3 Tips to Avoid Virtual Meeting Burnout

Jesica Johnson Mackey • July 23, 2020

Due to social distancing recommendations caused by COVID-19, virtual meetings are the new platforms to replace in-person interaction. Clients, stakeholders and employees are all using this tool to operate businesses, make new connections and maintain relationships. With everyone using this tool, how do you make sure your company isn’t causing virtual meeting burnout for attendees? Consider these three tips the next time you plan a virtual meeting.

3 Tips to Avoid Virtual Meeting Burnout:

Keep Your Meetings Short

Have agendas for your virtual meetings to ensure efficiency and keep them under 45 minutes. The average attention span for a meeting attendee is much shorter on virtual calls compared to an in-person meeting.

Use Interactive Tools

Virtual meetings are great to engage, but just seeing people on a call does not always equal true engagement. Consider adding interactive tools, visuals or even music intros during your next virtual meeting. Many virtual meeting platforms offer live polling to encourage attendees to provide feedback. Whiteboard features are also available for interactive team brainstorming sessions. A brief 5-minute interactive exercise can provide a memorable experience for your attendees

Go back to the basics

Conference calls are still a useful tool to connect with clients, stakeholders, and employees. Before sending out your meeting invitation determine your goals for the meeting. Can you achieve your goals without sharing a screen or seeing your attendee’s face? If the answer is yes, host a basic conference call. This will provide a break for the potentially numerous virtual meeting requests that clients and employees receive daily.