 15 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,399 Speaker 1: on the screen for a lot longer. The poor meeting 16 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: host may start polling people about the weather in all 17 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: their different locations, or the host drones on and on 18 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: about the purpose of the meeting and how glad they 19 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: are to see everyone until the late comers finally arrive, 20 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: and the actual meeting can begin. This can feel like 21 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,479 Speaker 1: a waste of everyone's time that tends to sour the mood, 22 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:42,319 Speaker 1: which can lead to less effective meetings. Instead, if you 23 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: are leading a virtual meeting, aim to use the arrival 24 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: time for building relationships and connection. There are a number 25 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: of ways you can do this. One option is to 26 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: pose a question and invite people to respond out loud 27 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: or in the chat. This gives people something to do 28 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: in little to connect with each other. Sometimes a topic 29 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: will catch fire in the chat or in the live discussion. 30 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: You can ask a question that is topical. For instance, 31 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: if you are leading a meeting about your company's orientation 32 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: for new hires, you could ask people to share something 33 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: that made them feel welcome in a new job or 34 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: a time when they were new and learn something important belatedly. 35 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,639 Speaker 1: Other times, instead of a question related to the meeting topic, 36 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: it might make sense to acknowledge the context. If your 37 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: meeting is like the last day before winter break begins, 38 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: you could ask people about their favorite holiday movie. If 39 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: you are meeting at four pm on a Friday, well 40 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: don't do that. But if you are meeting shortly before 41 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: the weekend, you could ask people what they are looking 42 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: forward to meetings don't happen in a vacuum, so you 43 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: can connect by talking about life outside the meeting. Another 44 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 1: option is to do a more structured ice breaker while 45 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: you are waiting for everyone to arrive. This could be 46 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: something lighthearted, like your favorite Halloween candy, or something deeper. 47 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: You can pose the question, invite someone to respond, and 48 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 1: then each responder invites the next person to respond. That way, 49 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: you are not moderating the whole conversation. There's no awkwardness 50 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: in figuring out who will go next, and people have 51 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: a reason to pay attention to who has spoken. As 52 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: late comers arrive, you can paste the question into the 53 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: chat so they know what's going on. They will eventually 54 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,799 Speaker 1: get invited to share. By the time everyone has arrived 55 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: and you are ready to start the meeting, you will 56 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: all know each other a tiny bit better. The point 57 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: of all of this is that time is valuable. If 58 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: you have asked people to gather, hopefully there is a 59 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: good reason people have devoted time to the meeting versus 60 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: something else. It is too bad that people are sometimes late, 61 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: but sometimes it happens. If it does, you don't want 62 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: to compound the problem by wasting everyone else's time time. 63 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: While you are waiting, you may as well use the 64 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: time for something useful. People are a good use of time, 65 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: so building relationships is probably the best thing you can 66 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: use these minutes for. Figure out a way to do that, 67 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: and you can start any meeting in a much more 68 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: positive way. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, 69 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks 70 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, 71 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura 72 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. 73 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iheartrate you app, 74 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.