When holding virtual meetings, it’s easy for some people to never speak up. It may be that they’re feeling nervous about being on a video chat, or maybe they’re just not sure of how to include their thoughts. Regardless of why your team is on the silent side, there are ways you can encourage people to speak up during your virtual meetings.
Encourage Team Brainstorming
Encourage your team to work together via brainstorming activities, keeping in mind that conversation aloud isn’t always the way to go. If your team is brand new, the participants may not be comfortable speaking up, so consider a brainwriting activity in which participants write down three ideas. You then go through the ideas and speak them aloud so everybody can weigh in with their thoughts.
Rapid ideation is a similar tactic in that everyone writes down ideas, but then everybody talks about them in person, with the idea being to spend only a certain amount of time on each topic. There are even online-specific ways of brainstorming. One, known as brain netting, is a simple brainstorming meeting. Just remember to set up your virtual background office with logo to prevent distractions.
Create a Comfortable Environment
People will only speak up if they feel comfortable, and it’s on you to create an environment they’ll want to speak in. First, add a virtual office background so participants aren’t distracted by what’s going on behind you. Then, consider how you approach the meeting. Allowing everybody to work from home and wear appropriate but comfortable clothing is essential. Nobody likes having to go into an office for a meeting and wearing a suit and tie at home seems strange.
Another important way to ensure that everyone is comfortable is to be a warm and inviting meeting leader. Be sure to smile while speaking slowly and enunciating your words well. When people feel like you’re talking to them and not at them, they are more likely to want to participate in the meeting.
Prepare Your Participants Ahead of Time
If you know ahead of time which direction you need your meeting to go, then it is important to prepare your participants ahead of time. Send an email that outlines what will be covered in the meeting. Ask some questions at the end and instruct meeting participants to think about their answers ahead of time. This is also a good time for them to ask for clarification to avoid confusion during the meeting.
Get Rid of Distractions
One of the biggest problems that occurs during virtual meetings is distractions. This is especially problematic if the meeting leader is obviously distracted. If you want your participants to pay attention to you, be sure you’re conducting the meeting from a quiet space, uninterrupted by friends, family, pets, or anyone else. You’ll also want a clean, comfortable background. If you don’t have time to tidy up before the meeting, using immersive view Zoom backgrounds will help to create the illusion of a clean and professional office space.
Conducting meetings online is no longer a thing of the future. If you aren’t already prepared to work from home in such a manner, now is the time to get there. Virtual meetings aren’t going anywhere, but the right attitude and a professional background will help to ensure that your meetings are still productive.