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Tips to Reduce Multitasking in Virtual Meetings

We are all guilty of doing it; at home, at work, and in almost every aspect of

our lives. The ability to multitask comes easy for most of us, especially when we

are in virtual team meetings. The possibility to multitask and for distractions

surrounds us; through e-mail, phone calls, other employees, completing other

assignments, and the list goes on. Although they may personally feel they are

being productive, how does the rest of the team feel? Is this person slowing down

the meeting process? Are they actively engaged in meetings and providing

intelligent and tangible input?

Virtual Team Builders has been able to compile a few tips to help reduce and

avoid multitasking by yourself and team members.

Let people know that multi-tasking is not an option

Prepare rules of conduct and engagement with team members to abide by in

meetings

Contact each attendee before the meeting to encourage engagement

Keep the meeting on schedule with respect to the agenda

Make your meetings interactive enough to hold attention

Call on people for input at least every 6 minutes

Make everyone accountable for something in the meeting

Rotate the roll of facilitator to force engagement from unwilling members

Encourage interaction and multiple speakers during the meeting

Avoid large number of people in meetings, include only members necessary

in meetings

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Ensure all mobile devices are turned off prior to the start of the meeting

Enforce a “no mute” rule in meetings

Conduct yourself in the same manner as if it were a face-to-face meeting

(i.e you would not check your e-mail or talk to someone on another phone)

To avoid interruption place a sign or allow others in the office to know you

are in a meeting

Analyze the area where you will be when attending the meeting, avoid areas

of high congestion and distractions

Remove distractions from areas of meeting

Address the person who is multitasking of their distraction from the team

It is your personal responsibility, set in your mind and remind yourself

throughout the meeting to stay focused on the task at hand

These basic multitasking tips can help not only yourself but other team

members to help create more dynamic and effective meetings with less

distractions and multitasking.