The adoption of online meeting tools like Zoom and Google Meet is growing as the new normal sets in. But almost all of us will concur that online meetings can be a little monotonous because we are not speaking with our supervisors or bosses directly and because we can only see each other through a little window, virtually. Now, as a manager, how would you ensure that you make virtual meetings more productive and engaging

so that each of your employees participates actively and to the best of their ability? Therefore, this blog “Boosting Virtual Meeting Success: 12 Game-Changing Tips for Productivity and Engagement” is for you to assist you with all the minor and important things you need to remember while conducting meetings electronically.

Embracing the Future: Remote and Hybrid Meetings Are Here to Stay

Since the workplace has undergone a significant transformation, it is clear that remote and hybrid meetings are here to stay and will become an integral part of our working life. Challenges and possibilities have both come with this new method of working together. By using technology, changing our communication tactics, and encouraging meaningful interaction in virtual spaces, we can embrace the future. By sharpening our abilities and experimenting with new ideas, we can stay ahead in this fast-changing environment. By accepting this fact, we may achieve new levels of efficiency and success in our professional endeavors. Remote and hybrid meetings are here to stay. 

Before beginning: Quick suggestions for fostering participation

When it comes to virtual meetings most of the attendees are either listening passively or are doing multitasking. All this happens because the meeting becomes boring for them. So, here are a few tips you can follow to make virtual meetings more productive and engaging.

1. Employ Interactive Tools: Encourage involvement and engagement by using interactive technologies like polling, chat options, and virtual whiteboards. Virtual whiteboards can be utilized for group brainstorming or idea generating, and polling and chat tools let users exchange their ideas, opinions, and questions in real time.
2. Pick the Best Virtual Meeting Tool: There are several options for virtual meetings, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and many others. Consider considerations like ease of use, features, security, and compatibility with existing workflows when selecting the product that best suits the needs of your team and organization.
3. Add Interactive Components to Your Meeting: Virtual meeting platforms frequently come with interactive features like polling, tests, or surveys. Utilize these capabilities to get real-time participant input, comments, or suggestions. This may encourage participation, involvement, and teamwork during the meeting.
4. Encourage Participation: Encourage everyone to participate fully in the conversation and you can do that by making everyone in the meeting have conversations and by making it more and more interesting. Before the meeting, assign participants to jobs or duties, then let everyone speak. Talking for a long time without involving the audience might cause disengagement and a lack of focus.

12 Tips to Boost the Efficiency of Virtual Meetings

One thing that you must be proficient with is technology when it comes to conducting meetings electronically or even making meetings effective virtually. The more technologically adept you are, the more quickly and seamlessly you can improve video conferences. When you have the potential or the power to make a virtual meeting interactive and productive, you must have many ideas. If you do not, then dont worry, we have 12 tricks and tips which you can follow to make your virtual meeting productive and interactive at the same time. 

1. Create a Schedule: Enhancing the effectiveness of virtual meetings requires scheduling. It gives the meeting structure and guarantees that everyone is aware of the goals and purposes of the gathering. Establishing the meeting's objectives and expected results first can help attendees grasp what has to be accomplished. Next, take the difficulty of the items up for discussion into consideration and decide how long the meeting should last. Set up enough time for each item on the agenda, taking into account the necessity for pauses or transitions between subjects. 
2. Pick the Best Virtual Meeting Tool: Choosing the finest virtual meeting platform is crucial for efficient and productive teamwork. Take into account the features and functionality provided by various tools while making your choice. To satisfy your unique meeting needs, look for choices that include dependable video conferencing, screen sharing, chat capability, and recording capabilities. Another important aspect to think about is usability since you want a product that is simple and easy for everyone to use. 
3. Use Breakout Rooms: There are a lot of virtual meeting platforms with breakout room features that let you divide attendees into smaller groups for talks or activities. Breakout rooms can be utilized for brainstorming sessions, focus groups, or team-building activities, which can improve participant engagement and collaboration.
4. Add Interactive Components to Your Meeting: It's essential to include interactive elements that promote active involvement in your virtual meetings if you want to make them more interesting and captivating. Utilizing polls and surveys to get participants' ideas and input in real-time is a useful strategy. Q&A sessions provide people a chance to clarify their queries and seek answers, promoting two-way dialogue. Participants can contribute to debates, ask questions, and exchange ideas by utilizing the chat function. 
5. Record Meetings: The majority of virtual meeting software let you do this. For attendees who might have missed the meeting or for future reference, recording meetings can be helpful. Additionally, it can be useful for sharing meeting highlights with stakeholders or for recordkeeping purposes.
6. Provide Training and Assistance: For virtual meetings to go smoothly and effectively, participants must get training and support. Offering training sessions or tutorials before the meeting might assist attendees get more comfortable with the technology since not everyone may be familiar with the specific virtual meeting platform or the capabilities it offers. Furthermore, having technical assistance on hand throughout the meeting helps handle any unanticipated problems or inquiries that emerge. 
7. Follow the Agenda: Keep the meeting on track by adhering to the agenda and avoiding unneeded digressions or interruptions. Keep track of the time as the meeting's facilitator, and if talks stray from the agenda, get them back on track. Encourage attendees to keep their attention on the agenda items and refrain from off-topic conversations.
8. Allow for mobility during prolonged meetings: It's crucial to let participants incorporate movement into their experience throughout lengthier virtual sessions. Long periods of stationary sitting can cause physical pain and impair attention. Encourage participants to move during frequent breaks so they may stretch, move about, or perform simple physical activities. You may plan brief rest periods for everyone's bodies and thoughts. 
9. Make it more of a discussion than a lecture: Instead of using a lecture-style structure, it's critical to establish a conversational ambiance throughout longer virtual sessions that encourage active engagement and participation. By asking people to contribute their ideas, viewpoints, and insights on the subjects being addressed, you may promote two-way dialogue. Ask probing questions, pay attention to what others have to say, and lead fruitful dialogues. 
10. Ask icebreakers to start a discussion: In virtual meetings, icebreaker questions are a great way to get the conversation going and build relationships. These amusing and stimulating questions aid in removing the first barriers and fostering an atmosphere conducive to interaction. By including icebreaker questions at the start of a meeting, you may inspire discussion, get people talking about their own experiences or perspectives, and create a nice atmosphere for the duration of the meeting. 
11. Improve your meetings by using gamification components: Your virtual meetings may be elevated to a new level by using gamification components, which add fun, excitement, and friendly competition. Gamification may boost participation, encourage active interaction, and provide people with a memorable experience. Include components like trivia contests, challenges, or quizzes that are relevant to the meeting's goals or agenda. Give participants who reach particular milestones or exhibit extraordinary knowledge or abilities points, badges, or virtual awards. 
12. Don't use up all of the time provided merely for the show: It's crucial to avoid filling the given time during virtual meetings solely for the sake of filling it. It is always preferable to choose quality over quantity. Respect attendees' time by effectively preparing and organizing your meeting agenda. Be careful to limit your participation to the debates and subjects that are essential to achieving the meeting's goals. Do not go off on unneeded tangents or elaborate excessively since this may cause the meeting to last longer than required. 

FAQ

1. How do I make my virtual meeting more interactive? Ans: Include components like surveys, breakout rooms, collaborative activities, and Q&A sessions to make your online conference more dynamic. Encourage conversation, create chances for active involvement, and make use of the interactive tools your virtual meeting platform has to offer.
2. What strategies help make virtual meetings more productive? Ans: Clear objectives and agendas, role and responsibility delegation, efficient time management, promoting open communication, using technological tools, and routine follow-up on decisions and action items are all tactics that can increase the effectiveness of virtual meetings.
3. How do you stay focused and engaged in virtual meetings? Ans: Eliminate distractions by choosing a quiet, dedicated workspace, actively participate by taking notes and posing questions, practice active listening, use video to maintain visual connection, and participate in discussions and activities throughout the meeting if you want to stay focused and involved.
4. How do I make my team huddles more engaging? Ans: Make your team huddles more interesting by including icebreaker questions, sharing triumphs or accomplishments, talking about problems and finding solutions, establishing precise objectives and action items, encouraging team members to share their ideas, and allotting time for casual conversations to foster rapport and improve team dynamics.

Conclusion

With every suggestion we gave you, we can now say with confidence that you will be able to make virtual meetings more productive and engaging. Also, keep in mind that no one can easily grasp what the other is trying to say in a virtual meeting setting because no one is able to be physically in one spot. Maintain a fun and relaxed atmosphere so that everyone can deal with the circumstance. Along with improving your ability to manage virtual meetings, we anticipate that you will be able to boost employee engagement and productivity.