We recently published an article addressing the increasing interest in Virtual Board Meetings. This article explains how to implement your next successful HOA webinar meeting.
A webinar is a mash-up of the words “Web” and “Seminar,” a webinar is a short-term meeting held over the Internet. Attendees log into a specialized website at a specific time to meet virtually. Webinars are a great way to meet up online. However, just because your session is online doesn’t excuse you from applying some standard rules of etiquette.
The purpose of webinar etiquette is to make it easier for everyone to engage in the topic and get the most out of it that they can. Keep a goal of getting the right message across politely and stay focused on the agenda.
7 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Homeowners Webinar Meeting:
- Set a clear agenda.
- Email the agenda in advance, put the document in a google docs account, and make it public. You can always delete it after the meeting. Some webinar software allows you to upload documents there as well.
- Show up at least 15 minutes early to test your environment and make sure everything is working. This also prevents you from wasting time bringing the late arrivals up to speed.
- Invite everyone to turn on their webcams. Face to face is always better for small board meetings. Leveraging video collaboration gives you visual cues that you might miss with audio-only. It also helps you to focus more because you can look into your members’ eyes.
- Wait your turn to chime in. You may need to use the “hand-raising button” or side chats to speak or raise a question.
- Remove distractions, turn off your phone and move to an area with fewer distractions and background noise.
- If you are meeting to collaborate on a document, use the notes software on the program to edit and comment together. If the program has a whiteboard feature, use it for making notes, charts, or brainstorming.
Here are some of the best free homeowner webinar options:
Zoom Meetings
Slack Channel
Skype
Rinaldo Acri Says, “Whether the webinar is a presentation to the entire group of homeowners or a Board Members routine meeting, the purpose of webinar etiquette is to make it easier for everyone to engage in the topic and get the most out of it that they can.”