6 tools to make online meetings more fun
There’s no denying that meetings – even in-person meetings – are hard. The prep and the content itself, not so much. But keeping participants active and engaged? A chore. According to a Verizon study, 91% of meeting attendees admitted to daydreaming during meetings, while an incredible 39% even dozed off.
Add an online format into the mix and those numbers are likely to climb. People get distracted, they get bored and disengaged. When you don’t have that physical, human interaction, it’s a recipe for engagement and pariticpation disaster.
The solution? You need to turn it up a notch and find ways to make your virtual meetings and gatherings more fun. If you just plan on reading from a presentation, you’re going to lose any energy in about 5 seconds, so you need to bring in techniques that’ll reinvigorate and re-energize, and ensure you have everyone’s full attention.
Here’s what you should do:
Plan ahead
Sadly spontaneity and off-the-cuff activities aren’t going to help get people’s attention and hold it. Before every virtual meeting, brainstorm and map out different ways you can keep your attendees engaged. And you don’t need to over-think it – activities of just a few minutes can make a huge impact on how a meeting unfolds and lift the energy in the ‘room’.
Keep in mind that the larger the meeting, the less accountability from every attendee. If you’re just one in a big group, who’ll care what you have to contribute or if you even speak up? Aim for meetings with fewer people so you can really interact and engage with one-another.
It’s also a great idea to set everyone’s expectations before the meeting so they can get in the right headspace and be prepared for what’s coming. Send around an agenda, and ask participants to prepare some thoughts and ideas for topics covered. It’s also worth setting some guidelines for the meeting, for example to ensure cameras are on, and phones are away. Consider assigning each attendee a role to make them feel valued, and therefore more willing to stay engaged and participate.
Make introductions
Don’t just say hello and dive right into the agenda. Show your team you’re a leader who cares by setting the right tone.
Allow time for introductions and ‘go around’ the virtual meeting room and ask everyone to introduce themselves. If all attendees already know each other, then still allow time to greet and acknowledge each person and give them an opportunity to speak and share what they’ve been up. An easy start is asking everyone to share a highlight of the week, or a challenge they’re currently facing. This can really go a long way to improve social bonding and teamwork, which will keep team members actively engaged and collaborative – even when they’re not in the same room.
Start with icebreakers
Sharing a highlight of the week or a challenge is a great way to get attendees comfortable, but introducing other icebreakers in the introduction can increase participation. Ask attendees to bring something from their house – whether it’s a candle or a whisk – and show it to the group, using it as a metaphor for how they’re feeling, challenges or success on a project, or how they want to tackle tasks in achieving their goals. Even something as simple as ‘I Spy’ can warm up the room and get your team actively engaged.
Aim for icebreakers that are quick and easy to get your attendees feeling comfortable with speaking and interacting with the group.
Add some games into the mix
You need to keep that momentum going, and the easiest way that is to create situations where attendees have to actively participate during the meeting.
You can incorporate some team-building exercises before getting to the point of the meeting – make a contest on who can build the most creative object out of LEGO bricks, or award a virtual prize for the person (or team) who can solve a brainteaser the fastest. You’d be surprised how competitive people will get just to have the glory of being named the winner.
Keep the content engaging
Meetings are about important things, that’s a fact. But important doesn’t have to be dry and boring. Add visuals where you can in your presentation, and allow for attendee participation in problem solving – start a live poll or survey to get everyone’s opinions on solving an issue or next steps. Not only will this keep them engaged, but it helps make them feel part of the process, which we all know is a huge motivator.
Introduce a virtual whiteboard to encourage collective note-taking and jotting down ideas – it’s amazing the difference it makes when people can SEE their contributions.
You could also add games within your presentation. Hide an object or a symbol in various parts of your presentation, and whoever guesses the correct number of appearances will be crowned the winner. You could also let them know at the beginning of the meeting that when you say a certain word, the first person to ‘buzz’ will win. Gamification can be a great tool in increasing active listening and participation.
Take breaks
This is a big one if you’re in a virtual meeting that’s going on for a few hours. Without any breaks or change of pace, your attendees will get restless and antsy, and less likely to interact.
Take a break half-way through and encourage all attendees to do a few minutes of stretching to relieve any tension and to give their minds a bit of a break.
Speak to us at Play4Business for more information and practical examples in action. Our training is in a blended format: we combine virtual classes and self paced learning for team leaders. And what’s more we provide you with a toolkit of easy to use activities including our famous ‘what the duck’ set of techniques. These are built for team leaders so that they maintain engagement in their teams – during every team meeting, stand-up session, morning ‘buzz’ session or any time your team gets together.
