How to lead better virtual meetings

In today’s world, virtual meetings are no longer just a convenience—they’re a necessity.

Whether you’re leading a team of remote workers or connecting with clients across different time zones, knowing how to run an effective virtual meeting is a crucial skill.

The question is: “how do you make sure your virtual sessions are engaging, productive, and achieve your meeting purpose?”

Virtual meetings are notorious for people suffering from zoom fatigue, people zoning out from boredom, and, for things simply going off track.

Keep reading for some actionable tips to help you lead better virtual meetings that are time-efficient, effective and leave everyone feeling motivated and engaged.

1. Set Clear Objectives

Whether your meeting is face-to-face or virtual, it is vital that you, as the meeting leader, have formulated a clear purpose for the meeting. And without a clear purpose, there is no point for running a meeting in the first place!

How many of us have attended meetings without a purpose or agenda, and wondered what the point of the whole thing was?? Talk about a total waste of time….

Is your meeting purpose to make decisions? To brainstorm ideas? Share updates? Or Solve problems?

Communicate this purpose clearly to the meeting attendees from the very outset. A clear purpose helps everyone stay focused and ensures that the meeting stays on track.

When you send out the meeting invitations, consider adding a quick agenda. It doesn’t need to be overly detailed, but just giving a sense of what topics will be covered helps participants prepare for the meeting and to stay engaged.

2. Be Mindful of Time

One of the biggest challenges with virtual meetings is that they can easily drag on if you don’t stay vigilant. Everyone’s working from their own space, and potentially getting distracted behind the scenes.

Respect your team’s time by setting a clear start and end time—and sticking to it.

If the meeting is supposed to last an hour, try to wrap up 5-10 minutes before the hour is up. Not only will this leave a good impression, but it’ll also prevent “Zoom fatigue” from setting in.

Zoom fatigue is very real. For some tips on how to reduce zoom fatigue, please refer to this post.

3. Engage Early and Often

Don’t be tempted to be too business-like, and launch straight into the agenda.

Instead, start with a quick icebreaker or round of introductions to get everyone engaged from the outset (especially if it’s a new group or a team with whom you haven’t worked in a while).

Some fun icebreaker ideas are:

• Two truths and a lie. Each participant shares two true statements and one false statement about themselves. Others then guess which statement is the lie.

• Show and tell. Ask participants to pick an item in their workspace that holds personal significance and relate the story behind it.

• Word association. This game starts with one person saying a word about a particular theme or topic. The next person says a related word, and so on.

Some meeting engagement strategies include: asking open-ended questions, encouraging participation, and calling on people directly if needed (without making it feel like an interrogation!).

Make use of the videoconferencing features that foster engagement, such as the Chatbox for questions and comments, emojis for reactions, breakout rooms for any group activities, and collaborating with shared documents and the Whiteboard.

Remember: The more people interact, the more fun and interesting the meeting will be.

4. Use Video (But Don’t Overdo It)

Video can be a double-edged sword in virtual sessions. While it adds a personal touch and helps participants feel more connected, it can also cause some people to freeze up or feel self-conscious.

TIP: I recommend that everyone turn off self-view in their video settings, so they don’t get self-conscious looking at their image on the screen.

Please note: With someone’s self-view turned off, his/her camera is still on, but they cannot see their video image, so they don’t start fixating on all their flaws, such as a double-chin etc !!

As far as everyone turning on their cameras: As the meeting leader, you should lead by example and stay on video.

But make sure that it’s a welcoming, no-pressure environment.

Encourage others to turn on their cameras, but don’t make it mandatory.

If someone’s in a less-than-ideal setting or prefers to stay off-camera, be respectful of that choice.

5. Keep the Conversation Focused

A common pitfall in all meetings, including virtual meetings, is when the discussion meanders and time gets wasted.

Keep the conversation on track by sticking to the agenda and reminding people if the discussion veers off course.

If someone goes on a tangent, gently steer them back. You can always say something like, “That’s an interesting point, let’s circle back to that after we cover this agenda item.” This shows you’re listening but also keeps the meeting productive.

6. Utilise Collaborative Tools

Take advantage of tools like shared documents, whiteboards, or even simple chat features. These can help you stay organised and facilitate collaboration without interrupting the flow of the meeting.

For example, using a shared Google Doc allows participants to contribute ideas in real-time, or a virtual whiteboard can help with brainstorming and visual collaboration.

These tools can make your meeting feel interactive and dynamic, even when everyone’s not in the same room.

7. Encourage Participation

It’s easy for some people to slip into “lurker” mode in virtual settings. As the leader, it’s your job to keep things moving and encourage participation, making sure everyone’s voice is heard.

This shouldn’t be a monologue. Encourage people to chat, use emoji reactions or simply ask people for input.

And as for the quieter participants, be proactive in engaging them. You can do this by asking direct questions or inviting feedback on a topic. For example, “I’d love to hear your thoughts, Sarah,” or “Tom, do you have any insights on this?” This way, everyone has a chance to contribute, and it fosters a more inclusive, collaborative environment.

8. Wrap Up with Clear Action Items

At the end of the meeting, summarise the key takeaways and assign action items with deadlines.

Be sure to clarify who’s responsible for what and check in to see if anyone has any questions or needs clarification.

A post-meeting email with a recap of these decisions, action items and takeaways, can help everyone stay accountable and on the same page.

Send this email while the meeting is still fresh in everyone’s mind, ideally within a few hours of the meeting.

Many modern virtual meeting platforms integrate with free, automatic transcription services.

9. Follow Up and Stay Available

After the meeting ends, it’s important to follow up with the action items. This doesn’t have to be a huge task, but a simple reminder email or a quick check-in can help keep things on track.

If participants have lingering questions or need further clarification, make yourself available for quick follow-ups. The more proactive you are with communication, the more organized and productive your team will be.

10. Don’t Forget to Have Fun!

Last but not least, don’t forget to inject some fun into your virtual meetings. After all, work doesn’t have to be all business and no play. Whether it’s starting with a fun icebreaker, sharing a fun fact, or using creative virtual backgrounds, making space for lighthearted moments can help your team feel more comfortable and connected.

© 2025 Susan Weser.  All rights reserved.

Susan Weser is the Founder of Speaking2Win, a boutique public speaking and presentation skills consultancy, based in Melbourne, Australia. Susan’s mission is to demystify public speaking and presenting. She loves to fast-track her clients’ public speaking success, empowering them with the skills and confidence to excel in all their public speaking endeavours.

4 people’s camera images displayed on a virtual meeting at work.