When you’re leading an in-house meeting, it’s challenging to hold the attention of everyone sitting around the conference table. Add in the inherent distractions of summiting remotely, and maintaining focus and connection is that much harder. To make your distanced gatherings more productive, here are five ideas for increasing engagement each time you invite staff to fire up their virtual office backgrounds for an online meeting.
1. Send Your Agenda Ahead of Time
Unless you’re springing an amazing surprise on your staff, letting everyone know what your meeting is about in advance allows for proper preparation. Attendees can gather materials and formulate questions ahead of time so they’re ready to contribute. Just remember that sticking to your agenda is as important as creating one, because it limits tangential discussions that cause people to tune out.
2. Cameras On!
Another tip is to opt for video conferencing over phone-only meetings whenever practical. While participants may not intentionally disengage just because they’re not under the scrutiny of a camera lens, it’s much easier to stay focused when others are watching. In your agenda, ask staff to sign on a few minutes ahead and to test their video and audio signals so they’re ready to go. Also, remind everyone to feature the company’s branded virtual backdrop so there are no background distractions.
3. Break the Ice
At the beginning of the meeting, spend time chatting about something other than work, using prompts to get conversations started. For instance, ask staff to switch out their usual company-branded virtual office background for their favorite vacation photos, and then have them share special memories from their trips. In future meetings try out other ideas, like playing a brief game of Rock/Paper/Scissors or engaging in show-and-tell with cherished items each person keeps in his or her office.
4. Asking Questions
As noted in the second tip, setting an agenda is critical for ensuring meetings stay on topic. To create an agenda that both keeps things on track and encourages engagement, try posing questions rather than listing talking points. Instead of including “Marketing Strategies” as a subject, ask instead, “How Do We Increase Excitement About ‘Product X’?” This tips attendees off to be prepared with ideas.
5. Keep Things Brief
Finally, recognize that virtual attention spans are short. The longer your meetings run, the more likely people are to become tired and distracted. When you’ve got a lot of material to cover, it’s usually better to schedule several brief conferences rather than a single long one. At a minimum, make regular breaks part of your agenda and encourage staff to step away from their desks during these pauses so they have a chance to refresh and refocus.
Now that you’ve gotten some great ideas to boost engagement, it’s time to plan your next online meeting. If you haven’t already created Teams customized backgrounds for everyone to use, just visit the site of a trusted meeting tools developer and design yours today. Then, send out your agenda and follow these other top tips to improve focus and participation at all your staff conferences.