Virtual town hall meeting
Are you planning to organize your first virtual town hall meeting? You want to make it as exciting as your usual in-person meeting, but you're not sure where to start. Are the rules the same? Or should you do something differently? This article will cover what a virtual town hall meeting is, how you can run it effectively, and which town hall meeting invitation email template you should use to send out the invites.
What is a virtual town hall meeting?
A virtual town hall is a meeting for everyone in the company where they share the latest news, celebrate huge milestones, and get a chance to ask questions. It can be done quarterly or once a year, depending on how large the organization is. It is also known as an all-hands meeting and is usually done in person. However, due to the pandemic, most companies have opted for a virtual town hall meeting.
What is the value of a virtual town hall?
- Make sure that the company is aligned with its mission and goals.
- Celebrate wins and identify areas for improvement.
- Bring the team closer despite the distance.
How do you hold an effective virtual town hall?
While a virtual town hall is easier (and maybe less expensive) to produce, it's more challenging to keep people engaged when there are too many distractions. You're competing with ringing phones, kids screaming in the background, and endless waves of notifications. But don't fret! By using the right async remote tools, you'll run an effective virtual town hall with these tips.
Start and end with a bang.
Start with a fun trivia game. It could be as simple as guessing the milestone numbers of the company. For example, "How much did we make in total revenue this year?" End with something inspiring or surprising, such as giving everyone delivery vouchers to order food for their family after the meeting.
Highlight remarkable achievements and people.
To keep the energy high, do something special for the people who have hit remarkable achievements. As a suggestion, why not make a short video or a fun certificate that you can feature in the Zoom call?
Encourage everyone to participate.
Not everyone will be unmuting their mic and asking questions. So, make sure to utilize all the Zoom features or virtual town hall meeting software you're using to maximize the interaction. For example, everyone can agree on a theme or funny virtual background. That way, it looks like you're in the same place. Lastly, encourage everyone to hit the emojis and use the chat.
Which Virtual Town Hall Meeting Software Should You Use?
Should you use Zoom, and how do you host a town hall on Zoom? Without a doubt, it is the most popular virtual town hall software. But you can also use Google Meet and other similar meeting tools, that's if you have everyone working in the same time zone. With a distributed team, organizing synchronous meetings can become a bit tricky. That's why using an asynchronous collaborative meeting tool can be a great solution.
You need a reliable tool where you can send a town hall meeting email template where you can include all the agenda too! Once you create your meeting agenda in an asynchronous meeting tool, you can use the town hall meeting invite template to invite attendees. Then, they can contribute to the virtual town hall meeting when it suits them best.
What's Inside This Virtual Town Hall Template
How do you perform or host a virtual town hall meeting? Luckily, we've got you covered with this virtual town hall meeting template. It includes all the essential sections, such as welcoming all attendees, housekeeping, and Q&A sessions.
Welcome & Icebreakers
Have the CEO or company head kick off the meeting with an intro and icebreaker. This is also where the objective of the meeting is set. Use this template to learn more about other exciting ways to start the meeting.
Housekeeping
- Duration of the meeting
- Structure of the town hall
- How attendees can participate (ie. raising hands, adding to the chat, polls, quizzes, etc.)
Updates
Share any major updates that have come up since the last meeting. This is where department leaders can add input on recent updates from their side.
Wins & Shoutouts
Are there any employee achievements, company-wide wins, or milestones that need to be celebrated? Now is the time.
Q&A/ Ask me anything session
Open the floor to questions. Some questions may have come even before the meeting; this is where you would respond to them. You can also gather questions ahead of time, so there is no dead air during the Q&A portion.
Feedback
Collecting employee feedback is invaluable to helping you communicate priorities and provide direction to the leadership team.
A Better Virtual Town Hall Meeting
Running an effective town hall meeting is easier with our templates. Plus, it's also a great way to handle asynchronous Q&A sessions, so everyone has a chance to ask a question even if they miss the live event. Check out our other templates to help you run awesome meetings! 👇
More templates
