The workforce is evolving and remote work is becoming the norm. It’s not all bad news though — meetings that could have been an email may one day actually be an email. But as of now, it feels difficult to create effective remote meetings on platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet. How do you keep everyone’s interest when there is no face-to-face communication? We bring you 6 strategies to engage remote meeting participants as effectively as an in-person meeting.

Set expectations

Are you mid-meeting and notice only one person has their video on? Now you’re distracted and concerned that your team is busy playing fetch with their dog. The first thing you need to create is a set of expectations.

  • Video: Absolutely encourage video use as it’s the closest thing to a face-to-face meeting.
  • Audio: Background noise is a real thing, and it’s distracting in virtual meetings. Generally, ask meeting attendees to stay muted unless they plan to speak.
  • Structure: Twelve people speaking all at once is never a good idea. Determine a structure for how you will engage. It’s your job to facilitate the meeting, so make it clear to participants whether they should just jump right in, use the chat feature or raise their virtual hand.

Create a streamlined agenda and share it beforehand

No one likes to be put on the spot — nothing is worse than being asked to share new material when you haven’t had the time to prep, let alone take your first sip of coffee. Create a clear agenda and share it well before the meeting time. This keeps you on track as the facilitator. However, you also want your team to come to the meeting prepared with comments and suggestions for a more effective remote meeting.

Make meetings interactive rather than a lecture

Zoom fatigue gets to the best of us. And virtual meetings are not, we repeat not, a chance for you to lecture. The goal is for remote meetings to be interactive rather than a presentation. Otherwise, just send an email. On your clear agenda mentioned earlier, make it question driven. You solve questions together as a team in this format. Think of framing your meeting as a question only your team can answer. For example, “How do we improve client retention by 25% this quarter?”

Set an inviting and understanding tone

Keep some humanity even though you’re altogether thanks to technology. Everyone needs to feel comfortable, or the meeting won’t be of any value. Start the meeting with some small talk or ice breakers to help everyone feel more comfortable and more likely to speak up when necessary. In addition, make it clear to everyone that virtual meetings are unpredictable. Someone’s cat (or toddler) is bound to walk across the keyboard. It’s simple, your team should feel supported in a digital environment.

Keep the numbers low

It is way too easy to hide in virtual meetings, especially with large numbers. If there are 50 people at today’s meeting, half of them can catch up on last night’s episode and let everyone else do the work. Keep expectations high by inviting the right number of people (1-10) and defining roles during the meeting. One idea is to assign a leader, recorder, timekeeper, and participants. Keep things interesting and rotate roles throughout your next few meetings.

Use breakouts when applicable

We have so many incredible tools available that also go undervalued. One way to engage your team is to utilize breakout rooms. Pair up members, or break up the group into 4 groups of 3. This way, everyone contributes and engages. Plus, small groups prompt participation, and you’re more likely to come up with unique solutions.

Studio Workspaces offers an assortment of meeting rooms as well as private and shared office space in Roseville and Rocklin ideal for virtual meetings. Interested in a coworking space? Book a tour of our Rocklin and Roseville coworking spaces today.