The rapid increase in remote and hybrid workplaces has caused tools like Zoom to become instrumental to the daily operations of countless companies. Still, as convenient as they are, it isn’t always easy to keep your employees engaged during remote meetings—or even tell them if they’re paying attention.
In our recent survey of 1,200 U.S. professionals, we found that a whopping 80% of American workers say they zone out more in online meetings than in person. If you have a ten-person team, that could mean that eight out of your ten staff are disengaged during your meetings.
Zoom fatigue is real, but there are ways you can combat it. In this post, we’ll go over five effective strategies to keep your employees engaged on Zoom and reveal some surprising things they say they do when they’re not paying attention.
Strategies to Keep Your Employees Engaged
We asked our survey respondents how they stay focused during online meetings and what their managers do to make sessions engaging. Here’s what they told us.
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Stick to an Agenda
82% of employees we surveyed agreed that sticking to an agenda is the top way to keep them engaged. A plan helps ensure that your meeting stays on track and that whatever you’re trying to accomplish with the meeting actually gets done.
Before your next Zoom session, try writing up an agenda and sharing it with your employees in advance. That way, they go into the meeting knowing what will be covered and what’s expected. Having a clear, organized set of topics, objectives, and even time frames for each agenda item encourages focus and productivity.
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Use Visual Aids
Let’s face it, not everything we need to discuss at work is exciting. If the meeting organizer is droning on about dry topics, like business statistics or market performance, it’s easy for employees to zone out.
That’s why 76% of our survey respondents say they focus better with visual aids. In addition to giving your staff something interesting to look at, visual aids can also help employees process and retain more of what you’re saying. Visual aids condense information into smaller chunks, thus making it easier to understand and highlight what’s most important.
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Invest in High-Quality Tech
If you’re relying on Zoom or another remote communication tool to run your meetings, you want to ensure your employees can clearly see and hear you and each other. 69 percent of our respondents agree that investing in high-quality tech is a must to make remote meetings work.
Glitches, lags, and other drops in the audio or visual feeds can be really distracting when employees are trying to focus. Tech issues can also come across as unprofessional or make the meeting seem unimportant even if the contents aren’t.
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Follow Up Afterward
The follow-up to a meeting might be almost as important as the meeting itself. 66% of our respondents say they appreciate when managers or meeting organizers follow up after the meeting. Doing this not only shows that you’re invested in your staff but also helps ensure that they understand what you went over and keeps them accountable for any action they’re supposed to take.
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Record Meetings for Reference
Similar to following up after a meeting, recording your meeting and providing the recording to your staff gives them great reference material. It’s no wonder 61% of our respondents agree that recording sessions for future reference keeps them more engaged.
Recordings allow your employees to review your session, helping them retain the content better and rewatch parts they might have missed. As a bonus, you might also be able to use your meeting recordings as training material for onboarding new staff.
What Employees Do When They’re Not Engaged
If you’re not yet convinced that a strategic approach to employee engagement is important, look at what employees say they do when they’re not paying attention in meetings. Some of these may shock you!
Here are the top 20 things that American employees have done during online meetings, according to our survey:
- Text: 86 percent
- Do other work: 75 percent
- Online shop: 56 percent
- Make a meal or snack: 48 percent
- Go to the bathroom (number one): 48 percent
- Eat takeout: 45 percent
- Hold a full, in-person conversation: 36 percent
- Play online games: 36 percent
- Watch online videos: 35 percent
- Watch television: 34 percent
- Do household chores: 34 percent
- Take a phone call: 32 percent
- Do work for another job: 32 percent
- Clean the house: 26 percent
- Go to the bathroom (number two): 24 percent
- Drive a car: 21 percent
- Exercises: 19 percent
- Do school work: 15 percent
- Read a book: 14 percent
- Drink alcohol: 14 percent
Conclusion
It can be hard to know what your employees are up to when you’re not with them. Nevertheless, remote and hybrid workplaces are here to stay, and, as much as they have their challenges, they also come with unparalleled advantages, like flexibility and convenience. Even if you’re only seeing them through a screen, you can always encourage your staff to give you feedback on what does and doesn’t work for them.
No matter where your employees are working, every workplace needs effective management. If you want to ensure your employees stay engaged, try using some of our strategies in your next Zoom meeting.
