There is no denying the fact that virtual meetings are here to stay for a long time. They have opened up a new world full of possibilities. They not only make the team more agile, but it is one of the cost-effective ways to bring the whole team together irrespective of their location.
Approximately seven out of ten employees in the United States found it easier to give a presentation virtually than in person. As a leader or manager, you should consider conducting virtual meetings as it offers several benefits to the business. But it can be a challenge for you if you do not know how to engage your employees.
Promoting engagement with the global workforce is indeed a daunting task! This is why we have put together some effective strategies to make virtual meetings more engaging.
Engage with People
We bet you must have faced meeting awkwardness when employees do not talk. So, if you are conducting virtual meetings, then do not just start speaking as soon as people join the meetings. Start by asking them about their day or speaking something humorous. Let the employees talk to each other, as this can help them settle in and ensure that everyone speaks. This strategy can help maintain the momentum of the meeting.
However, be careful that a bad internet connection can easily get in your way, so be careful about it. And before you choose to host your video session, ensure you have a fast internet connection. Otherwise, you will not be able to complete your sessions smoothly and will not achieve the goals of your meetings either. If you are living in Lexington, Kentucky, you can subscribe to Windstream. Fiber optic internet connection should be the best choice for businesses that follows a hybrid or remote work model. It does not throttle your connection and offers unlimited data so you can seamlessly complete all your work.
Prepare Content Before the Meeting
To ensure that your meetings are successful and engaging, you need to prepare for them way before. Otherwise, you will run out of words to speak or forget to share something important. Moreover, employees will get frustrated if you try to create a document during the meeting, as this can increase the meeting minutes.
Manage Your Virtual Presence
Yes, you read that right! You have to manage your virtual presence during the meetings by making eye contact with your employees. While they are speaking, ask others to turn off their mics to avoid distortion. In addition, you should give your complete attention to the speaker so he can confidently speak. Try to conduct your meetings in a silent room and position your camera at eye level.
Share Your Opinions
You do not have to make the meetings intense by only talking about the work and deadlines. Instead, observe all the employees and share your opinions. This will make the employees feel that you are observing them, they say if you were to see them in person. Thus, this ensures that your employees stay attentive, and this will foster better conversations.
Invite Some Guest Speakers
Your employees are likely to get bored if you only speak in every session. So, to avoid this, invite a guest speaker. This can excite the participants, and they will be interested in attending the meetings. This way, they will stay motivated despite working remotely.
Engage All Participants
You need to engage all the participants and not just talk to two or three employees. However, ensure it looks natural otherwise, the employees will get frustrated and will not voice their opinions or concerns. To do this, you can take a quick update on the task the attendees are working on. Also, ask them about their challenges and try to motivate them with encouraging words.
Ask Open-Ended Questions
This is one of the best strategies that you can use to engage the employees when you run out of ideas. However, do not be assertive instead. Try to make the employees feel comfortable by giving them the option to answer on the mic or chat. This way, those who do not feel like speaking will be motivated to participate and will attentively listen to your feedback.
Give Attendees a Break
Most people believe that employees will listen to everything for longer hours since they are not at the office. However, this is not true! Because if you make them listen to something for a long time, they will either get bored or will not pay attention. Therefore, you must give them breaks. Moreover, once you have finished the topic, you can ask them all to meditate or talk about something light. This can bring positivity to your virtual meetings.
In Brief
Online meetings are not only easier to manage, but they also connect the teams even if they are working remotely. But it can be a challenge because your employees cannot see you, and you have to ensure that they take an interest in the meetings.
