If you work remotely, you understand how virtual conferences can easily turn into lifeless corporate gatherings with no end in sight. Whether it’s a deck of slides loaded with statistical data or a lack of employee participation, there are many ways to conduct a poor all-hands virtual gathering.
When done correctly, they can bring your company together and keep employees motivated towards shared goals. If you think your company gatherings are struggling with engagement and participation, then it is time to make a thorough change. This step-by-step guide will cover essential topics for all-hands meetings so you can drive employee engagement and establish a positive company culture.
10 Virtual All-Hands Meeting Ideas to Boost Engagement
Company gatherings are about fostering productive workforces and strengthening employee relationships. With this in mind, here are 10 virtual all-hands meeting ideas to consider for reviving your team.
1. Ask for questions in advance
As an organizer, the worst action you can take is running a virtual conference without an established plan. To help ensure that you are communicating effectively and covering topics that are interesting to your team, send out a request for questions in advance. If you can make this anonymous, even better. You might get more feedback on the company this way.
Then, use these questions to develop a coordinated agenda that effectively addresses all the questions asked. Make sure to send your employees the agenda in advance, so they know what to expect without feeling alarmed. If there will be any interactive elements during the meeting, give them ample warning along with any expectations you may have (cameras on or off, participation required, etc).
2. Start with icebreakers
Kicking off a hybrid or remote gathering with icebreakers is a solid way to diminish any awkwardness and ensure participants become comfortable with each other. You can discuss your favorite hobbies, hidden talents, or what you love about your position. You can even play the classic Two Truths and a Lie game.
The point is to help get a conversation going where you learn more about your colleagues and encourage casual interactions. Not sure where to start? Check out this list of 100+ icebreaker activities or 75+ team building activities to get you started.
3. Introduce new employees
Introducing a new employee during a virtual meeting is a kind way to make them feel welcomed and integrated into the company family. You can do this by introducing them or asking their direct manager to introduce them.
Alternatively, ask each new hire to introduce themselves and their role. Doing so can help strengthen employee bonds and create a cohesive work environment.
4. Acknowledge employee accomplishments
What better way to show appreciation and gratitude than by acknowledging employee accomplishments? Recognition helps employees build a sense of security in their value to the company. Employees want to feel valued and connected to their team. Use your virtual all-hands meeting as an opportunity to call out individual contributions.
Or, leave time for an open recognition, where you open the meeting and offer everyone the opportunity to give a shout out to whomever has been particularly helpful to them recently. You may be surprised at what you hear.
5. Use small groups
Working in smaller groups can help drive engagement and encourage meaningful discussions around a specific topic. Discussion topics can revolve around company objectives, employee needs, or project development. Or, they can be pure fun. Not sure where to start? We’ve got a variety of icebreakers and activities to suggest!
If you need a comprehensive meeting platform that can deepen employee connections and cultivate interactive discussions, try the Scoot platform. Attendees can actually move around a virtual room, from one conversation to the next. Our technology provides social agency for your attendees, helping to foster natural conversations between employees and paving the way for effective collaboration.
6. Host Q&A sessions
Running a Q&A session is one of the best all-hands meeting ideas. This is a sure way of encouraging participants to speak about what is on their minds. Plus, these sessions can boost engagement and promote an open discussion about company goals, concerns, and employee feedback. You can have participants submit their questions via chat boxes or collect them before a meeting via email.
7. Celebrate company achievements
Similar to employee recognition, reflecting on company achievements can boost employee motivation and create a positive team atmosphere. Did the company exceed quarterly sales? Retain all of its clients? We think you get the idea. With Scoot, you can take this further by turning it into an interactive poll session and having members write down their favorite company accomplishments.
8. Add microtraining
Why not use your company time to make everyone a little bit smarter? Microtraining, or microlearning, is a guided learning experience where complex topics are broken down into short study forms. These forms can be short videos, learning games, or simple tutorials. Take this opportunity to assess what topics might be useful for your employees to learn and create a short but comprehensive session that focuses on the subject matter.
One company has a 15 minute session every Friday where one employee teaches everyone else about a topic they know a lot about. This can be completely unrelated to work. You can talk about brewing beer or kombucha, or training to do a pull-up, or some interesting facts you know about psychology. It doesn’t matter what the topic is. The point is to share your knowledge with the team, which helps you all to get to know each other better and build better relationships.
9. Share expectations in advance
Cameras on or off? Participation required for certain sections? Looking for audience feedback on a particular topic?
No matter what your expectations, the most important rule is to communicate it to your team. Let them know how you expect the meeting to go, and when you expect people to be participating. If cameras should be turned on and you’re expecting participation, you need to be clear in advance. Include it in the calendar invite as well as restating it at the beginning of the meeting to encourage participation.
10. Reflect on company values
What does your company stand for? How do you envision success? These are questions that get to the core of what makes your organization unique. An all-hands-on virtual meeting is a perfect opportunity to re-establish what makes your workforce stand out. Use your gathering to emphasize company attributes and ensure your team has a shared vision of the future.
You can connect this one with #4 and use this opportunity to recognize any employees who have gone above and beyond in terms of representing these core company values.
Elevate Your All-Hands Meetings With Scoot
Don’t settle for boring virtual meetings with no real value. Engage, inspire, and recognize your workforce for their ongoing contributions. If you want more information on running effective all-hands-on meetings, check out Scoot.
Once you are ready, get in touch with us. Our virtual meeting platform will elevate your virtual gatherings to the next level!
