Remote work often results in productivity—and happiness—increases. But a significant report by Harvard Business Review reveals one caveat across multiple studies: People can quickly feel disconnected from their teams.
Virtual meetings in Virbela restore much-needed social interaction.
Instead of summoning everyone to a one-way video presentation, bring employees together in a shared space, where they can move around and converse in real-time.
With a virtual campus like Virbela, you can host your next all hands meeting, gather everyone for quarterly reviews, call a company-wide pep talk, or make major announcements.
Here, we’ll show you everything you need to make your next company meeting a success.
Plan Your Meeting’s Logistics
First things first: How will you get your entire company together?
Remote work lets you attract the best talent, regardless of where they reside. But it means your meetings are always online. Few people can stay focused on a talking head for an hour or longer. Video isn’t really the best solution for a company-wide meeting.
In your virtual campus, easy scalability allows you to invite remote or hybrid workforces to meet in creative, branded spaces that feel realistic. The setting is just different enough from the usual company meeting to raise enthusiasm, too.
Who: Your entire company, up to 10,000 or more
What: An annual meeting, quarterly review, or important announcement
Where: A Virbela virtual campus
Auditorium
- In the auditorium, presenters speak from a stage with screens behind them.
- Employees can walk, choose their seats, and talk until the meeting starts.
- Set up private volume areas for them to breakout for a confidential sidebar.
- Attendees can add comments, links, or show support using the public chat feature.
- Room size and seating capacity can be adjusted to fit your meeting attendance.
Boardrooms
- Seating configuration can be changed instantly to accommodate a large roundtable meeting, breakout tables, or classroom-style seating.
- Screens support presentations from company drives or web browsers.
- Executives can use boardrooms as a breakout room during meetings.
- Smaller organizations might prefer a boardroom for smaller meetings.
Conference Halls
- Presenters speak from a stage with screens behind them.
- Choose from a variety of seating configurations that best fits your needs: large roundtables, pair partner tables, classroom seating, or standing room only.
- Turn on/off private volumes, allowing employees to talk in smaller breakout groups.
The Virbela Speakeasy™
- The Virbela Speakeasy™ is a fun, club-like setting for high-energy events.
- A stage with screens makes room for presenters or entertainers.
- An open floor is standing room only, so employees can stand, move, or dance.
- Balconies and lighting options give this space a stylish lounge vibe.
When: Pick a time that works for all your time zones or run the meeting twice. Your virtual campus is always on, plus you can record for anyone who has a scheduling conflict or wants to review afterwards.
Why: Your employees deserve to feel like they belong. Get the message out to everyone at your organization: virtual work is the future.
Present with the Tools You Know
Company meetings need to go off without a hitch. Before the meeting, take stock of your favorite presentation tools, so you know which you plan to use.
- Present slides, PDFs, and documents.
- Share your screen or webcam on the fly.
- Use interactive whiteboards and sticky notes.
- Show any software that runs in a web browser.
- Call attention to docs or slides with laser pointers.
Customizable configurations let administrators design the setting:
- Change seating or other furniture.
- Use presentation boards or web browsers.
- Silence the audience when the meeting starts.
- Respond to a public chat box.
- Take questions from the audience.
During the meeting, employees can take advantage of virtual features that can enhance their experience:
- Zoom into presentation boards.
- Move to other parts of the room.
- Step into private volume areas.
- Use public or private chat boxes.
Plus, Virbela makes it easy to integrate the apps and tools you count on for full-on engagement.
As a total bonus, virtual campuses can help with any stage jitters. For instance, you don’t have to worry about unflattering lighting or if anyone is judging your suit. Presenters can just be themselves on stage.
Make Meetings Better than Real Life
Leading companies usually go out of their way to make sure company meetings are awesome. Each meeting is another chance to let your employees know you value them, while dialing them into updates or innovations.
Get creative with exciting value-adds that thank employees for being there or add to the sense of social interaction during or after the meeting.
- Mail gifts or swag before or after the event.
- Offer a stipend so each employee can order lunch.
- Include a just-for-fun speaker after the meeting.
- Book entertainment and host an after-party.
Adding perks to your virtual experience helps create shared memories and gives everyone a reason to talk about your meeting.
For instance, Virbela hosted its holiday party for employees and clients in The Virbela Speakeasy™. We invited DJ Jazzy Jeff to perform a DJ set of hip-hop and soul classics from the stage. His set-up was phenomenal. On screen, everyone watched him spin, while his avatar jumped around and danced on stage.
The music was bumpin’, the dance floor was jammin’, and the chat box was blowing up with employees and guests from around the world. Both during and afterwards, so many people remarked on how it didn’t feel like a work event. It felt like an actual party at a nightclub or a lounge.
The immersive value of getting together in your virtual campus makes your company meetings feel special. Empower your company with the tools to make business updates and annual events better than they’ve even been before.
