How to host a virtual meeting: tips from theater and improv
Picture this: You’re sitting at home. It’s meeting 9 of the day. You’ve been up for 5 hours? 15 hours? It’s hard to tell. Someone pops into the virtual room you set up and neither of you say anything. It’s a veritable Wild West Showdown as to who can remember what this meeting’s supposed to be about. Well if that sounds familiar, or something like it, do like we do at Riff, and steal a few tips from the world of theater to break the monotony and set the scene for productive, less stressful virtual meetings.
Set your intentions. Name what you hope to accomplish in the time you have together. This can look like a simple agenda at the top of the meeting, defining a mission statement in your invite (“mission: define team goals for Q1”), or simply setting a goal before getting started (“I’m hoping we walk away today with alignment on project scope”).
Build connection. Make it personal. Check in and meet your team members where they are at. Ask about them in a genuine and connected way? They’re going hiking this weekend? Ask follow ups: Where? With who? How long have you been camping? Be impacted by- and build with their answers. And have fun with it! We can feel it when you feel forced to ‘ask the question’.
Create rituals. Simple, repeatable actions and rituals help ground and connect us in shared virtual spaces. Both to one another AND to our common goals. Add a new gif to start off your slide deck each week. Give different sections of your meeting fun names. Play music as people join. Get playful!
Want to learn more? Contact Riff for meeting facilitation, learning development consulting, and applied improv workshops.