How to be engaging remotely?

For years, we have trained hundreds of managers on leadership topics, exclusively remotely. There are things that work well, things that don’t, and things that are essential to being engaging from a distance. We've listed the essentials here!

1. Use a moderator.

A moderator is the professional who can help you be engaging remotely because that’s their job!

The moderator guides the meeting or workshop from start to finish.

They know the right times to take breaks, they can sense when people at home are tired, when it’s time to continue, and when to get them to participate.

Of course, if the meeting is about deciding on Christmas decorations, you don’t need a moderator. But for long meetings and especially workshops, it’s very important.

HR, I'm talking to you: let’s stop having the managers run meetings! 😂

2. Be mindful of time.

All possible studies confirm it: human concentration suffers after the first 25 minutes. There’s no point in having a two-hour meeting and expecting people to stay engaged.

“But, if we’re short on time and can’t take breaks?”

This is plausible: in that case, you need to alternate more cognitively demanding activities with lighter ones.

I’ll explain more below.

3.  Vary the formats!

Never do an entire meeting in a single format.

Do 25 minutes of speaking, 25 minutes of slide presentation, 25 minutes of Q&A, 25 minutes of quizzes...

Vary as much as possible. For example, in our Leadership Academy, the teachers start by introducing themselves, then share stories from their professional lives, then teach a model through slides, and finally open the floor to questions from the audience. It works great!

4.  Gamify!

To be engaging remotely, you need to make people play.

Gamification doesn’t mean playing cards, just to be clear!

Gamification means adding interactive dynamics such as quizzes, polls, or, in a more virtuous example, hosting a team competition during the call to see who presents the best project.

We’re not sponsored by Zoom, but we just want to point out that Zoom allows you to do all these things: quizzes, polls, and breakout rooms.

5.  Assign homework.

To be engaging, you need to be concise in the activities done together.

If the workshop requires everyone to read a document, it’s pointless to read it aloud during the call or repeat the main points because no one has actually read it.

Assign reading materials before the call so everyone is aligned on the topic and what to do, making the meeting more engaging and shorter.

6. Leave time for socializing.

While meetings should be as brief as possible, there’s an exception: when it’s fun and connections are being made.

Not everyone needs to listen to the conversation between Luigino and Mariuzza.

But you can invite those who want to stay for 10 minutes after the official end of the meeting or 10 minutes before it starts.

To be engaging, you need to be — and be perceived as — human!

7.  Allow questions and answers.

There’s nothing worse than leaving a meeting where you’ve just wasted an hour of your time and not even understood what was discussed.

Allow people to ask questions remotely to ensure they’ve understood and to be as engaging as possible.

8. Record the meeting and share the file.

It might be useful to record the entire meeting and then share it with the team so they can review details later or give the opportunity to those who couldn’t attend to watch it at a later time.

Conclusion.

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What do you think?

If we’ve convinced you, apply one of the points above and let us know how it goes!

Best wishes from the team, see you next time 😘