Tips for a successful digital meeting

Before the meeting

• Be sure to be as prepared as possible before the meeting. Send out any meeting agenda, meeting documents and meeting link in good time to the participants.
• Test the technique before the meeting, make sure that sound and image work. If you are planning a meeting and do not have access to a good quality webcam, you can book a camera via Timeedit.
  Book equipment
• Use a stable internet connection (network cable directly into the computer if you have the opportunity). Remember to also remind your participants of this.
• If you are going to share your screen, make sure you have any PowerPoint, movie or web page ready when the meeting starts.

During the meeting

Sound

• Remind participants to use headsets for better sound quality.
• If you are holding a larger meeting, you can remind participants to turn off the microphone. You who host a meeting also have the opportunity to turn off the microphone for all participants.
• For smaller work meetings, the meeting can be more efficient if everyone has the microphone on to get a more active participation.

Video

• It's nice to see each other in a digital meeting. Feel free to ask the participants to put on their video. If someone has a very slow connection, the person can try turning off the camera to improve their sound quality.
• If you want to hide your background, there are virtual backgrounds to use. Umeå University has developed its own images that you can use.

Make your meetings interactive

• Feel free to start the meeting by telling about which communication paths you prefer with the participants, for example the chat function, show of hands or other reaction buttons.
• To activate the participants in your meeting, you can divide the participants into breakout rooms or group rooms.
• If you are several people holding the meeting, it is preferable if someone can keep track of the chat or virtual hands that are raised.
• You can use Whiteboard to create digital whiteboards for collaboration. Whiteboard is suitable, for example, to use when you have workshops, project planning or group discussions.
  Whiteboard
• With Forms, you can collect feedback, plan activities, create quizzes or tests for your meeting participants. It is also possible to invite people outside the organization to respond via any browser and mobile device.
  Forms
• Mentimeter supports a number of different question types where participants can vote or enter answers and get a visual summary. The tool is useful for collecting feedback, voting, brainstorming ideas and using the results as a basis for discussion.
  Mentimeter

After the meeting

• Remember to send out memoirs or assigned tasks from the meeting.