Virtual Meetings: Rapid Response Needs During COVID-19

Following the significant increase in healthcare sector meetings being postponed or cancelled due to the global COVID-19 outbreak, this post breaks down a conversation between Mark Handforth of 3Sixty Event Consulting and Braydon McCormick, CEO of intempio.com. As their discussion evolved, they realized their insights could help those now facing the fast turnaround of virtual meeting strategies and deployments.

Current Situation Assessment

On-the-Ground Reality

(Mark Handforth): Some companies are deciding to postpone or cancel all face-to-face meeting activity pending the development of the virus. Hotel groups are offering no-cost rebooking within certain timeframes, while agencies and corporate organizations are upgrading their policies on virtual meetings. It’s clear that some companies are much more advanced than others in their virtual meetings strategy.

(Braydon McCormick): We’ve just received requests for three summits, several Ad Boards, and numerous meetings where face-to-face was cancelled due to COVID-19 – all scheduled for March 2020. These include:

  • An internal global leadership summit (commercial) for ~60 participants
  • A Medical Affairs summit for external HCPs and internal Medical Affairs for ~200 participants
  • A Sales Leadership meeting to prepare for a National Sales Meeting

In all cases, we’ve worked with these teams on similar situations previously, which is helping facilitate the change process.

Key Challenges

Organizational and Technical Hurdles

(Mark): The challenges are organizational as much as technical. We have many more stakeholders in a multi-channel environment, so simplification is key for making quick, effective decisions. For meetings with HCPs, ensuring compliance alignment with planning and execution of virtual meetings is critical. There are unique risks in the virtual environment that need consideration.

(Braydon): When converting to a virtual format, meeting organizers and facilitators typically worry about technology issues and participant engagement, but don’t know how to address these challenges. Critical considerations include:

  • Setting realistic expectations with stakeholders for participation rates and satisfaction levels
  • Re-tooling content to drive engagement
  • Aligning on technology needs to ensure a smooth platform experience

Evaluating Virtual Meeting Viability

Is Virtual the Right Answer?

(Mark): Yes and no. The technology exists, along with content creation skills that work best in virtual formats. However, not all communication objectives align with the virtual world versus simply postponing the meeting. Even when postponing, a simple “meet the expert” webinar could work well to fill the gap and gather some of the insights the face-to-face meeting was planned to deliver.

(Braydon): We recommend a fairly simple decision tree when considering virtual meetings:

  • If the primary intent is relationship development, virtual is not the best format
  • If the meeting is geared toward knowledge transfer, ideation, collaboration, and specific business outcomes, virtual can usually be a good surrogate for face-to-face

Practical Implementation

Turnaround Feasibility

(Mark): Once you move from the actual decision to go virtual, the meeting industry is generally very creative and effective in a crisis. I recall the response to the Iceland ash cloud and how well handled that was by all parties.

(Braydon): The hardest part is making the decision and aligning stakeholders; implementation can be very fast with proper alignment. For example, the ~200 person Medical Summit mentioned earlier went from first contact to first meeting in less than 4 weeks – including:

  • Re-tooling content
  • Training facilitators
  • Preparing participants
  • Readying support infrastructure

This was possible because stakeholders were equal partners in meeting delivery, remaining in lockstep with internal and external support teams. With alignment, virtual formats are very doable – from plenary to workshop to 1-N conversations.

Future Outlook

Post-Crisis Expectations

(Mark): I anticipate three developments:

  1. A “meetings bump” – similar to what we saw after 9/11, with a surge in meetings once the virus situation changes
  2. Demonstration of virtual meeting effectiveness when done well
  3. Re-examination of event insurance if COVID-19 becomes seasonal

(Braydon): Looking back at the H1N1 pandemic of 2009, today’s situation reflects similar meeting panic and cancellations. The difference is that 10 years ago, both the technology and organizations’ willingness to experiment with virtual meetings was significantly less. While face-to-face meetings will certainly return, they’ll likely be different, with pre- and post-meeting virtual modules added.

Best Practices for Virtual Meeting Success

Actionable Recommendations

  1. Ensure the right people are at the table to make the best, quickest decisions possible
  2. Document and agree on expected outcomes from the virtual interaction
  3. Engage technology and content partners early for technical and engagement guidance
  4. Simplify decision-making and planning processes as time will be limited
  5. Consider reducing seat time or spreading content over multiple, shorter days
  6. Plan a virtual follow-up 30 days after the meeting for assessment and reinforcement
  7. Factor in compliance dimensions for virtual meetings including HCPs:
    • Application of code to marketing, format, and content
    • Content sign-off process
    • Handling of sensitive questions during Q&As
    • Rules of engagement for information sharing
  8. Define oversight and monitoring processes
  9. Allocate time for design planning, facilitator rehearsals, and participant technical checks
  10. Remember that although it’s virtual, it’s still a business meeting with similar rules to face-to-face

This blog post captures insights from a conversation between Mark Handforth (3Sixty Event Consulting) and Braydon McCormick (intempio.com) in response to COVID-19 meeting disruptions in March 2020.