Strategies for Conducting Engaging High-Impact Virtual Meetings
Over the last few years, there have been significant changes in the daily operations of the workforce resulting in widespread challenges and opportunities. What was once almost exclusively onsite reporting with daily meetings has now evolved into a more complex, digitalized environment. Meetings are now conducted via phone or video call, with teams coordinating virtual calendars across multiple time zones. While this remote option maximizes personal convenience, maintaining meaningful collaborative sessions can be more challenging. Holding these sessions with intention, care, and awareness is imperative for successful collaboration. In this article, we outline strategies for leaders to conduct engaging and high-impact virtual sessions for any audience or topic.
Pre- Session
Get your audience thinking ahead of time. Send an agenda and when possible, conduct a pulse check a few days before the meeting. This can be as simple as an emailed agenda with a call to action, or an introduction to the material you plan to discuss. This helps gauge the audience’s prior understanding of a topic, what they have heard or experienced about the topic, and what has or has not worked before, allowing you to further tailor the content prior to the meeting.
When the presenter understands their audience, it is easier to speak to information that is on topic and consistent with what their audience needs. Ultimately, this will keep the audience engaged and more likely to remain interested in the topic at hand.
In Session
There are many virtual tools and templates to enhance your meetings. However, facilitators must be proficient with their chosen platform and understand their audience's skill level. Always provide a brief tutorial on the tool before starting the content. Below is a short list of virtual tools regularly utilized by Switch to create engaging virtual sessions.
Virtual Whiteboard: There are many excellent options depending on your organization and preferences that you can use when onsite collaboration isn’t possible. At Switch, we primarily use Mural for virtual whiteboarding. We recommend setting up the virtual whiteboard just as you would for an in-person session, allowing remote activities to mirror office ones. Virtual whiteboards can be used collaboratively for both pre-session and in-session work, such as replicating sticky note activities from in-person sessions.
Support less experienced participants by starting with an icebreaker in the tool (see #1 below). This helps them get comfortable with the tool before beginning real work, and you may learn something fun about the participants! Once the team is familiar with the tool, introduce a business-related exercise (see #2 below) to build on their familiarity.
The very simple icebreaker exercise looks and feels like the Enterprise Capability Assessment exercise giving participants the chance to better understand the tool, leading to a more effective session with stronger outputs.
2. Polling: The very simple icebreaker exercise looks and feels like the Enterprise Capability Assessment exercise giving participants the chance to better understand the tool, leading to a more effective session with stronger outputs. The use of an online polling tool can be used to accomplish a variety of goals and promote engagement throughout the session. You can use polling to:
Gain understanding of how well versed an audience is on discussion topics prior to the presentation
Conduct pulse checks with your audience throughout the session
Check for understanding of material
A quick interactive poll engages the audience in a way that encourages them to participate and retain the information that is being presented. A win for everyone!
3. Breakout Groups: Breakout groups allow pre-selected participants to meet in smaller groups to discuss specific topics. Plan the group in advance and prepare a virtual whiteboard with sections for each group. This enables each group to highlight key discussion points and document ideas in one place for future reference, fostering a collaborative "in the room" feeling without being physically together.
Post Session
Follow Up! Don’t underestimate the value of allocating time to thank participants and offer support for any questions. Share a link to the virtual whiteboard for everyone to access the session's output. This fosters communication, builds relationships and trust, and increases the session's value.
At Switch, we have found that the virtual world can be very engaging, collaborative, and most importantly, transformational. These are just a few of the many virtual tools and strategies we regularly utilize to help teams form and deliver great output.
If your team needs help with facilitation, maximizing leadership efforts, or could benefit from a strategic learning session, we'd love to hear from you and learn about your favorite tools too.
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