How to create a successful virtual meeting.
Creating a successful virtual meeting is an art, and many different elements must be used to optimize the experience and build engagement for employees. Having successfully delivered virtual presentations since 2006, I have identified 7 strategies for creating successful virtual meetings.
7 strategies to create successful virtual meetings
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Create a detailed outline, do your homework.
Organization is the cornerstone of creating a successful virtual meeting. By creating a detailed outline that includes exercises, surveys, and pre-planned questions and answers, you can keep your attendees engaged and focused on the topic.
Having a guide is essential to ensure all vital content is covered. In addition, it is important to design supplemental materials for employees to support the virtual training long after the meeting is over.
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Understand the goals and objective outcomes of the meeting.
When planning your virtual meeting, it is important to have a clear understanding of what the main goals and objectives are for the attendees. When you create your meeting schedule with the management team, you will have a better understanding of what needs to be accomplished.
This will keep you focused on the material, whatever interactivity and engagement necessary to achieve outstanding results!
If your team needs to learn specific skill sets during the virtual meeting, you can incorporate exercises, discussion topics, and real-world examples that can help them develop those skills.
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Be sure to communicate details about the meeting / training well in advance.
One said that “luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” If you want full participation and commitment from your team for the virtual meeting, you need to prepare. Be sure to constantly communicate meeting details and benefits to attendees for attending.
Since many of us are operating remotely sending reminders, emails that include the details in your company newsletter and on the message board will help ensure full participation.
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Facilitate access.
Your virtual meeting should be easy to access, even for non-tech savvy team members. Access and navigation should be simple and straightforward, and everyone should know how to log into the system to attend the live event or webinar.
Another alternative is to record the virtual event and upload it to the company’s website for future reference or for those who have missed the live event. Also, some companies may prefer a recorded version to ensure there are no technological glitches for their live meeting.
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Include polls, questions and answers, and interactivity to drive engagement
Creating a virtual meeting or event is always enhanced by including polls, Q&A opportunities, and attendee interactivity. Often times, the use of meeting rooms and pre-planned interactivity drives retention and ensures a positive experience and results for attendees.
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Encourage and promote group collaboration on social media.
Social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn can be valuable tools to support collaboration and discussion before, during, and after the event.
Receiving questions from people on the platform or watching the live stream enhances the meeting and encourages and motivates attendees to collaborate long after the event ends.
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Avoid information overload.
When conducting a virtual meeting, it’s easy to want to pack 25 pounds of information into a 5-pound bag. That is an error! Try to keep the sessions as short as possible and include only the necessary information. It’s important to keep having fun to keep attendees engaged while still focusing on the topic. I believe that if you follow these seven strategies for creating successful virtual meetings, you will find that your attendees are more engaged, motivated and more productive, even if they operate remotely.
Since 2006, Dr. Rick has successfully delivered virtual programs for his clients in the United States, South America, Asia, and Europe. Tea Solution-oriented virtual experience™ is a unique and powerful process designed to deliver phenomenal results, your team will be highly focused, refreshed and revitalized to serve your customers.