Engaging Virtual Meetings Openers, Games, and Activities for Communication, Morale, and Trust

Build a cohesive and high-performing virtual team with this fantastic resource full of actionable advice and practical tips

Engaging Virtual Meetings: Openers, Games, and Activities for Communication, Morale, and Trust offers concrete strategies and practical tips for bringing teams together across the digital divide. While many struggle to build teams in a virtual environment, accomplished author John Chen has found ways to create team cohesion, promote engagement, and increase virtual participation. In Engaging Virtual Meetings, he shares these methods with you, and also:

• Describes virtual tools for promoting effective teamwork, like the Participant Map
• Teaches you to optimize your teleconference setup for ideal audio and video
• Illustrates ways to apply these methods in any virtual environment, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and more
• Explores how to debrief your participants to improve your methods over time

Perfect for anyone working in or with the increasingly prevalent virtual environment, Engaging Virtual Meetings is a great addition to the bookshelves of anyone interested in how to create and build engagement in team settings of all kinds.

JOHN CHEN spent 10 years at Microsoft and earned 2 US Patents before founding and leading Geoteaming, a company that specializes in tech-based team-building and leadership training. He's been virtually meeting for over 35 years. He is a celebrated speaker and consultant, and has delivered his message to over 230,000 participants in over 30 countries.

Acknowledgments 11

Introduction: Virtual Meetings Don’t Have to Suck 16

By Ed Cohen

Part One: Principles and Preparation for Engaging Virtual Meetings 18

Chapter 1: The ENGAGE Method for Leading Great Meetings 19

A Brief Overview of the ENGAGE Method 19

The ENGAGE Method in Depth 21

Chapter 2: Preparing for Virtual Meetings 31

Good Looks—The Virtual Presence Primer 32

The Engaging Virtual Meeting Speaker Checklist 38

Chapter 3: Psychological Safety: How to Get the Quiet Attendees (and everyone else) to Engage 43

Chapter 4: Managing Participants 48

Mute and Unmute Audio and Video 48Make Host 50

Make Co-Host 50

Rename 51

Mute All 51

Unmute All 51

Mute/Unmute Participants on Entry 52

Disallow/Allow Participants to Unmute Themselves 53

Remove 54

Raise Hand 54

Yes/No 56

Go Slower/Go Faster 56

Dislike/Like 57

Clap 58

Need a Break 59

Away 60

Clear All 60

Chapter 5: Virtual Engagement Tools 62

Chat 63

Private Chat 64

Breakouts 65

Reactions 72

Record 73

Share Video 74

Share Whiteboard 76

Share iPhone/iPad 79

Polling 82

Company-Wide Chat (only available in Microsoft Teams) 89

Channels (only available in Microsoft Teams) 89

Teams Apps (only available in Microsoft Teams) 90

Chapter 6: Security 92

Require Passwords 92

Turn Screen Sharing Off 94

Enable the Waiting Room 96

Require Registration 100

Lock Your Meeting 100

Control Your Meeting’s Chat 101

Secure File Transfer 102

Part Two: Openers, Games, and Activities for Communication, Morale, and Trust 104

Chapter 7: Openers 104

Why Use Openers? 104

Open with a Check-in Question 107

Video Openers 111

Matching and Mirroring Openers 113

Virtual Meeting Name Tag Openers 118

Chat Openers 120

Chapter 8: Activities for Communication, Morale, and Trust 123

“Yes, and…”—Accept Attendee’s Ideas and Improve Communication 123

Three-Headed Consultant—Communicating One Word at a Time 124

A to Z—Teaching Why Your Meeting Needs a System 125

AlphaNames—A Networking Activity to Learn Everyone’s Name 126

Last Team Texting—Sharing Valuable Information 128

Pecha Kucha (peh-chak-cha) – Present in Just 6 Minutes 40 Seconds 129

PowerPoint Karaoke—Improving Improvisation 130

Blind Tangrams—Do Not Assume in Your Communication 131

Broken Squares—Giving Is Better Than Getting for Engaging Meetings 133

Trust Grid—Mapping and Improving Trust 135

The Johari Window—Discover Attendee Blind Spots 137

1 CACHE – Make Decisions Faster and Stick Longer 139

Chapter 9: Collab—Work Well with Others 142

Simultaneous Editing—Creating a Case Study 143

Towers of Hanoi—Build a Tower, Build a Team 144

Grid Unlock—How to Work Together to Solve Problems 146

Meeting Mine Field—Collaborating to Complete a Goal 147

Poll Survivor—Setting Meeting Priorities and Making Hard Decisions 149

Chapter 10: End Your Meeting on a High Note 151

Applause—Celebrating Together 152

Kudos—Acknowledging Attendees 152

I Commit …—Public Commitment to Change 153

Just Three Words—Powerful Closure Quickly 154

Call and Response—High Energy, Engaging All 155

The Last Word—The Final Statement of Your Meeting 156

Draw—A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words 156

Q & A—Questions and Answers 158

After Hours—The Party After the Party 159

One Thing Better—Improving 1% at a Time 159

Plus-Delta—What Did You Like? What Could Be Even Better? 162

WWW—What, So What, Now What? 162

Chapter 11: Fun and Games for High-Performing Teams 163

Happy Hour—Share a Beverage Together 165

Charades—Improving Your Nonverbal Communication 166

Reverse Charades—Improving Everybody’s Nonverbal Communication 167

Hat Day—Fun on Your Head 168

Pajama Day—Work in Your Jammies 169

Virtual Backgrounds—Your Setting Can Create Pure Laughs to Serious Business 170

Yoga—Stretch and Breath 173

Dance Party—Freedom of Creativity 174

Karaoke—Sing a Song 176

Book Club—You Get a Book 178

Movie Night—Better Than the Drive-in 180

Talent Show—Your Meetings Got Talent 181

Dinner Party—Celebrate and Learn More About Each Other 181

Trivia Night—What Do You Know? 183

Where in the World—International Networking 183

Memory Match Breakouts—Learn Where to Look 185

Poker Tournament—I’m All In! 186

Chapter 12: Innovation 187

100 Uses—Use Something in Ways Not Intended 187

Post-Its—Virtual Brainstorming 188

Add One Line—Adding Creativity 189

Move One Line—Creativity with More Than One Solution 192

License Plates—Innovative Communication with Few Characters 194

Office Move—Working Together to Switch Places 195

Part Three: Leading Large Virtual Meetings and Conferences 198

Chapter 13: Tips for Presenters, Trainers, and Sales 199

Engage and Interact with Every Attendee 200

Never Lead a Meeting Alone 201

Good Looks 202

Air Traffic Control 206

Get Productive with Virtual Tools 207

End Your Meeting on a High Note 212

An Example: Engaging Virtual Meetings Training 213

Chapter 14: Tips for Emceeing and Hosting 215

Engage and Interact with Every Attendee 215

Never Lead a Meeting Alone 215

Good Looks 215

Air Traffic Control 215

Get Productive with Virtual Tools 215

End Your Meeting on a High Note 216

Chapter 15: How to Run a Virtual Workshop or Conference 217

Tips for High-Stakes Meetings and Board Retreat 218

The Challenge 219

The Solution 219

The Conference 225

The Result 226

Part Four Advanced Engaging Virtual Meetings 229

Chapter 16: Advanced Tips 229

More Advanced Tips

Chapter 17 The Future of Engaging Virtual Meetings 252

Suddenly Everyone Is Interested 253

Virtual Is Here Even If There Is a Cure 253

The Hard Stuff Is Easy, the Soft Stuff Is Hard 254

Think Cinematically 255

Virtual Is Going to Innovate Rapidly 255

The Theory of Bandwidth 257

Moving Closer to Reality 258

About Geoteaming

Engaging Virtual Meetings

Virtual Meeting Planning

Virtual Team Building

TeamOS

Keynotes

Index

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