Even as we transition from a remote working environment to a hybrid workplace, the ubiquitous power of video meetings cannot be undermined for today’s corporate workforce. Like a virtual bridge, they seamlessly connect teams spread across various locations, fostering real-time interactions that mimic face-to-face conversations. 

Video meetings have become the linchpin of effective communication, enabling seamless collaboration between in-office and remote team members. An Owl Labs survey of 2022 reveals that 87% of remote and hybrid workers prefer video conferencing as it fosters better engagement and understanding. 

Companies of all sizes have harnessed the power of video meetings, recognizing their potential to enhance productivity, reduce travel costs, and boost employee morale.

The Role of Participant Engagement in Online Video Meetings

With the increasing significance of video meetings, it’s only obvious that the role of participants and their engagement in meetings, participant engagement stands as the vital ingredient for effective communication and seamless collaboration. However, challenges exist that can  impede participant engagement. 

• Technical glitches: From poor internet connections to audio lags and communication delays, technical hiccups hamper engagement, leaving participants feeling disengaged and frustrated.
• Distractions: Distractions pose another obstacle in the path to active involvement. A Gartner study brings to the fore how video meetings always encourage multitasking, which can be detrimental to focus. 41% of employees admitted to doing unrelated work while on video calls. These distractions diminish attention and prevent meaningful contributions, hindering the team’s progress.
• Absence of non-verbal cues: The absence of non-verbal cues in video meetings can lead to misinterpretations. Non-verbal cues carry valuable information, and their absence can reduce the effectiveness of communication. A Buffer study reveals that 43% of remote employees struggle with miscommunication due to a lack of non-verbal cues.

Read More: 5 Ways to Secure Your Meetings When Using Video Conferencing Software

Strategies To Enhance Participant Engagement In Online Video Meeting

To actively tackle the above mentioned challenges, it is crucial to foster an environment that encourages active participation. Employing interactive tools, nurturing open discussions, and setting clear meeting agendas can rekindle participant engagement. By overcoming these challenges, through a video meeting software companies can transform their video meetings into a harmonious symphony of ideas, collaboration, and successful outcomes. Let’s explore potential strategies that can drive participants to engage and interact better to make the most of video meetings.

1. Setting the stage: Pre-meet prep

Before a meeting commences, it is ideal to encourage participants to acquaint themselves with the meeting agenda. Supporting reading material is a good place to start. This sets the tone for removing potential hiccups and helps drive the context of the meeting. By doing so, attendees can come prepared with insightful thoughts, promoting meaningful discussions. For example, in a marketing brainstorming session, sharing market research data beforehand can ignite innovative ideas and creative solutions.

Creating an optimal meeting environment is equally crucial. Suggest tips for participants to set up suitable lighting, background, and minimize distractions. By doing this, you can ensure everyone’s focus remains on the agenda. For instance, in a design review meeting, clear visuals and minimal background noise can facilitate effective feedback and review. Such streamlined meetings can be promoted through an effective video meeting software. 

2. Laying the foundation of interactivity: Meeting agenda

A well-structured agenda is the backbone of an engaging video meeting. Encourage organizers to include interactive activities and discussion points to keep participants actively involved. For instance, in a team-building session, incorporating collaborative exercises that encourage creativity and problem-solving can enhance team dynamics.

Breaking the ice is essential, particularly in virtual meetings where personal connections might feel distant. Suggest incorporating icebreakers or warm-up activities to establish rapport among participants. For example, in a project kick-off meeting, sharing interesting facts about team members can create a sense of camaraderie and collaboration.

3. Encouraging active participation: A culture of contribution

To foster active participation, guide meeting facilitators to ask open-ended questions that encourage thoughtful responses. For instance, in a strategic planning meeting, prompting attendees to share their perspectives on market trends can lead to valuable insights.

Leveraging features like polls, chat, and breakout rooms can transform passive listeners into active contributors. In a product feedback session, conducting live polls or using breakout rooms for smaller group discussions can amplify engagement and encourage diverse viewpoints.

4. Leveraging the video toolkit: Visual aids and multimedia

Incorporating visual aids is a powerful way to enhance engagement and comprehension. Recommend using slides or screen sharing to deliver information effectively. For example, in a training session, visualizing complex concepts through infographics or diagrams can make learning more engaging and memorable.

To maintain interest, suggest using multimedia elements like videos or interactive presentations. In a sales pitch, including customer testimonial videos or interactive product demos can capture participants’ attention and leave a lasting impression.

5. Empowering participants: Strong communication techniques

Establishing clear communication norms is vital to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. Provide guidance on using mute/unmute etiquette and raising virtual hands for orderly discussions. For instance, in a team status meeting, creating opportunities for everyone to contribute updates can foster a sense of collaboration and accountability. Active listening is equally crucial for effective communication. Encourage participants to acknowledge and respond to each other’s ideas, promoting a collaborative environment. In a brainstorming session, demonstrating active listening by building on others’ ideas can inspire creative thinking and inclusivity.

6. Experimenting with different narratives: Dynamic meeting formats

Varying the meeting format can inject excitement and maintain engagement. Incorporate small group discussions or interactive tools like whiteboards to encourage active participation. In a project planning meeting, using a whiteboard to collectively outline action items and deadlines can create a sense of ownership and accountability.

Tell captivating stories, use humor, or share personal anecdotes to keep the meeting lively and inspiring. For instance, in a team morale-boosting session, recounting success stories and celebrating achievements can motivate the team to strive for more significant accomplishments.

7. Blazing through challenges: Tips and tricks

Addressing common technical issues proactively is essential to maintain seamless meetings. Provide troubleshooting tips for audio or video glitches, ensuring that participants can navigate any obstacles without derailing the discussion.

Suggest using reliable video conferencing platforms with the latest features and improvements to ensure a smooth experience. In a client presentation, using a secure and user-friendly platform with screen sharing capabilities can impress clients and build trust.

Read More: 5 Video Marketing Trends That Every SMB Needs To Follow

Best Practices for Facilitating Engaging Video Meetings

Here’s a list of best practices to remember to facilitate smooth seamless meetings. 

1. Prepare adequately and set the stage
2. Build an interactive agenda that encourages participants to engage actively
3. Keep open-ended questions a part of the agenda
4. Use visual aids and multimedia
5. Establish clear communication norms
6. Use dynamic meeting formats
7. Incorporate humor and storytelling tools
8. Overcome technical challenges

Acing Online Video Meeting With The Right Tool: InfinCE, A Customizable Video Engagement Platform

InfinCE’s online video Meeting software intuitive interface and user-friendly design are built to streamline the video meeting experience, ensuring both organizers and participants can navigate effortlessly through the platform. From pre-meeting preparation to post-meeting follow-ups, InfinCE facilitates every step of the video conferencing journey.

In the digital era, mastering the art of participant engagement in video meetings is a leadership skill that can set teams on a path to success. By employing these strategies and fostering a culture of active involvement, businesses can leverage the full potential of video meetings to foster collaboration, creativity, and connection among their distributed workforce. When every participant feels valued and inspired to contribute, the power of virtual meetings transcends physical boundaries, creating a united and thriving digital workplace. 

Learn more on how InfinCE makes a perfect Video Engagement Platform. Request for a Free Demo now!

How to Stay on Top of Video Conferencing Software Security

Video conferencing has emerged as one of the simplest solutions to overcome the challenges of social distancing and restrictions on physical meetings amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As more and more businesses are implementing video conferencing solutions for managing their day-to-day operations, the trend has led to the development of a wide range of collaboration platforms as well. However, as the demand grew, it brought along a few security challenges too.

Read more: 10 Benefits of Using Business Communication Apps to Future-Proof Your Company 

Businesses utilizing a video meeting platform to communicate with their team, clients, and customers need to understand that remote video conferencing carries an inherent data risk as well. That is why you need to ensure that you adopt the right cybersecurity measures to protect your organization’s confidential data. Below are 5 ways to help you keep your shared data safe while ensuring increased productivity and collaboration.

1. Monitor your network security

Implementing adequate network security measures is vital for keeping sensitive business data safe from hackers. It does not matter how secure the devices are that you use to connect to the video conferencing software; if you do not have proper network security, anyone can obtain the details shared via video conference by gaining access to the company network.

You can use encrypted passwords and customized firewalls to secure your network. Likewise, you should also use Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication for all users to reduce the risks of network breaches due to compromised user credentials. As SSO credentials are strategically linked to the specific user’s authorization and entitlements, it will help to monitor and control access to all the video conferencing units in case the user credentials are compromised.

2. Assess your current video meeting platform

If you are using a legacy video conferencing software solution, then you could be dealing with an outdated platform with weak security features. Even the best meeting software that performed well a couple of years ago can be at risk of security breaches if it is not updated regularly with the latest security patches. That means putting your employees, customers, clients, and your company reputation at risk. 

Note that installing updates may not work after a certain point for older video conferencing technology. So it will be wiser to upgrade to a reliable, modern team collaboration software like InfinCE. Users can enjoy enhanced communication, without the fear of data breach through InfinCE’s video conferencing platform. 

Read more: Why Is InfinCE A Better Choice For Safe Video Calling Than Zoom

The latest video meeting solutions come with advanced data encryption features that will help to keep your online conferences private and shared data safe and secure.

3. Use tough-to-crack video conference passwords

In order to keep your video conferences secure, you need to secure both your software and hardware with 128-bit AES protection. This security measure will allow your video meeting platform to use a 128-bit key to encrypt and decrypt all the video calls. As it works by automatically generating secured keys before the start of each video conference, it makes cracking the passwords virtually impossible for hackers.

You should ensure that you secure all your new business conferences, instant video calls, personal meetings, and attendees with unbreakable 128-bit encryption. It is also important that you never shared the video conference links via open channels like social media, as it will make it very easy for hackers to hop into your video conferences and try to steal secure company data.

4. Get the best meeting software with domain-based approach

There are a lot of video conferencing solutions out there, but not all of them follow the domain-based approach to security. Choosing such a provider will help you to make sure that all the attendees can collaborate in a well-controlled and secure environment. Moreover, it will also ensure that you do not connect your video conferencing software directly to the internet without a firewall.

Regardless of whether it is managed by the video conferencing provider or by your in-house IT team, domain-based security will allow you to assign various levels of user permissions to have better control of the video conferences. This way, if hackers try to hop into your video meetings, they will not be able to enter the system without you granting access.

Read more: Top 10 Alternatives to Microsoft Teams that Aid Remote Work in 2020 

5. Ensure robust privacy policies

Choosing the best meeting software for your video conferencing needs also has the benefit of reliable privacy policies. Check that the video meeting solution you use has clear policies on the collection of user information as well as meeting content for any kind of advertising or marketing efforts. Moreover, you should also create a video conferencing policy for your company to establish clear guidelines and expectations for all users.

You should have a well-defined privacy policy that specifies who can connect to the video conferencing software remotely and how they should access and use the shared data. You can even prepare a list of team members, pre-approved clients, customers, and vendors, who can gain access to specific meetings to bolster the security of your video conferences.

Apart from following all the above-stated guidelines, you should also ensure that your employees are educated on how to host and manage a secure video conference. For that, you can conduct training sessions to explain the specific steps, recommended security settings, and company policies that they should follow to maximize video conferencing security.

Want to know how InfinCE can elevate your video calling experience with robust security and exceptional collaboration features? Get in touch with our expert today.