We tend to think of a meeting as simply as the real time interaction between participants. This is like having a TV without the TV Guide and the VCR. The TV Guide enables us to plan and the VCR enables us to capture a program for later viewing, or to enjoy again. You can extend the effectiveness of your virtual meetings by sharing planning information beforehand and sharing results after the meeting.

Before the Meeting - Prepare

"The best meetings happen when people understand and share an interest in the purpose of the meeting. They also know their role: what they can offer and what they will take away. And they trust that their time will be well spent," says Tom Kunz.

Enable participants to come prepared. Before the meeting communicate the purpose, expected outcomes, required and invited attendees, and the agenda. Have any presentations or background information available in advance.

Use technology to create a persistent virtual meeting center. A collaboration space such as eRoom, Livelink, or Groove allows the group to share documents as well as engage in asynchronous discussions. If you don't have access to a shared space, use email to distribute documents in advance. But technology alone is not enough. It takes discipline to get meeting attendees to prepare. If you meet regularly with a group, one way to support the behavior is to create a specific agreement with others. Ask the group, would a preview of information be valuable? If they say yes, agree on what kinds of information should be shared. You also need to agree on how far in advance to distribute the material to allow them sufficient preparation time.

Don't hold a meeting when there is no real purpose.

Even if it's a tradition, such as a weekly project meeting, a meeting should be canceled if there is nothing that needs to be discussed, or if the required people cannot attend.

After the meeting - Capture results

Take notes during the meeting and publish the notes, a summary of actions, decisions and accomplishments. This enables those who were not able to attend to catch up, allows agreements to be followed up on and captures the context for decisions. At Shell Chemical, Tom Kunz's Value Network posted the weekly meeting notes in their on-line team room. "I found posting the notes to be invaluable to me as a leader. It enabled me to keep track of what was going on, and it built trust in the team that they would be informed whether or not they were able to attend the meeting."

Capture results in the same space as the meeting preparation with copies or links to all the material referenced in the meeting. Many web conferencing tools allow you save a recording of the meeting for later playback. Be sure to create a summary of the results, including key accomplishments, action items and decisions. It's the synthesis that makes the knowledge useful, allowing a reader to quickly get a high level overview, and decide whether or not to delve deeper.

	Tip 7: Sometimes meet in person and Conclusion
	Tip 5: Take time to build relationships
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