How to Engage Your Team Virtually

By Hannah Whitesides, Retreat Leader & Fear Management Specialist for our Company Virtual Retreats

One of the questions I get most often when discussing a potential retreat with clients is, “How do you make sure the participants stay engaged?” Our retreats vary from 2 to 8 hours so that’s a valid question. These days, distraction is at an all time high considering many of us are working from home. If you’re struggling to keep your employees engaged during a virtual meeting, presentation, whatever it may be, this blog is for you. 

Avoid talking at them. 

The best I can compare this to is when you’re in a college lecture. If you’re not super interested in the topic at hand, it’s very easy for your mind to drift off. Using powerpoint is the key contributor to talking at your team. Little by little, slide by slide you’re losing their focus. 

What to do instead: If you have a presentation that you need to conduct, instead of using PowerPoint, use something simple like Canva. In order to keep our participants engaged during retreats, we use Canva. We put very little information on the document and ask participants questions and encourage their input during the different activities so that participants are compelled to engage in the material. The documents are specifically activity-based and are meant to be interactive supplements to the experience, not something we depend on. Humans make the presentation experience NOT the PowerPoints!

Create a space of conversation. 

As humans, we love to voice our thoughts and opinions. During a Zoom meeting it’s good to take a step back from the presenter and invite your team members to contribute. Some people might be a little hesitant to speak up so it’s also helpful to split team members up into breakout groups so that the more reserved team members get an opportunity to speak and feel heard. Many of the participants on our retreats mentioned that the breakout group sessions were their favorite part of the retreat. When you allow for connection, people remember the stories they heard and how they felt more than any other part of the meeting or presentation.

Don’t just talk about work. 

A strong team is one that feels comfortable around each other. It’s a team that gets along outside the work environment and speaking to one another is enjoyable. During meetings or presentations, spend a few minutes catching up with team members. Check in to see how their life is going, just casual, authentic conversation. It means the world that you actually care about them as people rather than constantly being worried about what they can do or contribute.

At Project Passport we implement these things not only in our retreats, but in our team meetings as well. Team meetings are not something we dread. They’re not something that I’m going to complain about after the fact. Everyone’s opinion is encouraged and we often get off topic talking about something random because we’re a close team and everyone is always engaged. Do these things and I assure you, you’ll see results.

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Project Passport is a proactive mental wellness company that aims to bring wellness retreats, workshops and other services to company teams and also help women create joy in their lives every step of the way. To learn more about our company retreats and services, click here. To learn more about our tribe community for women, click here. Our travel retreats will resume in the future as the world reopens.