If you google "virtual meetings" you get a bunch of articles and sites dedicated to saying how bad virtual is and how much better face to face is.

I don't think it's the medium, though. I think it's the meeting culture in an organisation that determines how ANY meeting goes. If you already have a meeting culture where people describe meetings as pointless, painful and passive, then moving them to virtual isn't going to help.

What makes for a bad meeting?

• •  Death by powerpoint
  •  Monotone presenters
  •  People not being fully present in the meeting
  •  Lack of punctuality
  •  Poor attendance

All of the above move easily from the physical to the virtual.

If you are currently asking yourself, how could I make our virtual meetings more engaging or well attended, you might like to ask first, how do I do that in face to face meetings?

If you want your meetings (in any form) to be more productive, purposeful and powerful, you need meetings that encourage Discussion, Disruption, Direction, and Decision.

Get your meeting culture right, and then you can really leverage the benefits of virtual environments.