Townhall meetings are usually a conventional exercise of most organizations and businesses. It is an excellent way to bring everyone from the organization together to learn about the company progressions or updates of every department. But, we all know that the pandemic imposed a strict limitation to physical meetings or conferences. And then, virtual events and virtual event platforms came to everybody’s rescue.

Virtual town hall meetings are no exception. They are means to connect with the company’s employees, shareholders, and leaders at a time. With strategic planning, an all-in-one virtual meeting platform, and the right tools and features, you can seamlessly recreate the experiences of an on-site meeting. 

What is a Virtual Townhall Meeting?

Since 2020 people have been following the work-from-home culture. In these times, it becomes more vital to get your employees, shareholders, and managers together at the same time via virtual town hall meetings. These meetings happen over the Internet and a secure virtual meeting platform. Organizations connect with employees and managers of different department heads to review the company progress, celebrate the wins, or share the insights, latest company news, and recent updates.

How to Host a Successful Virtual Townhall Meeting in 2021?

If you are looking to host a virtual town hall meeting to deliver memorable and unique experiences to your attendees, here are some vital steps;

• Be clear with the Meeting Objective

Every virtual town hall meeting needs to have a definite set of objectives to ensure smooth execution. Before you determine the objective, consider asking a few questions to yourself;

1. Are you hosting this online town hall to reinforce company culture?
2. Do you want to discuss the latest updates and future strategies?
3. Are you conducting this meeting to celebrate the wins?

Once you are clear with the meeting objectives, you know exactly how to take it in the right direction.

• Schedule your meeting carefully

We have observed that people are relishing the idea of attending events from the comfort of their fancied locations. But, we need to understand that the event’s date and time are crucial factors that can affect participation massively. Hence, do your research, make sure that there’s no other renowned event happening while your event is taking place. Try to avoid national holidays, weekends, or the time around Christmas and New Year.

• Set a Meeting Agenda

Setting a meeting Agenda keeps the attendees aware of the sessions or discussions that will happen in the town hall. To prepare a productive meeting Agenda, you can discuss with the managers or senior officials to know their viewpoint. Getting their input will help you decide the order and duration of the sessions or activities too. These activities include icebreaker activity, company news or updates, organizational goals, and future strategies.

• Set specific ground rules for the virtual meeting

With attendees joining the meeting virtually, you need to respect their time and efforts. Make sure to set particular ground rules and keep everyone updated regarding the same. These rules play a vital role in maintaining the dignity of the virtual town hall meeting. Some essential ground rules include;

1. Attendees should mute their mic when someone else is speaking
2. They should always ensure to introduce themselves before they speak
3. In case they have any questions, they should use the raised hands feature
4. Ask your attendees to check their system configurations and Internet connection before the main event begins

• Pick the right virtual meeting platform

A virtual town hall meeting platform is the main stage where attendees and speakers will have common discussions and interactions. Hence, you need to be very decisive while selecting your enterprise solution. Ensure that your platform is 100% secure and trustworthy so, you know that the discussions or strategies will not be leaked. 

Besides this, the online platform should be highly capable of conducting frequent live polls and Q&As to organize interactive and engaging sessions. It should also have a screen-sharing application and excellent audio, chat, and video features to help recreate the experiences of an in-person meeting. 

Another notable factor that you should consider while determining your virtual event platform is that it should be multi-device compatibility and should run on both Android and iOS operating systems.

• Keep the joining process super simple

With participants attending the meeting virtually from remote locations, ensure to keep the joining process super simple. Try to evade additional downloads or set-ups before entering the meeting. Hence, choose an absolute video conferencing tool that enables the attendees to take part in the meeting without going through complicated procedures.

• Keep your audience engaged

The success of any online town hall meeting depends on your attendees. To keep them hooked and involved throughout the event, incorporate features like a live chat feature, AI-based recommendations, games, leaderboard challenges, and more. Event organizers need to understand that for virtual attendees it is super easy to get sidetracked. Hence, you need to be very thoughtful while deciding the duration or order of your sessions. You can think of including breaks, an ice-breaker activity, or getting multiple speakers on board to make the meeting more likable.

• Keep it simple, and to the point

Virtual town hall meetings are supposed to be highly engaging and interactive. Keeping attendee expectations in mind, try avoiding lengthy sessions and presentations or eye-straining slides that are difficult for the participants to understand. 

Hence, prepare simple and engaging content, bring noteworthy speakers, and keep shorter sessions to create a unique virtual event experience.

Benefits of Virtual Townhall Meetings

• Increased attendee count:

  With the elimination of geographical traveling barriers, people today do not hesitate in joining online meetings. All you need is to send invites to your potential attendees or employees to be a part of the meeting.

• Cost-effective

  : Hosting virtual town hall meetings or conferences is indeed a cost-effective process. The online format of events cuts down the expenses of food, catering, traveling, and accommodation. Organizations can use the saved resources to promote their event or include immersive features on their virtual meeting platform.

• Environment-friendly:

  With attendees joining the meeting virtually, you are contributing to making the world greener and environment-friendly. The elimination of traveling comes with less usage of vehicles, less emission of gases, and lesser wastage of papers and disposables.

Wrapping Up

Virtual town hall meetings carry a significant role in reinforcing the organizational culture and creating unique brand experiences. So, besides discussing the insights, updates, future strategies, try to make it more engaging and likable so the employees or attendees can takeaway memorable experiences.

Along with the formal discussions, make efforts to celebrate the winners who have worked hard to contribute to the company’s growth. With the choice of an ideal all-in-one virtual event technology, you can incorporate features and tools to host an immersive and remarkable virtual event