How to Keep Remote Employees Engaged During Virtual Meetings – Pt. 1

The pandemic has forced many of us to shift business online, putting an end to spur-of-the-moment engagement and replacing it with back-to-back video calls.

Now that most meetings are being held virtually, employers are scrambling to find ways to keep their teams engaged and alert – while making sure they don’t fall into the trap of exhaustion. In this blog, I share some ways to increase engagement and enhance collaboration amongst your team.

·      Send out an agenda prior to the meeting

The number one thing you need to do to drive engagement (and get people to actually participate in online meetings) is to plan the agenda in advance.

Decide beforehand the purpose of the meeting and the desired outcome and expectations, so people also know what they need to prepare for. Send an email to your employees before the meeting asking if there are specific issues they'd like to address or ideas they’d like to share in addition to those you've set forth.

If teammates are given no control over meetings and they are constantly thrust upon them, their desire to engage also plummets.

·      Identify the 'squeaky wheel'

During virtual meetings, some of your team members are likely to be more engaged and chatty than others. On the flip side, those with an introverted personality may find it hard to speak up.   

To keep everyone involved, it’s important to spot the “squeaky wheels” in your meetings. Sure, you want to encourage them to express their ideas as well, but not at the expense of others not having the opportunity to speak at all.

In an article from Harvard Business Review on effective virtual meetings, Nick Morgan, president of consulting company Public Words Inc, writes:

“In a virtual meeting, you need to stop regularly to take everyone’s temperature. And I do mean everyone. Go right around the list, asking each locale or person for input.”

As a manager, it’s your responsibility to take stock of everyone’s participation levels and make sure the quieter team members get as many opportunities to contribute during the Zoom meetings – as the more talkative members.  

·      Celebrate your employees

Leaders often forget to acknowledge the efforts of their team. However, with employees facing an unprecedented level of uncertainty at both work and home, it has become more important than ever for managers to make them feel appreciated.

As the third wave of coronavirus continues and most of us work remotely, it’s no longer viable to extend a thank-you or take your people out for lunch. We need to find new ways to celebrate employees, make them feel valued and keep them engaged.

If it’s someone’s birthday, you could get the team together, take a few minutes to sing happy birthday, shoot the breeze, and celebrate your teammate. If a worker went above and beyond on an assignment, recognise their efforts in a team call.  In a nutshell, find simple ways to show your coworkers you care for them. 

(To be continued…) 

Learn how you can take your leadership teams through a growth model which will help them mature on a personal and professional level by following me on LinkedIn and subscribing to the Keijzer Community.

Paul Keijzer is the CEO and Founder of Engage Consulting and the co-Founder of The Talent Games, which aims to transform HR by digitising talent processes and creating more engaging and productive workplaces through gamification and mobile technology. As a global HR and Leadership Management expert, Paul knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.