Dead air and chirping crickets–is that what you hear when someone asks a question during virtual meetings? It’s frustrating for the facilitator and the participants! How do you get people to participate? How do you get what you need from shy (or multitasking!) stakeholders?
If you can’t get people to talk, then let them click or type. Boost participation on your web conference calls by using these 3 techniques:
- Chat. If your virtual meeting tool has a chat function, use it. If not try instant messenger or even texting. Ask participants to submit ideas or thoughts to you privately or to the group. Facilitate dialog related to the chat items. Many introverts will prefer this over chiming in verbally. Keep reminding attendees during the call that this option is available to them.
- Poll. Before the meeting take time to brainstorm important group questions. Then, determine which questions would work well in a poll. Use the polling feature in your web conferencing tool, conduct polls via email, or use something like Poll Everywhere. You might post a poll at the beginning of the meeting to understand how many people reviewed the material before the meeting. Or you could use a poll mid-meeting to determine how many people are ready to move on the next topic. As a facilitator, the poll results help you see how many people are actively participating in the meeting.
- Annotate. Ask participants to annotate a document on the screen using a screen sharing tool or a virtual whiteboard. Ask them to place “x” marks or check marks on items they agree with or want to discuss further. For example, you could place a bullet list of risks on the screen and ask them to place an x next to the highest risk. Or you could share a list of requirements and ask your attendees to place a check mark by the requirements they consider the highest priority for today’s meeting.
Do you have more participation-boosting ideas to share? Email us or mention @WickAng on Twitter so we can put an end to boring, ineffective virtual meetings!