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Whether you’re an online meeting organizer or participant, there are a few things you can do to make the experience more enjoyable.

First, try introducing icebreakers and team-building exercises to get people started off on the right foot. A simple ‘I Spy’ game could help break the ice or an interactive quiz can get participants thinking outside of the box.

Assigning roles to participants

If you’re planning to hold a meeting online, you should assign participants to specific roles that ensure they stay engaged. This will make the meeting more engaging and productive.

Defining roles can also help you get a project organized. It gives a team structure so that everyone knows their role and responsibilities, which makes it easier to collaborate.

In a face-to-face meeting, students often assume a lot of responsibility for the group’s work. It’s important to divide this responsibility among students and give them the opportunity to practice different roles before committing to a group project.

During an online meeting, it can be difficult to monitor what’s going on in the room. Luckily, there are tools that can be used to help you manage what’s happening online. For example, a captioner can type what’s being said so that other attendees can understand what’s happening in the room. Alternatively, an attendee can use their microphone and chat function to talk with other attendees.

Randomly calling on participants

When you have a meeting online, it can be difficult to make everyone feel included. This is especially true for people who can’t see their colleagues.

Fortunately, there are some things you can do to make your online meetings more engaging and to keep participants focused on the purpose of the discussion. One of these is randomly calling on participants.

This is a great way to get participants involved and to ensure that they know their colleagues better. It also helps to make sure that they understand the meeting objectives.

To do this, you can use the Share Content panel in Collaborate. When you select Randomly assign attendees, Collaborate will create groups and randomly call on people in the room.

Asking participants to introduce themselves

One of the most effective ways to make online meetings more engaging is to ask participants to introduce themselves. This is especially helpful for those who are meeting online for the first time or those who don’t know each other well.

In this way, you can get to know them a bit better and learn about their interests. This will also help you connect with them as a group.

For example, you can invite participants to introduce themselves by showing them a personal object that they have in their home. This is a great way to make the interaction more personal and memorable for all attendees.

Another effective way to ask participants to introduce themselves is by using a joke. This will engage them and make them laugh, which can catalyze the brain processes to improve their perception of information.

Setting an agenda

A meeting agenda is a vital tool to help you make online meetings more engaging. Whether it’s a weekly planning meeting or a project management session, an agenda provides structure and helps to move toward a goal.

Ensure that your meeting agenda has clear objectives, goals and tasks to complete. It can also include an estimate of time for each discussion topic to help participants know how much time they have to ask questions or comment.

You can also make sure that the topics you choose are relevant to everyone in attendance. Including topics that only concern a few people can be frustrating to other attendees, and they’re more likely to leave early or not participate at all.

Before the meeting begins, write down each task and what purpose it serves, whether it’s to share information, seek input or make a decision. This helps participants understand their role and makes it easier to follow the agenda.