They also present challenges for anyone with different needs or who normally deals with barriers to participation.\u00a0<\/span>It’s important for business leaders to mitigate the difficulties posed by these technologies to create an inclusive environment. Below are eight virtual meeting best practices to improve inclusivity.<\/span><\/p>\n Normalizing the use of pronouns in meeting introductions can help make transgender and gender non-conforming people feel more welcome in your virtual meetings. Set the standard by introducing yourself with your pronouns at the beginning of your virtual meetings, <\/span>even if you\u2019re cisgender<\/span><\/a>. This should create a natural space where anyone can advocate for their correct pronouns within the normal flow of the meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n Pronouns can also be listed after an employee\u2019s name on the virtual meeting platform itself, as well as in other work platforms like Slack or email signatures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is important to consider the accessibility needs of your employees. Ultimately, the right accommodations will depend on your audience, so be sure to <\/span>ask your employees about their accessibility needs<\/span><\/a>. The following are some accessibility options that most employers should consider:<\/span><\/p>\n Create a safe and welcoming environment where all of your employees feel comfortable participating. You can start by setting ground rules and expectations at the beginning of your meeting. For instance, you could explicitly say that jumping in to ask a question is encouraged.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some employees may not feel comfortable speaking up during a meeting. Try encouraging people to drop their questions in the chat section of the meeting or blocking off time for a designated question and answer period.<\/span><\/p>\n Creating more ways to participate is likely to <\/span>increase overall participation from your employees<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Some people find it <\/span>difficult to process auditory and text inputs<\/span><\/a> at the same time. Therefore, it is important to create time for them to process information so that their voices can be heard in your virtual meetings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One way to do this is to ask everyone you would like to participate to submit their answer to a question in the chat. This gives everyone time to think through their response while allowing for multiple answers to come in simultaneously. You can then call out ideas you\u2019re seeing in the chat to be discussed by the group.<\/span><\/p>\n Visual aids are one of those <\/span>virtual meeting best practices<\/span><\/a> that also applies to in-person meetings. There are several reasons why it is helpful to have a slide, image, or video to reference during your meeting. For any meeting where metrics, costs, or statistics are being used, visual aids can communicate a lot of information very quickly and eliminate the need for a presenter to read every datapoint to get their message across.<\/span><\/p>\n Furthermore, visual aids can be helpful for people who do not share the first language of everyone else in the meeting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A recent survey found that <\/span>49% of U.S. employees are experiencing virtual meeting fatigue<\/span><\/a>. It also found that 54% of respondents say they\u2019re attending more meetings now (virtually) than they were before the pandemic (in person). Virtual meetings can be taxing, particularly for remote employees who are calling in to meetings that are taking place in person.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In these hybrid meeting scenarios, it can be easy to read the energy of the room you’re in at the risk of ignoring how your colleagues over Zoom are feeling. Building breaks into your agenda can ensure that everyone stays fresh for a longer period of time, which is likely to result in more <\/span>effective meetings<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Stay mindful of the time zones that your employees work in, especially if you regularly schedule meetings with people from across multiple time zones. You want to avoid a situation in which some people are working too late or others are having to wake up outside of business hours for a call.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately this comes down to making a compromise that works for everyone. For example, a morning meeting with attendees from both the east and west coasts could start at 11:00a.m. EST \/ 8:00a.m. PST. This is a little late for a morning meeting on the east coast, but a reasonable time to ask your west coast employees to wake up for a meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n It can be easy to lose sight of making your virtual meeting more inclusive once you get into your presentation, so it\u2019s a smart idea to have a facilitator who is dedicated to moderating the conversation. A good facilitator can <\/span>be the voice for anyone in a meeting<\/span><\/a> who might not otherwise be heard.<\/span><\/p>\n They can also keep track of the agenda and make sure that the meeting does not go over time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Advocating for more inclusive virtual meetings is not only best for your employees and meeting <\/span>compliance requirements<\/span><\/a>, but it should also make your meetings more efficient and productive. Beyond the tips shared above, it\u2019s helpful to seek input from your employees on other ways to make your virtual meetings better for everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Person](\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/How-to-Make-Virtual-Meetings-More-Inclusive-1000x667pix.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n1: Normalize the Use of Pronouns<\/b><\/h3>\n
2: Consider Accessibility<\/b><\/h3>\n
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3: Provide Multiple Ways to Participate<\/b><\/h3>\n
4: Use the Chat Function<\/b><\/h3>\n
5: Use Visual Aids<\/b><\/h3>\n
6: Build in Breaks<\/b><\/h3>\n
7: Be Mindful of Time Zones<\/b><\/h3>\n
8: Have a Facilitator<\/b><\/h3>\n
The Bottom Line<\/b><\/h2>\n