Make Your Virtual Meetings More Interactive

By Andy Molinsky for Harvard Business Review | May 27, 2020

While you may not all be in the same room, your virtual meeting can still be engaging and interactive. One big advantage is that a virtual setting can lower the bar for participation, so you have an opportunity to glean thoughts and insights from people who ordinarily might not speak up in person. You might use a polling function as a warm-up for discussion and an early opportunity to engage people. You can also encourage attendees to use the chat function, so they can comment in real time. Invite them to participate in the discussion, rather than just talking at them. For example, you might say: “Anita just wrote a great point — and it seems Juan had a similar thought. Do either of you want to go into a bit more detail?” If your chosen platform offers virtual break-out rooms, use them liberally. You might divide people into smaller groups to discuss ideas amongst themselves. You can join these rooms yourself if you wish, the same way you’d roam around the room during a live meeting. Finally, when you’re ready, you can bring everyone back to the larger group with a click of the mouse. You have the tools to recreate the vibrancy of an in-person meeting, so take advantage of them virtually.