Virtual meetings get a bad wrap… and for some good reasons.
They can feel impersonal. It’s really easy to get distracted. Everyone always seems to be doing something else at the same time. Not everyone knows how to use the technology. The kids are always interrupting. The list goes on and on.
Many of these are solvable problems, but we collectively haven’t really taken the time to address them, because we always had other options. Well, now that social distancing and COVID-19 are our new reality, those options have pretty much been eliminated.
Which means, now is the perfect time to get better at hosting virtual meetings. If done well, virtual meetings can help all of us get through this crisis while still remaining productive and connected. And beyond that, if we all improve our virtual meeting abilities, after this crisis is over, we’ll be able to use those skills to make the environmentally-friendly choice to limit plane travel and long-distance driving more often.
A special thanks to the following Austinites who helped make this video a reality:
Janis Bookout – Executive Director of Earth Day Austin. Janis is doing a lot of great organizing work right now to ensure that the response to COVID-19 is equitable and community-driven. You can support her by donating to her Patreon page.
Ruben Cantu – Director of Inclusive, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at UT Austin
Brigid Shea – Travis County Commissioner
Victoria Arenas – student at UT Austin, intern at The Austin Common.
