You’re struggling to keep your virtual meetings productive. What can you do to improve them?

If you're going to ask for people's time, it's imperative that you have clear goals for the outcome of the meeting. Let others know the problems to be solved and the decisions that will be reached by the end of the meeting. These will inform your agenda. Once that's clear, spend time analyzing who needs to be present and who just needs to be informed of the outcomes. When you invite attendees, let them know how the information will be disseminated after the meeting, so in some cases, they can choose whether to attend. If possible, provide documentation for people to read ahead of the meeting. This will help those who have trouble processing in the moment and allow them to come prepared.

The combination of a virtual platform and some sort of digital collaboration tool work great for an engaging meeting. Zoom, Teams, whatever combined with a mural or Miro board is ?? fire

The most utilized virtual meeting platforms are Teams, Zoom, Slack, and Skype. They also have great messaging features to stay up-to-date with your team. Many of these platforms allow for free 1-hour meetings - If you expect to host longer meetings, they do request that you get subscription. The subscriptions are worth it, especially if you plan to use this as a daily tool for your business.

Teams and Zoom have setting that will allow you to turn off the videos and audio of all members attending your meeting; however, if you want group participation, you'll need to let the attendees know that all audio should be turned off. Teams has a helpful option that allows members to raise their "hand" and once the host calls on you, you turn on your audio to speak.

Keeping your audience engaged is crucial when holding a virtual meeting via zoom or teams. In my experience, it is important to add a little fun into the mix to keep people engaged. Trivia games are popular, especially if you add in a small prize for the top 3 winners with the most accurate answers. Another way to keep the audience engaged is to have multiple speakers with each focusing on a particular topic.

Keep virtual meetings short and with a concise audience. Nothing sucks the life out of a team and culture more than crappy virtual meetings when you have a full plate. Have and stick with an agenda, invite the appropriate audience, and be agile to maintain engagement.

Think about getting the team together in person from time to time as well to continue to build strong personal connections among the team. Make sure to mix in some fun and personal time so teammates can decompress.