WEBVTT - Connect instead of filling time

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that when you are waiting for a virtual

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<v Speaker 1>meeting to start, use the time for connection rather than

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<v Speaker 1>talking just to fill blank space. So for in person meetings,

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<v Speaker 1>people naturally tend to chat as they arrive. Indeed, people

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes encourage new employees or junior employees to arrive early

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<v Speaker 1>at meetings in order to build connections with senior colleagues.

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<v Speaker 1>But somehow chatting before a virtual meeting can feel more awkward.

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<v Speaker 1>How many times have you been in a silent zoom

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<v Speaker 1>call where all the participants are sitting there, muted and

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<v Speaker 1>looking bored. Maybe the host will awkwardly greet people as

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<v Speaker 1>they arrive, but the conversation doesn't really take off. Worse,

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<v Speaker 1>when people are late, you can find yourself sitting silently

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<v Speaker 1>on the screen for a lot longer. The poor meeting

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<v Speaker 1>host may start polling people about the weather in all

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<v Speaker 1>their different locations, or the host drones on and on

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<v Speaker 1>about the purpose of the meeting and how glad they

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<v Speaker 1>are to see everyone until the late comers finally arrive,

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<v Speaker 1>and the actual meeting can begin. This can feel like

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<v Speaker 1>a waste of everyone's time that tends to sour the mood,

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<v Speaker 1>which can lead to less effective meetings. Instead, if you

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<v Speaker 1>are leading a virtual meeting, aim to use the arrival

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<v Speaker 1>time for building relationships and connection. There are a number

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<v Speaker 1>of ways you can do this. One option is to

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<v Speaker 1>pose a question and invite people to respond out loud

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<v Speaker 1>or in the chat. This gives people something to do

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<v Speaker 1>in little to connect with each other. Sometimes a topic

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<v Speaker 1>will catch fire in the chat or in the live discussion.

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<v Speaker 1>You can ask a question that is topical. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are leading a meeting about your company's orientation

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<v Speaker 1>for new hires, you could ask people to share something

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<v Speaker 1>that made them feel welcome in a new job or

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<v Speaker 1>a time when they were new and learn something important belatedly.

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<v Speaker 1>Other times, instead of a question related to the meeting topic,

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<v Speaker 1>it might make sense to acknowledge the context. If your

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<v Speaker 1>meeting is like the last day before winter break begins,

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<v Speaker 1>you could ask people about their favorite holiday movie. If

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<v Speaker 1>you are meeting at four pm on a Friday, well

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<v Speaker 1>don't do that. But if you are meeting shortly before

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<v Speaker 1>the weekend, you could ask people what they are looking

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<v Speaker 1>forward to meetings don't happen in a vacuum, so you

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<v Speaker 1>can connect by talking about life outside the meeting. Another

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<v Speaker 1>option is to do a more structured ice breaker while

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<v Speaker 1>you are waiting for everyone to arrive. This could be

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<v Speaker 1>something lighthearted, like your favorite Halloween candy, or something deeper.

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<v Speaker 1>You can pose the question, invite someone to respond, and

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<v Speaker 1>then each responder invites the next person to respond. That way,

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<v Speaker 1>you are not moderating the whole conversation. There's no awkwardness

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<v Speaker 1>in figuring out who will go next, and people have

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<v Speaker 1>a reason to pay attention to who has spoken. As

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<v Speaker 1>late comers arrive, you can paste the question into the

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<v Speaker 1>chat so they know what's going on. They will eventually

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<v Speaker 1>get invited to share. By the time everyone has arrived

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<v Speaker 1>and you are ready to start the meeting, you will

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<v Speaker 1>all know each other a tiny bit better. The point

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<v Speaker 1>of all of this is that time is valuable. If

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<v Speaker 1>you have asked people to gather, hopefully there is a

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<v Speaker 1>good reason people have devoted time to the meeting versus

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<v Speaker 1>something else. It is too bad that people are sometimes late,

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<v Speaker 1>but sometimes it happens. If it does, you don't want

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<v Speaker 1>to compound the problem by wasting everyone else's time time.

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<v Speaker 1>While you are waiting, you may as well use the

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<v Speaker 1>time for something useful. People are a good use of time,

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<v Speaker 1>so building relationships is probably the best thing you can

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<v Speaker 1>use these minutes for. Figure out a way to do that,

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<v Speaker 1>and you can start any meeting in a much more

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<v Speaker 1>positive way. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.