The worldwide pandemic has made all of us more dependent on online mediums. Many office jobs are done online. Meetings are done through Google meet or Zoom calls now. Initially, online meetings were different from in-person meetings. But now, almost all are accustomed to it. Virtual meetings are essential for the smooth running of a business. But keeping the employees engaged throughout a session sounds challenging.
Restlessness could be there if the discussion is repetitive or lasts too long. Let us check how to turn an online meeting into a fun greeting with the help of indoor team building games for employees.
Table of Contents
1. Start with Ice Breaker Questions
The key to making a virtual meeting fun is by making them feel comfortable. So, before brainstorming discussions, start with questions not directly related to work. It helps to eliminate the initial phase of silence and uneasiness. That can be anything from sharing the best birthday gifts to the best travelling memories. Working from home feels lonely and isolated. A lite hearted virtual conversation will allow much oxygen.
2. Keep the Presentation Crisp
Consistently holding the attention of a remote team is not an easy job. So make the meetings fun and keep them short. So that your employees do not zone out midway during a presentation, you spend hours preparing. Just highlight the critical points using bold fonts. This can help them notice and follow you well. You can use colorful themes, interesting words, and quotes. Use catchphrases from popular shows while sharing critical points. You also need to make sure you finish the meeting on time.
3. Create Interactive Polls
Besides indoor team building games for employees, conducting live polls is a good idea to keep the remote team engaged and get their feedback. Use video conference tools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Webex. These apps allow you to create polls. Put poll questions aligned with the meeting agenda. For example, if you arrange a meeting to decide on a marketing campaign name, you can create a poll asking for suggestions from employees. Use features like breakout rooms to divide the virtual team into specific groups.
4. Play Some Group Energizer Games
Play some question-based games where your teammates can answer yes or no. For instance, think of an animal and give a hint about it. Let others guess which animal you are talking about. Play two truths and a lie. Here you will say 3 things about yourself or another team member. The rest of the team will guess which one is a lie among the three statements. Play word association. This game takes a bit more mental acuity. It is a good way to get people playing off each other in a pre-agreed order. The game goes on until players stop adding words to the chain.
Conclusion
Holding the attention of employees is tough during in-person virtual meetings. However, virtual hosts have to compete for focus against homely distractions. Remote employees battle urges to serve household tasks upon dozen browser tabs. Since virtual meets are done online, participants lose concentration for little reason. A little bit of understanding and compassion can keep the virtual meets refreshing and fun. Employees who are emotionally fine tend to serve their best performance on the job automatically. Indoor team building games for employees can help in the short and long run.
