Town hall meetings have always been preferred by organizations to keep all the employees and the leadership on the same page. However, regular town hall meetings have become a thing of the past. Ever since the world has gotten used to the virtual platforms, organizations have started to host virtual town hall meetings, and there is no looking back since then.
In this blog, we will talk about virtual town hall meetings and everything about online town hall meetings in detail.
So, without further ado, let us dive into the blog and understand what virtual town hall meetings are all about.
What is the Meaning of Virtual Town Hall Meetings?
Virtual town hall meetings can be defined as the in-house meetings or events where the organizational leaders keep the employees updated with the key updates about the company. The intent behind hosting virtual town hall meetings is to ensure that the employees and the organizational leadership stay on the same page. Not only this, another reason for hosting town hall meetings is to boost interactivity between employees belonging to different teams and departments.
Basically, virtual town hall meetings bring all the people belonging to an organization together on a platform. However, the main feature of virtual town hall meetings is that a virtual town hall meeting is hosted on virtual town hall meeting solutions. Whereas, physical town hall meetings are hosted in person at a physical location. It is the main feature of both these formats and the most prominent factor differentiating them.
What Are the Advantages of Virtual Town Hall Meetings?
Although the main objective of hosting virtual town hall meetings is to update the employees with the latest company news and keep them aligned with the organization. Apart from it, there are several other advantages of hosting virtual town hall meetings. Some of those advantages are:
- Virtual town hall meetings provide a great platform for the organization to talk about and promote company ethos, goals, and objectives.
- They enable the leadership to boost a sense of community and team spirit among the employees.
- Online town hall meetings promote an inclusive environment where the employees feel valued and welcome.
- As mentioned, virtual town hall meetings are a great way to boost engagement among a company’s employees.
What Kind of Content is Usually Covered in Virtual Town Hall Meetings?
Here are some examples of the kind of content you should include in your online town hall meetings:
- Progress Report: Examine your Key Performance Indicators and see how departments have performed in the last month or any specific time.
- Goals & Objectives: Here, you should discuss the upcoming goals and objectives with the employees.
- Industry Highlights: Share industry news and highlights with your employees; Something that happened among your competitors, etc.
- Organizational Updates: Share company updates with your employees; Share updates related to structural changes.
- Employee Milestones: Apart from departmental milestones, share individual milestones; It will make your employees feel special and others motivated. Share professional as well as personal milestones with your employees, like birthdays, etc.
Tips to Plan and Execute Impressive Virtual Town Hall Meetings
Here, we have broken down the process of hosting impressive and successful virtual town hall meetings.
1. Set Clear Objectives
The first thing you need to do is have clear objectives that you want to achieve with the virtual town hall meeting. Ask yourself why you want to host the meeting. Is it to update the employees with company news? Or you want to share a recent company achievement with the employees. You can also host the online town hall meeting to engage with your employees also. The intent is to be clear with your objectives. Also, when you finish the meeting, ensure you do it on a winning and positive note.
2. Choose a Suitable Virtual Town Hall Meeting Software
The next thing you need to care about is choosing a suitable virtual venue for your online town hall meeting. Since there are a lot of platforms available, it gets challenging for the organizers to select one. However, the key to hosting a successful meeting lies in selecting a suitable tool for virtual town hall meetings only. Hence, it is always advisable to do research and choose a platform wisely. You can select an expert Solution for Virtual Town Hall Meetings like Mixhub. It is a self-managed online event platform and has got all your needs covered.
3. Select a Moderator or Host
Select a moderator or host for the meeting who will guide the attendees through the online town hall meeting. Select a person you think will be able to set the tone of the meeting right. Also, ensure that he is a good communicator.
4. Plan Your Meeting Agenda
Now that you have your objectives clear and online town hall meeting software decided, it’s time to plan your meeting agenda. A clear and well-planned agenda is the difference between setting goals for the meeting and aligning them with reality. Set your agenda while keeping all your objectives in mind, and set a time frame for everything.
5. Prepare Your Content
Once you have designed your agenda, it’s time to plan your content. Keep the content short and crisp, and avoid irrelevant information to it. Keep the content fresh, and make it understandable and accessible for everyone. Also, if you have new joiners on board, introduce them to everyone. In addition, design your presentations according to the agenda you have prepared.
6. Send Meeting Invites
Even if it is an in-house event, it is advisable to send a meeting invite and invite all your attendees. In the invite, mention the date and time of the meeting, along with the platform link and a checklist of dos and don’ts.
7. Record the Online Town Hall Meeting
It is important to record the meeting and make it accessible to everyone. It ensures that if anyone couldn’t attend the meeting for any reason, they still get the updates. Also, you would want attendees to remember the key takeaways from the meeting. There are several tools for virtual town hall meetings to provide the organizers with a recording feature. You can use them for the same.
8. Ask for Feedback
Again, even if it is an in-house meeting, we would recommend you to ask for your employees’ feedback for the meeting. It is a great way to know their reviews about the meeting and see if you met your expectations or not.
How Can You Keep Your Employees Engaged During Online Town Hall Meetings?
Here are some ways to engage your employees during online town hall meetings.
1. Select an Interactive Virtual Town Hall Meeting Platform
One of the most effective ways to keep your employees hooked to the online town hall meetings is to choose an interactive platform. An interactive platform will allow everyone to present their views and express themselves. Also, since there might be some introverted people in your team, they, too, will be able to express themselves with the help of reactions, live polls, etc.
2. Use Better Icebreakers
It is not necessary that your ice breakers will work each and every time. That being said, you should ensure to improve them and use something that will draw your employees’ attention, even if they have had a bad day at work. For example, you can ask your employees to choose a background according to their moods. Also, when everyone shows up, click a team picture.
3. Schedule Breaks In Between
While it is easier to keep your attendees hooked during a physical town hall meeting, the same gets challenging in the case of virtual meetings. The reason for this is ‘Zoom Fatigue’ and the short attention span of humans. Hence, it is advisable to keep the virtual meetings short. However, if it is not possible, schedule breaks in between sessions. It will allow the participants to relax and take a stroll in the room.
4. Celebrate Employees’ Achievements
Another way to ensure that the attendees stay hooked to the virtual town hall meeting is to celebrate the employees and their achievements. Everybody loves being recognized and appreciated. So, do appreciate your top performers in front of everyone. It won’t only make them feel valued, but it will also motivate others to perform better. Also, it is a great way to strengthen company culture and boost team spirit.
5. Play Games
Playing games and trivia with your employees is a great way to keep the employees hooked and engaged and help you boost team spirit among them. Divide your employees into different teams, and play games of your choice.
6. Interactive Q&A Sessions
Allow employees to ask questions during the town hall. Use features like live chat, Q&A tools, or dedicated question submission forms. Address as many questions as possible during the session to make employees feel heard and valued.
7. Encourage Participation
Prompt employees to actively participate by answering polls, responding to questions, or providing feedback. Polls can be a quick and interactive way to gather opinions and make employees feel involved.
Hosting online town hall meetings can get challenging sometimes. However, we hope this guide will help you with seamless execution of your ideas. If you are planning to host an online town hall meeting or need any expert help with the same, Mixhub would be happy to serve you. We are waiting to hear from you! Contact us, Now!
Virtual Town Hall Meetings: Frequently Asked Questions
One can define town hall meetings as in-house meetings where the management and employees belonging to all the departments come together on a single platform. The objective behind hosting town hall meetings is to discuss important issues, set goals for upcoming months, and review performance in the past months.
Town hall meetings are an excellent way to allow the leadership and employees of an organization to come together on one single platform and interact. They enable the leadership to share updates with the employees, and employees to put across their questions and concerns in front of the leadership.
Here, are some of the most popular advantages of town hall meetings:
1. Town hall meetings provide a great opportunity for employees belonging to different departments to come together and interact.
2. They allow the leadership of an organization to share updates and useful company information with all the employees.
3. These kinds of meetings boost the sense of team spirit and engagement among the employees.
Virtual town hall meetings allow employees and leadership of an organization to come together on a platform, and share useful information. Where physical town hall meetings are hosted in person, virtual meetings are hosted on a virtual town hall meeting platform.
