imapMyTeam Blog

You’re doing WHAT? Distractions in virtual meetings

If you’re reading this Tuesday Tip while you are on a conference call (or worse… even in the restroom) you’re not alone. A recent poll shows that many employees do just about anything rather than listen intently to their co-workers from a remote location.

Who says – Intercall does. Intercall is the world’s largest conference call company — it’s used by 85% of Fortune 100 firms and they recently did some extensive polling of what people are REALLY doing on calls. Percentage reflects the number of people who have said they have done these things during a virtual conference call:

• Other work; including sending emails 65%

• Eating or making food 63%

• Going to the restroom 55%

• Texting 47%

• Checking Social Media 44%

• Playing video games 25%

• Online shopping 21%

• Exercising 9%

• Taking other calls 6%

Source: Intercall

Also interesting is that 40% of respondents said they’ve dropped off a call without announcing they’ve done so in order to pretend they stayed on and 27% reported having fallen asleep on at least one occasion.

Virtual participants are vulnerable to all kinds of distractions. Not all are going to be as obvious to you as hearing a microwave oven in use; some are more subtle such as the clicking sounds of a keyboard in the background.

A couple of weeks ago, our tip focused on some of the characteristics of effective meetings. With “Pencil and Paper” in the title, it discussed the importance of limiting the distractions that technology can introduce and thereby take a toll on the effectiveness of a meeting.

While limiting technology is most easily accomplished when everyone is attending the meeting, live and in person, the reality of today’s business operating environment is that many meetings must be conducted virtually; therefore requiring technology at the very core of the meeting.

It’s clear that having virtual attendees in a meeting is more work and requires even more focus from both the facilitator and the attendees.

If you are the facilitator, it will be important for you to proactively check the level of engagement of the virtual attendees and work to gain everyone’s contributions. Although imapMyTeam cannot predict who might go to the restroom during a call it can provide you some valuable meeting insights.

The “Manage Meetings” report in imapMyTeam is designed to assist you in leading more effective, “engaging” meetings and will help you easily gain the focus and unique insights you need to make even virtual meetings a success