How to Lead Engaging Remote Meetings

Callie loves working remotely and so does her team, but she has a hard time getting everyone to truly connect when they meet as a group. 

Remote meetings are nothing new at this point. 40% of American workers now work remotely at least some of the time, and one in three employees spend 80% of their work hours outside the office, according to the Washington Post. But remote meetings are often disengaging, inefficient, and downright boring. 

Since these post-Covid trends aren’t likely to reverse anytime soon, how can remote workers make meetings more inspiring? Here are our tips. 

Use the software bells and whistles.

As tempting as it is to host a voice call, have everyone turn on video. Just seeing each other’s faces will up the connection factor — and hold everyone accountable for paying attention. Encourage people to ask questions using the group chat feature. “When all team members feel welcome to ask and answer questions, knowledge sharing happens and subject matter experts may emerge,” says Rasha Accad, a career coach at Korn Ferry Advance. In a large meeting, create opportunities for smaller group discussion using breakout sessions. 

Give people a reason to connect.

When people need a quick question answered or want to problem-solve during the work day, they often post it on a message board. But a quick meeting often gets the answer faster and builds bonds within the team. Help team members support each other by assigning partner pairs who can be each other’s sounding board. You could also nominate some subject matter experts on specific topics and make sure everyone knows to make them their first point of contact.

Prioritize humanity.  

Dedicate the first few minutes of your meetings to casual catch-ups or icebreaker games. Of course, everyone needs to come to the meeting prepared and having reviewed the agenda so there’s time for connection and discussion. 

“Throughout the call, introduce fun and lightness,” Accad says. “Let people bring their full personalities and humanity to work. Don’t be afraid to laugh.”

Celebrate each other. 

Instead of sending out a mass email, share your team’s individual successes in the meeting group chat. For example, “Hey team! John just signed a big contract, join me in congratulating him!” Team members may not always know what their colleagues are working on, and hearing about the success happening in the group builds positive momentum. Just make sure you’re acknowledging everyone on the call who contributed to the win, and not only the highest-profile players.