E4: Conquer the Room From Your Zoom: Joining In-Person Meetings as a Remote Participant

[00:00:00] Erika: Work It, Remote. How do you work it when you are joining a big strategic high stakes meeting and you're remote and everybody else is in person?

[00:00:09] I have done this many times over the course of my career working remotely, and there are some tricks to doing it well so that you can show up your best. If you found yourself in a situation like this, you know how awkward it can be.

[00:00:23] And if you haven't found yourself in a situation like this before, then you will. So listen in for some tricks that I've learned that'll help set you up for success.

[00:00:49] So here are my top tips for managing a meeting when you are remote and everybody else is in person. And I'm talking about large meetings here, meetings where there's significant discussion happening. There are decisions being made. This is not a 30 minute update call. All right. Tip number one, you want an agenda and you want an agenda, whether you're joining remotely or in person, but from the remote perspective, you want an agenda.

[00:01:17] Because you want to understand who's in the room, what's being discussed, and you need the full context. now a good agenda is going to have a couple of things. It's going to have owners of different topics. It's going to have timestamps and you want that.

[00:01:32] And what I would do before a large meeting is print out the agenda. So printer is a critical part for me being successful and working remotely I talk about this in episode one, but you want to print out the agenda and that would help me track who's speaking because when you're on a call, Meaning everybody is joined virtually.

[00:01:53] It's very easy to follow the flow of a discussion. There's a much more orderly way in which conversations unfold. But if you're joining a meeting remotely and everybody else is in person, you will get a lens into into just how disorderly many meetings are. Because someone starts talking and then someone asks a question and then the conversation gets derailed to something else and then there's side talk and overall it can just become really, really difficult to follow a meeting.

[00:02:26] I've struggled with it. So, the agenda helps to ground me. When the meeting's taking place, I can understand, okay, this is the topic, this is the speaker, and I have a better time following from there. And wrapping my head around those things in advance of the meeting helps me tremendously when things are unfolding in real time.

[00:02:50] And the other thing I've picked up is that it helps to reach out to the person facilitating the discussion to share the concern. So I've had conversations like, I'll be joining the call remotely, I realize everybody else or the majority of folks are attending in person. Can you be mindful of the fact that I'll be on the call and ensure there's only one speaker at a time?

[00:03:12] And I found that this helps a lot. It makes people aware where they otherwise might not have been. And some great facilitators, particularly tech facilitators, have added a microphone into the room and a microphone really helps create the energy where there's only one speaker at a time, and it gives more control to the meeting facilitator to give the floor to somebody.

[00:03:35] Also, the microphone is directly plugged into the system. So. I, as a remote joiner, can just hear things with more clarity. And a lot of mics will have built in noise cancellation. So if there's a lot of side talk happening in the room, which does often happen, it just won't be as disruptive to my listening experience.

[00:03:56] So I really like an agenda because it allows me To participate in a more active way, but there's another reason I like an agenda, too And it's because with the agenda in advance I can see whether or not I should be playing an active role in the agenda And that's my second tip is to make sure that you are contributing to the meeting and there's a couple ways that you can do that So let's talk about the first way first, which is The contribution that you're having to the discussion, if you've been invited to the meeting, or if you've invited yourself to the meeting, which I've done a couple of times, then you should have something to say, you shouldn't just be there a fly on the wall, listening, you should have a some sort of contribution.

[00:04:45] And what I found in meetings like this is that there's a proximity bias that happens. People are in the office together. They see one another. They're building this agenda. They're adding names and topics based on who they see and interact with the most. And when you're working remotely, you just don't have that same face time.

[00:05:05] Because usually if you're invited to a meeting like this, then there is an expectation that you have something that's relevant to the discussion. And whether you're invited to formally participate in the agenda or not, I have found in my experience that I'll get called on.

[00:05:23] So there'll be somebody talking about something adjacent to what I do and they'll have the floor to speak and then they'll just sort of call on me to add in and you know, I mean, I'm ready. I stay ready. I'm ready to jump in, but I would have been way more ready if I had known I was going to be called on or expected to contribute this particular thing.

[00:05:49] So I also screen the agenda for that. I'm aware of proximity bias. I look at where I have something meaningful to contribute and I will either ask to be added to the agenda if it calls for it or I'll just talk to the person who has an adjacent topic and say, Perhaps it makes sense for us to partner on this if you cover this aspect I'm happy to build on and add this into it, right?

[00:06:13] So I just sort of work myself in because it's important when you're joining remotely that You're contributing to the discussion I mean you should always be contributing To the discussion, especially in meetings like this, but to be the only person not physically there and then not saying anything it just it really takes away from your value and We know you're providing value.

[00:06:36] So provide it. This is a great forum And by the way, you don't always have to find a spot on the agenda. You could Find your spot in a different way, right? You could ask really smart questions or really have a pulse of what's going on in the market and share market, landscape, competitive issues while the discussion is unfolding.

[00:06:56] There's lots of way to manage your contribution, but the agenda will help you be a step ahead so that you don't miss that opportunity because when you are joining remotely you need to be much more assertive in how you get your point in there because people are gonna, they're gonna kind of just. talk over you, right?

[00:07:13] Not intentionally, but they're in the room and there's a momentum there. And so in order to get in there, you've got to know what you're going to say. And you've got to know when your moment is because you can't miss it. You've got to take it. These meetings are also a great opportunity to manage up. If the meeting's big enough and it's a healthy enough discussion, then you really should be looping in your boss and looping in your whole team.

[00:07:35] Even the people on your team who might not report in to you. Be transparent. Let them know that you're representing the team in the meeting and share the agenda with them. Organizations can be so siloed now that even just sharing the agenda could be really valuable to members on your team. But also ask them what they think.

[00:07:54] Maybe there's something that they're working on or something that they heard in another siloed conversation That should be shared in this meeting So again work on that contribution engage your team and use this as a way To position yourself as a leader because when you're willing to give shine to others when you're willing to share information Those are all things that great leaders do so take away Maximize the moment and use the agenda as to drive that contribution.

[00:08:23] All right, so we've got agenda, we've got contribution. So when you're contributing, yes, you're contributing to the conversation in a meaningful way, but you're also contributing with your presence. Chances are, if you're joining a meeting remotely, your face is going to be blown up on a huge screen. Who knows what I'm talking about, right?

[00:08:44] This, this happens. And when you realize that this has happened to your face, all of a sudden there's all this doubt, right? But here's the thing you want to be present in the room. And if you are just a beep on the phone, then you are really not present in the room. So this would be another question for the team.

[00:09:09] Will my video feed be streamed into the room? And how? Where will it be? And chances are is that you are going to be on one of those big screens because what are, I mean, what, what are the other options? Right, so the only other option I can think of is if your face is scaled way, way, way down into the corner of some screen or the corner of a laptop and that's so small no one's gonna see you.

[00:09:34] So what's the point of even having your video on? So if you're gonna be there, you want to be present in the room, you want your video seen, and you know, It's likely gonna be on a big screen. Okay, so you got to get over that. That's just what it is. And you just got to show up looking your best, right?

[00:09:49] You've got to mitigate it by getting up a little bit earlier, doing what you need to do so that you're going in there looking your best and feeling your best because this is not your average meeting. All right. Second thing, you've got to be aware of your virtual presence. You're in the room your videos on you need to watch your facial expressions.

[00:10:10] You want to look engaged It matters because people are going to have the ability to see you in a way that they cannot even see the person sitting Next to them. So if you're bored because this part doesn't matter to you or you know I've been listening for hours now and this person just keeps going on and on and on and I I'm just tired.

[00:10:31] I can't listen to it anymore. There's all types of reasons why we start to disengage from a conversation. But if you're reflecting that through your facial expressions or your body language, then you're leaving people with not the best impression. So you've got to watch that. You've got to watch for the things that are on the camera, which is usually everything above your shoulder or your elbow.

[00:10:55] And you've got to. Make sure that those things are matching what you want to communicate and you don't need to sit there smiling the whole time I mean, that's awkward, but you certainly don't want to look bored You want to watch the way that you're moving your hands, watch the way that you're sitting in your chair.

[00:11:13] Are you hunched over? Are you slouched? Are you rocking the whole time back and forth? So all of these things matter and you just want to be mindful of it. I also find it really helpful to stand during meetings like this, particularly if I'm presenting or at least during the portion of the agenda where I am speaking, because it just makes me feel more energized and that comes through on the screen.

[00:11:36] And I recommend some gear and equipment that'll support you in doing this in episode one. But as long as you're aware of it and managing it, that's the takeaway here. Because if you look like you're not paying attention, if you look like you're disengaged, then people will draw a line. the conclusion that you are disengaged.

[00:11:54] And really what's worse than having somebody join a meeting who's not physically there, Then the person is on this huge screen so you can see them the whole time and then they look like they don't even care about being there. Or even worse, they're multitasking or doing email the entire meeting, which I have witnessed people do time and again. And it's sort of like, why are you here?

[00:12:18] So don't let somebody ask that question about you. Demonstrate why you're there, not just in what you contribute and the fact that you know what's happening in the room and you're following and adding to the agenda, but also in how you physically present yourself in the meeting. And if you really don't think that you can do that, if there is something that's really demanding of your time.

[00:12:42] Then you've got to weigh the benefits and costs of being there. Is there somebody else who could stand in for you? Or do you split the time? Maybe you join the first half and you ask somebody else on your team to join the second half. Or do you really need to be there? If you have nothing to contribute and you can't even really pay attention, then maybe you shouldn't be there and you ask for the recording.

[00:13:03] So I think it's that important to be engaged in meetings like this that if you can't be that you look at some other options and this is exhausting. I'm just going to say that. Let's just own it. I have ended these calls feeling exhausted. just completely depleted.

[00:13:19] And I might have not spoken for very long, but I have had to show up in such an intentional way that it is physically exhausting. And I mentioned earlier to keep your video on. And I mean that you've got to turn your camera on and you've got to keep it on through the whole meeting. Because think about it, if you were in the room, you're not walking in and out of the room constantly.

[00:13:42] You're not turning your face on and off. You're there. And when you're remote, you've got to do the same thing. You've got to be there. And unless you're eating or using the restroom, you just have to mentally be prepared. So you're not just listening, you're working, you're tracking the conversation. And if you're not tracking the conversation, you've got to raise your hand and say, Would someone repeat that for me or can someone direct me to where we've moved in the agenda?

[00:14:08] Refer people back to the agenda so they honor it. They sent it around. This is what's been described as being the purpose and the outcomes of the meeting. So hold people accountable to that and that'll also make your job a little easier in trying to track the conversation. The last thing I want to say.

[00:14:28] is that there are times when you've got to consider the possibility of traveling in for the meeting and being in person just like everybody else. And that might be controversial for some of you. And I get it. Trust me, I do. And I think when you do travel in, you've got to be really smart and strategic about it.

[00:14:47] It's gotta be worth it. And oftentimes, these types of meetings, are worth it. They are the opportunity to maximize that in person time. And look, not everybody can do this. Not everybody can travel for lots of different reasons, but if you can travel and you do have a meeting like this on the calendar, then this would be The time, the time to ask for budget to build the case to think about the relationship building opportunities, because if it's significant enough of a meeting, there's probably going to be lots of socializing, right?

[00:15:22] You've got the time on the agenda, but there might be a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner, drinks. There's the movement around the office, but you've got to raise your hand for things like this because people aren't thinking about it. So if that's something that you want to do, you have to raise your hand and say, I'd like to travel in for this meeting.

[00:15:42] And once you do that, and people understand your interest in travel, then they might Think in the future. Oh, okay. You know, she is willing to travel. All right. So, you know, maybe we can begin to think more proactively about including her in some of these on site discussions. But you have to figure that out for you.

[00:16:01] You have to figure out, does it work with your life? Are the stakes high enough? Is there enough value for you being there in person? But these types of meetings beg that conversation to be had. And you should always be considering when you have one of these meetings on the calendar, is this something I want to travel in for, especially if you have enough time to prepare for that travel.

[00:16:23] All right. tip number one, get the agenda, Tip number two, manage your contribution, in content, but also in presence, And number three, think about, is this the meeting I travel in for?

[00:16:38] So there you have it. If you are still listening to this podcast, I so appreciate you.

[00:16:43] If you haven't already, please subscribe , you can go to work at remote. com to do that.

[00:16:48] Thank you, and I'll see you at episode number five

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