How can you encourage remote participants to share their opinions during virtual meetings?

Setting meeting expectations is very important for a successful meeting. I always put the objective or outcome of the meeting ahead of the agenda. This allows the attendees to understand if they have a role to play in that outcome. The agenda of the meeting should be developed to achieve the same outcome. Limiting the number of people in the meeting to only relevant attendees helps deliver the expectations easily. Too many attendees are likely to result in the expectations being blurred.

Set clear expectations beforehand, that includes sharing the agenda and including it in the meeting invite. It should be an environment where it is a participant's duty to ensure each attendee can reference another person who hasn't said much, to see what they have to say. e.g. Ali, what do you think about x, does it have any impact on your world?

Expectations are important, but too many of them or ones that don’t fit your group may hinder efforts to get everyone involved. Depending on your team, it’s a good idea to ask them what meeting etiquette they’re comfortable with. Some people like to be on camera, some people don’t. Some team members may love using chat features, and others could find them to be disruptive or intrusive. Additionally, some teams are structured in a way that raising their hands each time they have a question could be limiting to their involvement. Taking a temperature check of what your team values during meetings and crafting your expectations using this information will be more impactful in encouraging participation by everyone instead of just a few.

Prior to the meeting, share the agenda, goals, and participant roles. Ensure clarity on contributions, assigning tasks or topics to individuals in advance. Communicate meeting norms, including guidelines for muting, unmuting, raising hands, or using chat features.

As a project manager, encourage remote participants to share opinions in virtual meetings by creating an inclusive environment. Use collaborative tools for real-time input, invite everyone to speak, and facilitate open discussions. Foster a culture where diverse perspectives are valued, ensuring remote team members feel comfortable expressing their thoughts.

Some ways to foster participation in remote meetings include employing tools like real-time collaboration platforms, anonymous polls, and visual aids such as Mural and Miro. Encourage open discussions through breakout sessions to ensure everyone's voice is heard. Utilize visual aids like mind maps (Miro has an excellent mind map tool) and encourage input via chat or collaborative documents. Rotate meeting facilitation among team members to promote inclusivity. In my experience, these dynamic techniques create an engaging environment, motivating all participants to freely express their opinions. Inclusivity in team meetings is a win-win for all and is the progressive way.

Try engaging team with questions having short answers and give them predefined options too to select.. via any tool..your response rate will increase significantly compared to free text response question or open ended questions..

One of the most effective ways of engaging online participants is to allow them to see what you see. Sharing screens allows a lot more engagement on the topic. Other collaboration tools are also useful but that depends on the purpose of the meeting and the required outcome.

In meetings, enhance engagement through diverse tools like polls, quizzes, surveys, and games to collect feedback and ideas. Utilize breakout rooms, whiteboards, or shared documents for group discussions, fostering a dynamic and participatory atmosphere that encourages everyone to share their opinions.

Meeting engagement tools are the key for group collaboration. As the facilitator, leaving clear from the beginning there are not right and wrong answers, opinions will fly in, like bees to the honey! ??

To foster engagement from remote participants, pose open-ended and inclusive questions that encourage them to share thoughts and perspectives. Questions such as "What are your views on the proposal?" or "How do you perceive this change?" invite diverse responses. Steer clear of yes/no queries, and direct questions to specific individuals or groups to enhance clarity and participation.

Although virtual meetings play an important role in effective #communication, not everyone is actively engaged in such #meetings. To improve the engagement of remote participants and encourage them to share their opinions, team expectations from each member should be discussed before the meeting. Randomly selecting the members and asking their thoughts on the discussed idea would improve the remote participants' engagement during the session. Asking questions in the chatbox, creating polls, etc., for the members to answer will encourage the remote #participants to share their opinions. Dividing the team into small groups and asking them to discuss ideas in the breakout room will improve their engagement, too. #virtualmeeting

Ask reflective questions to the group about the particular topic to stimulate thought and promote engagement. For example, when presenting a proposed strategy, one may ask 'do you see any weaknesses in this strategy' or 'what are your thoughts on this strategy' or 'does the timeframe for this strategy look realistic' Consider that the people within the meeting have different personalities, some are stimulated to discuss more about the detail, others about the end results, others about the end goal and others about the way the process is run. Thus, creating open questions that cover different angles can allow the different individuals to be involved in the discussion. Questions can be targeted to individuals or subsets of people.

- Create a welcoming and inclusive environment: Start the meeting by acknowledging and welcoming all participants, including remote attendees. Set the tone for an open and inclusive discussion where everyone's opinions are valued. -Using icebreakers and warm-up activities: Begin the meeting with icebreaker activities or warm-up questions that encourage participants to share their thoughts. This helps create a comfortable atmosphere and encourages remote participants to speak up.

As hosts or as a lead, we should encourage disagreement, someone challenging views, etc., and we should also allow healthy discussion while keeping control in our hands. Never allow the conversation to turn into a heavy argument. Interfere and emphasise "what is right" for the project and not "who is right." Asking more questions to clearly identify the issue is helpful, and then we will know if the challenge or disagreement is genuine. If it is genuine, articulate it clearly, and then move the conversation to how this can be addressed. It is advisable to have a follow-up meeting on the same.

One of the best ways to maintain a healthy conflict and disagreement environment within a project team is to find ways for the team to convey themselves in non-personal ways. It is human nature to make disagreements a very personal matter, and as a project manager one of the most important things we can do is help our team members rise above that by using an objective voice during discussions.

Have someone else take your notes to make sure you can stay engaged. An engaged leader brings the team with them. It works best to have them take notes in real-time on a collaborative software. Spend the last 5-10 minutes of the meeting reviewing the notes as a team. Some people have a delay, so wait a day, then ask everyone to check and verify the notes, then send them out to any other affected teams with proper credit to contributors. This accommodates different brain/thinking styles and encourages engagement with visibility and accountability.

Encouraging people to share their opinions during meetings often begins way before the actual meeting. Having one on one conversations during the work week that are informal can help build trust between teammates, and make them feel more comfortable sharing their opinions during official meetings. Offsite events are opportunities to bond, and can help people be more willing to share their opinions in other settings. Another good way to get people involved is to give them a chance to lead meetings. Having a rotating roster of meeting leaders can help everyone feel like their voice and opinions are important.

Hi, I know virtual meetings can sometimes be tricky. It's definitely harder for them to speak up. Here are my 2-cents advice to help you: - When you ask a question, go out of your way to say "(call the name) Jane, what do you think about this?" Get input directly from quieter folks. - Use the chat box or whiteboards so they can share ideas there too. Great way to make sure we see their perspective. - Share the meeting agenda and reading beforehand so everyone can come more prepared. - (motivate) Do thumbs up/down or fun polls every now and then. - Don't forget to leave 5 minutes at the end for any final thoughts!

*Acknowledge each participant. *Set clear expectations for active participation. *Address participants directly to invite input. *Offer multiple channels for communication (chats, polls, collaboration boards etc) *Ask open-ended questions and rotate speaking roles. *Acknowledge contributions positively to encourage more sharing. *Use breakout rooms for smaller, more comfortable discussions. *Allow pre-meeting input on agenda items. *Follow up with quieter members post-meeting.

Here are some strategies: 1. Ice Breakers: Begin meetings with casual check-ins to create a positive atmosphere and foster a sense of connection among remote participants. 2. Structured Agenda: Organize meetings with a clear agenda and designated discussion times, allowing remote participants to prepare and feel confident in sharing their opinions. 3. Technology Familiarity: Ensure everyone is familiar with the meeting technology by providing guidance beforehand, reducing technical barriers that may hinder participation. 4. Rotation of Speaking Turns: Implement a rotation system to give all participants, especially in larger meetings, an equal opportunity to contribute and share their thoughts. Also call participants with their names.