How to Host a Townhall meeting for Your Employees?

Virtual town hall meetings for employees are a great way to get you employees, senior officials, and management administration together at a time. You can discuss business updates, share insights, celebrate distinguished wins, or strategize for your upcoming goals. Thanks to the latest event technologies, we have the right video conferencing tools and virtual meeting platforms. They play the prime role in running an effective and engaging online town hall meeting.

Here are the most important steps required to host a successful town hall meeting for employees;

Set a Clear Meeting Agenda

Preparing a meeting Agenda in advance is an effective way to hold successful town hall meetings for employees. The speakers can use this Agenda as a guide for executing an engaging and productive meeting. Consider attaching the meeting Agenda while sending the town hall meeting invitation to employees. It allows the attendees to set their expectations, hopes, and inspirations they want from this employee town hall. So, take your time and create an efficient Agenda that is thoughtful and adds more value to your virtual meeting.

Make it Super Simple to Join the Meeting

With your employees joining the meeting remotely from global locations, keep the joining process hassle-free. Make sure to avoid unnecessary downloads and set-ups before joining a meeting. Therefore, select an ideal video conferencing tool that allows the employees to join the meeting seamlessly without any complex procedures.

Your virtual meeting platform or software should also be compatible with most laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Try to create a unique URL that the employees can click on before joining a meeting. Also, create a unique password for each employee so the meeting can only be attended by someone who’s a part of the organization.

Set Ground Rules

First things first! Ground rules hold a significant role in maintaining the decorum of your employee town hall. It also keeps the employees aware of the principles to be followed during a meeting. The ground rules include;

1. Do not leave the meeting without informing
2. Mute your mic when other employees are speaking
3. Use raised hands feature to ask or answer questions
4. Introduce yourself before you start speaking
5. Ask your employees to join the meeting at least 5-7 minutes before the scheduled time

Check the Technical Aspects

Any unforeseen technical error can interrupt the successful operation of an online town hall meeting. Therefore, it is vital to check all the technical aspects to avoid glitches or blunders on the D-day. Do not forget to check the video, audio, and other platform features you have selected to keep on the meeting platform. Perform multiple system checks and a thorough dry-run to keep all technical difficulties at bay. You can also advise your employees to do a test rehearsal and check the system compatibility and configurations to avoid device crashes.

Facilitate 2-way Communication

Consider keeping your virtual town hall meetings super engaging and interactive. It is important to address employee town hall questions to make them feel esteemed and valued. You can include a live chat feature or conduct frequent live polls, surveys, and Q&As to promote 2-way interaction in real-time.

You can also think of beginning the meeting with an icebreaker activity to keep your employees involved and interested. The icebreaker activities can include unique questions related to the goals and achievements of the employees. It can also be regarding their next vacation spot, a favorite pastime, or some significant achievements that they are proud of.

Besides this, there are some other meeting tools required to elevate the level of your townhalls. It includes screen sharing applications, raised hands feature, and record & share features. They are effective means to help replicate the experiences of an in-person meeting.

Celebrate the Wins

Recognition is the key to making your employees feel special and admired. Right from adapting the work from home culture to making it an excellent decision for the organization has taken immense efforts of everyone. So, it becomes very important to recognize your employees and award them for their contributions to the company.

You can think of providing some incentives, discounted coupons, or periodic appraisals to acknowledge their achievements. So, keep this R&R ceremony as a significant portion of your online town hall meeting encourages engagement among the attendees.

Get Outstanding Speakers Onboard

Getting incredible speakers is one of the best ideas for virtual town hall meetings. They could be industry experts or senior officials who are familiar with the art of delivering the content remarkably. You can ask the department heads to lead the session and keep the attendees engaged through the content. Experienced officials would also know the art of addressing employee questions simply and understandably.

If you have multiple sessions lined up, then prefer keeping a variety of speakers to break the monotony at the virtual event. You can ask your senior leaders or management officials to lead the session. With deeper insights and understanding, they can help run an engaging and effective town hall meeting.

Keep it Short and Simple

There is no point in holding a meeting that is difficult to understand or seems to be boring for the employees. Adding plentiful business lingo or eye-straining slides can lead to attendee diversions. Therefore, prepare short sessions with engaging content, and try to include periodic breaks. It is an effective strategy to improve the stay time of the audience on the meeting platform.

While preparing the content, understand the viewpoint of your employees. Keep the content simple, short, and to the point. It will keep the employees hooked and involved throughout the event.

Wrapping Up

Virtual town hall meetings can be held for several reasons rather than just sharing company news and updates. The all-hands meetings can be an essential part of reinforcing your company’s culture. They are also an opportunity to have meaningful 3-way interactions with your employees, celebrate the winners, and motivate them. With the right virtual event platform, you can not just conduct online meetings but can make them highly engaging and memorable.