It's hard to get everyone in the same room at the same time for a productive meeting. Fortunately, collaborative desktop software and web-based tools mean you can set up a virtual meeting place and keep everyone on your team informed. 

While remote meetings might not entirely replace the face-to-face version, a remote meeting can save you time and money by bringing your team together regardless of where they are.

This how-to will also show you the ease and efficiency shared and cloud-based services can bring to workplace collaboration.

==Setting up a Remote Meeting==

===Step 1: Set a time===

Pick a time and place by consulting your team's shared calendar. If everyone on your team has their location and status (vacation, out of the office, working from home) in the calendar, it makes choosing a meeting place and time much easier.

Some software and web-based calendars can do this automatically, consulting everyone's schedule and suggesting a time that works for your entire team.

===Step 2: Notify Participants===

Next, send a meeting request over e-mail. Most shared calendar services will do this for you when you create a new event. Just add each attendee's address to the invitation, or, if you're using a [email group] just send the message to the group.

===Step 3: Track Attendance ===

Use either your desktop e-mail client, or your shared calendar to maintain an RSVP list so you know who will be available to attend the meeting.

===Step 4: Share Materials ===

Send your meeting agenda in an e-mail so your team knows what to expect. Also make sure to post any needed materials -- spreadsheets, presentation slides, notes video, etc -- to a shared network drive or cloud-based storage drive. Include a link to the materials in your agenda e-mail.

This helps ensure that everyone involved in the meeting has all the material ahead of time.

==Hold the meeting==

If people are calling in from a remote location, make sure everyone has the dial-in number. If you're using videoconferencing or a screen-sharing software, make sure everyone has the proper links and any required login information.

==After the meeting==

Once your meeting is over be sure to post meeting notes for your team to refer back to if they have questions. Again, a shared network drive or a cloud-based storage service works well for this allowing you to post the notes in one place where everyone can access them. 

You may also want to put the meeting minutes as well as any materials (videos, presentations) on a wiki so people can follow up and add to the discussion afterwards. To learn more about how to set up a wiki, see our [wiki link]


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[[Category:Office]]
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