COVID-19 has created an imperative for organizations in every sector to reassess and redesign their operations.
One way organizations have been rising to the challenges of the pandemic is by pivoting corporate events to virtual platforms and organizing more online meetings to handle their work and communicate.
And with more and more organizations shifting their planning into an online-meeting mindset, new virtual meeting trends are emerging as well.
Keep reading to learn more about four of the most significant ones.
1. Bringing Expert Speakers on Board
As virtual meetings are generally less expensive to produce than in-person corporate events, organizations can invest more with expert speakers.
We’re seeing more and more companies booking speakers to provide vanguard insight at their meetings, educate attendees, and offer new perspectives in their industries.
If this is a trend that you think could benefit your event as well, we’ve got you covered!
In our portfolio, you’ll find many engaging, virtual, certified speakers which you can book for your meeting, such as:
- Laura Stack. An award-winning keynote speaker, Laura is a recognized authority in the field of employee and team productivity. With her high-energy, content-rich keynotes, she helps team leaders supercharge workplace performance.
- David Dye. With his presentations, David provides a leadership framework for innovating operations and achieving breakthrough results.
- Sharon Delaney McCloud. An Emmy Award-winning journalist and communications expert, Sharon provides actionable insights on how organizations can craft a powerful communication strategy that drives business results.
- Dr. Gleb A. Tsipursky. With his content, he helps decision-makers avoid dangerous judgment errors, minimize risk, and make the right choices.
2. Prioritizing Engagement
More and more meeting organizers are providing their remote attendees with ways to ask questions, provide feedback, and weigh in when it comes to the topics which should be included on the agenda.
Additionally, some organizations are even providing guests the opportunity to direct message the meeting’s speakers, further encouraging engagement.
Nowadays, most online platforms offer interactive features that you can use to create more opportunities for engagement at your meeting and make attendees feel more included in your corporate events.
3. Having a Facilitator Guide the Meeting
One of the leading virtual meeting trends for 2021 is having a virtual host to guide the meeting to ensure that goals are met effectively.
The role of a facilitator is different in each meeting, based on the goals and needs of the event.
However, the key responsibilities of a virtual host typically include:
- Designing a transparent process to facilitate the flow of the meeting so that it runs smoothly and covers the main items on the agenda;
- Making sure that any outcomes, ideas, and questions expressed during the meeting are properly recorded and actioned;
- Refocusing the attention of participants when necessary so that everyone stays on topic with the agenda;
- Reducing confusion and making sure that all meeting attendees achieve a mutual understanding when it comes to discussed items.
4. The Use of Event Apps for Corporate Events
The use of event apps is one of the top virtual meeting trends you should know about.
Organizations can now create a dedicated event app to make their events more interactive and foster engagement. These apps can be used to address the common challenges which arise when hosting a virtual meeting, such as:
- Attendee networking. There is no way to mirror the experience of face-to-face networking fully, but the use of apps can open up some great opportunities in this area. For example, remote participants can now create profiles that showcase their interests and skills and then be matched with other attendees with similar interests.
- They are turning remote attendees into active participants. Event apps allow companies to implement live polls and gamification (challenges, rewards, leaderboards) to boost engagement and design an immersive event experience.
Which of these Virtual Meeting Trends Caught Your Eye?
Running a virtual meeting requires a different approach from chairing a face-to-face one, and we hope this article has helped you get inspired in terms of stepping up your virtual events game.
If you’re looking for more ideas on how to take an online meeting to the next level, then we recommend also checking out this article.
