Virtual Meeting Makeover
Until last month, working from home was a luxurious choice that represented more flexibility, healthy work-life balance and
no daily commute.
On March 1st, my partner, John, and I moved from San Francisco to a little town in the Redwoods called Mill Valley. As an entrepreneur, I’ve worked from home for years, but John was starting a new role where he’d be working remote, too. I was proud of us for expressing our needs and boundaries and quickly making a joint game plan for how we’d work from home together. We both agreed that structure, routine and a change of scenery were key to our collective success and sanity. I joined a local coworking space called The Hivery and John decided to work from his company’s San Francisco office 2-3 days a week. We were just getting into the swing of things around March 13th, a few days before the Bay Area announced a shelter in place order.
Right now, I’m here with headphones on, looking at John across our kitchen table, also with headphones on, as our cat Hugo walks all over our laptops and notebooks like he runs the place. A few weeks ago, we were optimistic about working from home together - on our own terms - but I have to admit, sheltering-in-place has taken things to the next level of “team building” for us.
Before COVID-19, I was hired to design and facilitate a two-day leadership offsite - my bread-and-butter-can-do-this-in-my-sleep kind of work. It’s surreal to think that just last week, I delivered that “offsite” in bite-size 90-min virtual sessions every day from my bedroom, on a makeshift standing desk which included my dresser, a box of Duraflame logs, stacks of books and a chess board as the table, with a fancy virtual Zoom background.
The current reality has shifted rapidly. We’re not just casually working from home. We’re all at home, trying to work during a pandemic. Home means physical distancing, staying safe and flattening the curve. Home means a new way of working.
As we sit in our home offices, bedrooms, living rooms or kitchens on Zoom meetings, it’s clear the lines between work-life and home-life are getting blurrier. “Can you go into the bedroom, so I can take this confidential client call?” “It’s your turn to homeschool the kids, I need to join a status meeting right now.” “Wait, what day is it? Have I eaten lunch?” “Can I wear pajamas for this meeting?” Going into the office provided the boundaries we really depended on and never really had to go out of our way to intentionally create on our own.
My clients and friends tell me they are slammed with virtual meetings, working more hours now than they ever did before. We’re trying our damndest to stay present, productive and outcomes-oriented, while we’re bombarded with notifications that prove how volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous our surroundings are. It’s hard to stay focused when subconsciously we’re in fight or flight mode!
As an expert meeting facilitator, it makes me wonder how impactful and productive all these meetings actually are …
Are we meeting to make progress on our goals, projects and day-to-day work? Are we meeting for the stability found in recurring meetings, topics and teamwork? Are we meeting out of fear that we’ll drop the ball, won’t add enough value or might be forgotten? Or are we meeting for human connection to simply remember we’re not alone in all of this? Regardless of why we’re meeting, we all know it’s imperative that we get to the other side of this, together.
Want to make the most of your meetings during COVID-19?
I’m offering virtual facilitation packages that help you drive more:
+ engagement & inclusion
+ clarity & alignment
+ prioritization & direction
+ productivity & results
Ready to makeover your virtual meetings?
Book a free 30-min strategy session with me today.