One way to encourage participation in virtual meetings is to request participation. It seems obvious, right? But instead of simply asking “any questions? at the end of a statement or meeting, it's important to call people. Someone may be sitting there with an idea, but they don't think it's important enough to share it. Even before the meeting starts, allow attendees to adopt the right mindset by setting expectations for their participation.
She recommends breaking the ice by going around the virtual room and asking everyone to introduce themselves and share something about their weekend, or talk about something they're looking forward to, to add a social element to the proceedings. Treat your virtual meetings like panel discussions and appoint a moderator to facilitate interaction and keep attendees engaged. If you're a person who learns by watching and you want to observe someone who knows how to get people involved, you should think about hiring a professional virtual artist for virtual meetings. As the pandemic has taught us, not only can the workforce operate remotely, but it can also excel, and virtual meetings have played a critical role in enabling the transition to remote work.
Virtual conferences come with a variety of content, some that should be viewed in real time and others that can be viewed at your convenience. Being able to talk to remote teammates “face to face” enables virtually the kind of real-time conversation and troubleshooting that email doesn't offer. Compliance with these five rules will dramatically and immediately change the productivity of any virtual meeting. However, in virtual meetings, some team members may introduce themselves more than others.
Work never stops, but when you attend a virtual conference it should be left in the background, even if only for an hour or two straight. In addition to being green, switching some of your in-person meetings to virtual platforms can save you money. Beyond being a fun activity to keep attendees engaged, surveys and surveys can serve as a decision-making tool in virtual meetings, where attendees can vote on follow-up actions and next steps. One of the problems I often see with virtual meetings is the problem that some people are together in person while others are virtual.
Feel free to take advantage of the following eight great ideas on how to increase engagement and participation among virtual meeting attendees. You could be a meeting facilitator for a year-end town hall meeting, a master of ceremonies for an upcoming event, or a clean comedian for a virtual awards ceremony to keep your spirits up.
