What are the best ways to keep meeting participants engaged and contributing?

Research proves that traditional Brainstorming is no longer effective to solve real life problems. Aligning everyone becomes even more difficult in a hybrid & distributed environment using Google/Teams Meet. A handful of vocal people always dominate most meetings in a conference room. Add to that: A HPPO - Highest Paid Person Opinion. Do the following if you want to gather ideas from all sources: Mail the expected outcomes to all participants well in advance. Everyone should understand the context and list their solutions before the meeting. No powerpoint. Only Data. Bring mind-maps using tools like Miro. Do Brainswarming instead of Brainstorming. Google "Brainswarming: Because Brainstorming Doesn't Work" - Watch HBR video.

To effectively engage and inspire others, it is imperative to embody true leadership. Without genuine leadership qualities, it becomes challenging to foster engagement and encourage contributions from others. It is crucial not to shy away from hearing diverse opinions, and in fact, it is even more beneficial. It is preferable to surround oneself with individuals who possess the courage to express their opinions openly in your presence, rather than remaining silent and speaking differently behind your back.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A MEETING DEPENDS ON THE "BEFORE". IF THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE IS WELL ROOTED IN THE ORGANIZATION THE PILLARS OF PARTICIPATION AND COLLABORATION WILL SUPPORT THE PROCESS. IT IS IMPORTANT TO MOTIVATE PRELIMINARY REFLECTION AND SET THE OBJECTIVES WITH AN EMPHASIS ON CONTRIBUTING THE BEST.

During Covid & 100% remote work, meeting tools such as MS Teams could accommodate 100+ people in a meeting and no one would question whether all of those people were needed in the meeting and as result, only a few people would contribute whilst everyone else stayed on mute and off camera. Now, I suggest that the following tools be used for the following types of meeting: 1. Working group / brainstorming: Tools such as Micro allow everyone to add their ideas real time or alternatively f2f in front of a white board 2. Meeting to update colleagues on business news / updates: Email 3. Decision-making / SteerCo: Video conferencing with a tool that records the decision taken as well as actions and assigns them to individual like Fluid

Es ist wichtig zun?chst alle Beitr?ge anzuh?ren und sich für für das Engagement zu bedanken. Es gibt nichts wichtigeres als Wertsch?tzung gegenüber denjenigen zu zeigen, die sich aktiv an einem Meeting beteiligen. Weiterhin gibt es die M?glichkeit bestimmte Person aktiv nach ihrer Meinung zu Themen zu befragen. Dies geschieht am besten mit offenen Fragen, die nicht mit Ja oder Nein beantwortet werden müssen. Zuletzt ist das Hinterfragen der Beweggründe ein super Tool um schweigsame Teilnehmer zum Reden zu bewegen.

Before inviting a person to a meeting, brief them on what the meeting is about and let them know what contribution you would be appreciating that they bring into the discussion. Ask them if they have the mandate to make decisions on behalf of their department. This gives them time to either prepare for the meeting so that they can contribute meaningfully or to suggest someone else in the team who can.

Das Schlimmste ist wenn es im Meeting hei?t: "Man müsste mal x und y machen/organisieren/erledigen/etc." So wird es niemand machen. Aufgaben/Follow-Ups/etc. müssen klar an bestimmte Personen zugewiesen werden, sodass klar ist wer sich darum kümmert.

There are tools such as Fluid that can help track actions and send automatic reminders to people’s calendars. Give the people visibility to what their expected to action post the meeting.