EP. 23 How to Plan Engaging Virtual Meetings Part 2

You can actually create stronger levels of engagement in online meetings than you can in in-person meetings. How can you do that? Well, one of the biggest keys has to do with intentional design. The reason why you can create stronger levels of engagement comes down to your ability to break people into their own breakout rooms instantaneously, much faster than what would occur in person, and create space for a quieter more personal space for people to connect with each other (and introverts love that).This week, we’re releasing part two of our 2-Part episode on Engaging Virtual Meetings. In this series, we speak with virtual meeting expert, John Chen to learn tips on how to plan engaging virtual meetings. Inside this second episode you’ll learn tips for designing your virtual meetings with tips on what to do before, during and after the meeting, how to get people to show up to meetings on time, and how to tell if they’re really engaged in the first place. How to tell if you’re engaging people in their meeting? Winning teams will talk all the time. Losing teams will stop talking and give up on each other.How to get people to show up to Zoom Meetings on timeIf you wait for everyone else to show up, the impression you’re giving the attendees is “I’ll always wait for you.” The next time your meeting time begins, jump right into business whether everyone is there or not. The people who are late will have to catch up and, most likely, they’ll only be late for a meeting once. If you stick with this approach, you show the one person who shows up on time is that you respect their time, especially your online time. Virtual Meeting IdeasSchedule one hour every two weeks just for fun and connection Spend time during this meeting specifically to learn something about your team member that you may not know. Have a Window for Discussion Before & After the Actual MeetingOpen up your meetings before they begin. Give time for your participants to connect with each other on different issues that won’t be conducted during the meeting. After meetings, allow people to have conversations with each other.Meeting Introduction●      Play Music●      Have a fun/interesting Zoom Background●      Acknowledge every person who logs into the meeting.Virtual Meeting IcebreakersThe best virtual meeting icebreakers accomplish two things, they create fun and clarify expectations.Create Fun: Dedicate 3-5 minutes at the beginning of the virtual meeting to doing something fun. Clarify Expectations: One virtual meeting icebreaker you can do is have everyone take turns sharing their name, role, location, and one thing they’re expecting from this meeting or one thing they’ve achieved from the last meeting. This is a great way to start the meeting and to get everyone to start by opening up and engaging. Virtual PowerPoint KaraokeOne great example of a virtual meeting icebreaker is virtual PowerPoint Karaoke. Instructions: Put People into teams, have them present a slide deck they’ve never seen before. (Take something that’s a skill that your team members need and make it fun.) Have one team present at the beginning of each meeting. Have the presenters follow two rules for the presentation:Rule #1: Focus on your transition (Perhaps the slides have things that definitely don’t connect).Rule #2: Say Yes and to every response and question you get on the presentation. Read Blog for More info. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.