Five Ideas for Encouraging Participation in Virtual Meetings 


Research and experience 
tell us how important equal and energized group meetings are to morale and productivity. 

Yet, clients using virtual audio or video conferencing say that engaging all participants, holding attention, and controlling interruptions and overlapping speakers are significant challenges.

Make sure you are incorporating these five essentials in your virtual meetings:

  1. Stop talking so much. Invite team members to be on the list in advance or ask others to facilitate the meeting. Give as many people as possible a “speaking part.” Reticent participants appreciate the structure in advance.
  2. One person at a time, pleaseFacilitators need to have “rules of the virtual road.” Use the raise hand feature in some platforms to call on people, state the rule of one speaker at a time, and don’t be afraid to say, “David, let’s hear from you and then it’s Keyla’s turn.”
  3. Manage large meetingsMeetings larger than five participants breed inattention. Think, “the smaller, the better.” Research tells us that the smaller the communication unit, (1-1’s are best!), the more engagement you get. Learn how to use breakout rooms if your technology allows, or PODs, described below.
  4. Schmoozing is usually worth the time.  Leaders have shared that they need to focus on business, not socializing during meetings. True enough during crises or emergencies. It’s worth spending five to ten minutes on check in’s, recognizing birthdays or accomplishments, an occasional virtual “special” event, like sharing your favorite dessert on camera.
  5. Master these inclusion techniquesThough you may feel awkward at first, facilitators can use several methods for maximizing participation by all. The most egalitarian is the round-robin (I like the French phrase, tout le monde – around the world) where each person has a turn to speak or react.

If the group is larger than eight or ten, use the POD technique, which stands for Participants of the Day. The facilitator chooses different team members in advance for each meeting.  PODS are ready to react and comment.

Incorporate the easy strategies above, and team members will describe virtual meetings as valuable, exciting, and sometimes even fun!

Spread the love

Author

Similar posts

Why Do They Say “Look”?

Have you noticed how many times a political candidate or commentator will say the word “look”? Why do they say that? Well, let us zoom the picture back a little and think about this. Linguists and psychologists have introduced us to what they refer to as “representational systems.” They tell us that people are prone to expressing their feelings, attitudes, opinions, and using one of three ‘representational systems.’ They have named these to be Visual,

Spread the love

Tips for Leading Effective Meetings

Our coaching team appreciates the challenge of masterminding the right mix of talent, personalities, and action items. Fortunately, easy tweaks often go a long way to enhance comfort, participation, and awareness of nuances in a team member’s behavior. Recently, I worked with a senior leader in financial services who felt it was his responsibility to control the agenda and results of all meetings; in fact, he considered it part of his job. He was baffled that his

Spread the love

Listen to Your Gut

Microexpressions are brief, involuntary facial movements that reveal a person’s true emotions. They may last for only a fraction of a second and are often difficult to detect with the naked eye, but they can provide valuable insight into a person’s inner thoughts and feelings. In order to use microexpressions effectively in communication, it is important first to understand their significance. Microexpressions are believed to be universal and biologically based, meaning that they are hardwired

Spread the love

QUESTIONS? NEED HELP?

Tell us what’s on your mind: