Meetings are essential to any organization because they are the backbone of a company’s communication strategy. Meetings are an opportunity for team members to gather and discuss the progress of projects, share ideas, and make decisions. It is essential to hold regular meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page and the team is moving forward. However, there are times when not everyone can attend.

With the rise of remote work, virtual meetings have become an important part of the corporate world. Virtual meetings allow team members to attend meetings from anywhere worldwide, which is particularly beneficial for companies with a geographically dispersed workforce. However, the tricky part of virtual meetings is getting everyone involved. When people attend a meeting remotely, it can be easy to feel disconnected and disengaged. This is why it is essential to find ways to make virtual meetings more fun and engaging. To help you with this, here are some tips:

1.  Start with Icebreaker Questions

Starting a virtual meeting with icebreaker questions is an excellent way to get everyone involved and engaged. Icebreaker questions can be as simple as asking everyone to share their favorite movie or food. The goal is to get everyone talking and to create a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

2. Show Your Pets

Pets are a great way to bring some fun and humor to a virtual meeting. Encourage team members to introduce their pets at the beginning of the meeting. This is an excellent way to break the ice and get everyone smiling.

3. Use Filters

Filters are a fun way to add some personality to a virtual meeting. Most video conferencing software comes with various filters that you can use to change your appearance. Encourage team members to use filters during the meeting, or you can even use filters to create a theme for the meeting.

For example, if you’re having a meeting on Halloween, encourage everyone to use spooky filters like vampire teeth or ghostly faces. If you’re having a meeting to celebrate a team member’s birthday, encourage everyone to use filters that have balloons or party hats.

4. Ask Workplace Trivia Questions

Workplace trivia questions are an excellent way to keep everyone engaged and test their knowledge of the company. You can create a quiz with questions about the company’s history, products, and services, and the team member who answers the most questions correctly can win a prize.

5. Implement Gamification

Gamification is the process of adding game elements to non-game situations. You can use gamification to make virtual meetings more engaging by adding points, rewards, and challenges. For example, you can create a game where team members earn points for participating in the meeting or completing certain tasks.

6. Play Games

If gamification alone doesn’t work, you can always introduce actual games to your virtual meetings. This can be a great way to break the ice, encourage team bonding, and inject fun into the meeting. Some examples of games you can play during virtual meetings include trivia games, scavenger hunts, and virtual escape rooms. However, you must choose games appropriate for all team members and don’t take too much time, especially since meetings are meant to be productive and still done on the clock.

7. Discuss Trends

Discussing trends in your industry is an excellent way to keep the meeting interesting and informative. You can ask team members to share their thoughts on the latest trends or to share any new developments in the industry. This is an excellent way to keep the meeting focused while encouraging participation.

8. Make Your Presentations Colorful

Presentations are an essential part of virtual meetings. However, they can be dull and unengaging if not presented well. One way to make your presentations more engaging is to make them colorful and visually appealing. You can use images, videos, and infographics to make your presentation more interesting and engaging.

Conclusion

Virtual meetings are becoming increasingly popular, so they must be effective and engaging. Many solutions are available to make virtual meetings more fun and engaging but still productive enough to get everyone on the same page.  By following these tips, you can ensure that your virtual meetings are productive and that your attendees remain engaged and focused throughout the meeting.

If you want to create virtual team-building activities, BreakoutIQ can help! We offer various virtual interactive experiences for workplace teams, such as escape rooms, scavenger hunts, trivia games, and cocktail mixing. Fill up our contact form today and allow us to help you!