If there is anything more difficult than maintaining participants’ interest in a meeting, it is doing it online.

Videoconferencing has revolutionised corporate communication by providing flexibility and reducing physical barriers. Participants can connect from anywhere, save on commuting and space rentals, and benefit from faster information flows (because hundreds of employees can connect at once).

But let us be honest. For many, most online meetings are a total bore. I have met a few people who like attending them. Generally, they will say, “Gosh! I have a conference call. Let’s see if I can use this opportunity to send some emails.”

In 2014, InterCall, one of the largest providers of videoconferencing solutions, surveyed its thousands of users. Most respondents (82 per cent) acknowledged that they performed other activities unrelated to the conference theme during the conference. The most common activities were sending emails, eating, texting, browsing social networks, exercising, shopping online, even going to the bathroom.

If you have to run an online meeting or training and want to keep your participants engaged, here are seven tips that should help:

Communicate the purpose of the meeting

Have you ever been called to a meeting without an agenda? It happens more often than you might think. It seems that when someone makes internal calls – that is, to colleagues in their own company – they ignore the most basic rules of meetings.

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When an attendee connects to a meeting without knowing what it is about, they will probably check out fast if they do not hear anything interesting.

On the other hand, if a participant has received an agenda or been informed of the subject to be discussed, they will have an opportunity to think about it and will be better able to make valuable contributions during the meeting.

What is in it for your participants?

From the beginning, try to answer this question: “What is in it for them?” In other words, you need to clearly communicate what benefits the attendees will obtain by participating in the meeting. Will they learn something that will make their work better or easier? Will they receive important information?

Attendees are more likely to stay focused if they know the content is relevant to them.

Remember that every time you request an online meeting, you’re asking someone to give you something very valuable: their time.

Be the first to arrive

As an attendee, nothing is more frustrating than organising your schedule to attend a meeting, dropping everything you were doing, and making an effort to connect on time, only to hear: “You are the first participant to connect. The organiser has not yet arrived. Please wait.”

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If you called the meeting, you are the captain of the ship. There are no excuses for not showing up. If you can’t make it to the meeting for any reason, find someone who can replace you. Ask that person to start the meeting until you can join, or to lead it if you can’t.

Make sure everything works

God helps those who get up early – and especially those who connect early. If you are the meeting organiser, connect at least 15 minutes before it starts to verify that everything works correctly.

If you start checking five minutes before the meeting starts, you may not have enough time to resolve any technical glitches. Murphy’s Law states that “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. It is true.

And plenty of things can go wrong. Your computer might ask you to update a driver or install an extension. The microphone may not work. Or the audio or the video from the webcam will be terrible or absent. If you connect early, you will be in a better position to find a solution.

A good host always welcomes his guests

Imagine entering a room full of people and nobody greets you. Everyone remains silent and ignores you. How would you feel?

As attendees arrive at the meeting, activate your video camera to welcome them one by one and chat with them. Remember the power of using proper names to connect with participants.

A “hello everyone” is not the same as “How are you, David?”, “Hello, Laura?”, “Welcome, Jane! How was your day?”

Pay attention to time zones

The content of a meeting may be super-interesting, but if you have to get up at 4AM to connect, you will never have enough coffee to keep you awake and attentive.

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If you have to convene a meeting with participants in different time zones, try to figure out what time of day will work best for most attendees. If it is impossible for you to find an acceptable hour for everyone, consider arranging two different calls.

If the meeting requires participation and interaction from everyone, give advance notice so that attendees who must connect outside of their normal working hours can organise themselves. Do not forget to acknowledge their extra effort!

Introduce the attendees

In meetings with many participants, it is likely that some people will be strangers to others. If you can, take time to introduce the attendees who are online and indicate what functions they perform. This will foster a closer, more intimate, and collaborative environment.

When sending a request for an online meeting, allow the recipients to see the addresses of the other employees. This way they will be able to identify their colleagues and interact with one another.

This is especially useful in international meetings, where first and last names are sometimes difficult to understand on the phone.

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