Let this sink in: 28.2% of employees have adapted to a hybrid work model, and almost 13% work fully remotely. The way we work has undergone a seismic shift.
This new reality spotlights communication—how do you keep everyone connected, informed, and engaged when they're not physically present in the same room?
With virtual town halls.
Virtual town halls are proven to create a thriving company culture, even when your team is spread out. Read this guide as we explain how to create energizing town halls that make your remote and hybrid workforce feel like part of something bigger.
What Is a Virtual Town Hall?
A virtual town hall is an online event like a traditional town hall, where leaders can communicate openly with employees, customers, or stakeholders. Anyone can attend from anywhere, making it a convenient and cost-effective option. The event is hosted on a virtual event platform where you can interact via live video, chat, Q&A, and polls.
The purpose varies but often is to share updates, address questions, and build community. It's a great way to reach a large and diverse audience.
Why Host a Virtual Town Hall?
For modern organizations, virtual town halls provide a flexible and effective method to ensure everyone is connected and informed, no matter where they are located.
Digital town halls offer:
- Accessibility: Attendees can join from anywhere, making it ideal for spread-out teams or communities.
- Engagement and interactivity: Typically including Q&A, polls, chat and other real-time interactive features to stimulate and track engagement.
- Scalability: The meeting can support a much larger attendance than an in-person event, as there are no limits to available space.
- Cost-effectiveness: There's no need to travel or rent a venue and cover other logistical costs of in-person events.
- Adaptability: A recording can be made available afterward for those unable to attend at the scheduled time.
9 Ways To Plan for a Successful Virtual Town Hall
Follow this step-by-step guide on hosting virtual town hall meetings:
1. Things to Do Beforehand
A virtual town hall can easily consume a good portion of your workday, so set things up for the get-go. Here are four ways to get started:
Choose Your Technology: There are many applications or web conferencing platforms for live streaming a virtual town hall. You will need a video conferencing application, screen-sharing software, a chat messenger service, and a polling app. Look into using solutions such as Cvent, which combines all of these capabilities in one suite.
Know Your Attendees: Estimate the number of employees attending the meeting. This helps you plan the agenda and any team-building activities.
Time Zones: For organizations with a distributed team across multiple time zones, choose a time that suits everyone or record the meeting for those unable to attend at the scheduled time.
Form a Support Team: Prepare and assign roles such as a moderator, an emcee, and technical personnel. The moderator will oversee questions and facilitate the meeting, while the IT staff will ensure everyone participates smoothly.
2. Meeting Objective
Every town hall should have an objective, defining the purpose and guiding the agenda, presentation and speaker. Consider:
- Recent product feature releases
- Monthly or quarterly sales updates
- Organizational changes or pivots
- New leadership or staff introductions
- Expansion of company goals or new products
Besides specific goals, consider broader objectives like motivating employees, building trust, and online community engagement.
3. Meeting Agenda
With the objective in mind, outline the topics to be covered. Don't overload the agenda; choose a few key topics that align with the objective. Get input from functional leaders and managers on relevant topics.
Here's an example of a virtual town hall agenda:
- Introduction and Icebreakers: 10 minutes
- Sales and Marketing Updates: 5 minutes
- New Product Features: 15 minutes
- Q&A Session: 20 minutes
- Monthly Celebrations and Milestones: 10 minutes
4. Content
Keep your presentation short, new, and relevant. Simplify complex topics by involving subject matter experts or department heads. Encourage questions and use polls and visuals to make it engaging and memorable. If time allows, include quizzes or fun activities.
5. Send the Invite
Notify your employees about the town hall via calendar invites, emails, and messaging apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams. The invite should include:
- Agenda: Date, time, objectives, speakers, and activities.
- Meeting Rules: Rules for participation (e.g., mute mics when not speaking or how to ask questions)
- FAQs: Answers common questions about joining the meeting, using the event software, and troubleshooting technical issues. Link to an internal wiki page for easy reference.
6. Collect Questions in Advance
Ask employees to submit questions beforehand. This way, the presenter can address them during the presentation and leave the Q&A session open for live questions.
7. Tech Dry Run
A day or two before the town hall, ensure all the meeting software, chat apps, and event tools are set up, and do a full tech check. Develop a plan for technical issues to minimize disruption.
8. Welcome Your Attendees
Engaging an audience in virtual meetings is hard. Acknowledge people as they join and use meeting icebreakers to welcome them. Encourage participation through polls, questions, and feedback to make the session interactive.
9. Send a Summary
Record the town hall and make it available to the entire company. Along with the recording, send out meeting minutes summarizing the key points. Create a page to host all past recordings and notes.
Get feedback through a poll after the meeting to gauge employee sentiment on the topics and the virtual town hall experience. Ask:
- What did you like?
- What did you dislike?
- What could have been better?
Use this feedback to improve future meetings and follow-ups.
6 Best Practices for Virtual Town Halls
When planning a virtual town hall, there are some universal best practices you should keep in mind. Make sure to:
1. Choose the Right Platform
The foundation of any great virtual town hall is choosing the right virtual event platform for your needs. When selecting one, look for must-have features such as video conferencing, screen sharing, online chat functionality, and polling.
Completely checking software solutions against your town hall's agenda will prevent technical hiccups and provide a seamless experience for attendees. Another best practice is to have a small group test the platform prior to the actual event so any kinks can be worked out.
2. Prepare Thoroughly
Preparation is essential in creating a successful virtual town hall. On the technical side, ensure everything is ready, such as testing microphones, speakers, internet connections, and software, well before the event.
Prepare captivating content such as slides, videos, infographics, and anything else that will keep attendees engaged. Also, have a full run-through rehearsal with all emcees and speakers to ensure a seamless experience and iron out any technical issues. Rigorous preparation diminishes the chances of anything unexpected happening during the virtual town hall and keeps the entire focus on the meeting's goals.
3. Engage Your Audience
One of the hardest tasks in a virtual town hall is maintaining attendee engagement throughout the entire event. This can be achieved by leveraging interactive tools such as polls, question-and-answer sessions, and online chat functionalities.
Opening the event with an icebreaker, such as a fun poll or activity, also gets the attendees involved. Making attendees feel connected, listened to, and, most importantly, valued is paramount in creating an inclusive virtual town hall experience.
4. Communicate Clearly
Communication is key when hosting an impactful town hall. Before the meeting, send attendees a clear agenda that specifically states the objectives, topics to be discussed, and who will be speaking.
Keep the presentations short and focus on the most important messages to prevent attendees from becoming information overwhelmed. Clear and concise communication prevents the meeting from going off-tangent and ensures attendees walk away with an unequivocally clear understanding of the main points and action items discussed.
5. Maintain Professionalism
Although virtual attendance presents a more laid-back style of meeting, it's imperative to maintain a certain level of professionalism. Prompt presenters to dress formally and check that their background, lighting, and overall setting are ideal for the occasion. This preserves the formal atmosphere and makes all attendees take the event with the utmost seriousness.
6. Use Visual Aids and Multimedia
Visual aids and multimedia content can be powerful tools in making your virtual town hall more engaging and successful. Multimedia makes dense and complex information more digestible and retains the audience's attention, which ultimately leads to a more memorable and effective presentation. Therefore, incorporate slides, videos, infographics, and any other visual materials that will help attendees grasp the main points and stay focused.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nailing your first virtual town hall can be difficult. Check out some common questions and answers to ensure you're prepped.
How Do Town Halls Work?
Town halls are super effective for engagement, communication, and transparency. Leadership can connect with a global workforce and create a sense of belonging and shared purpose.
Town halls are two-way; employees can ask questions, share concerns, and give feedback. Leadership can stay in touch with employee sentiment and address issues quickly. Plus, virtual town halls are a great way to celebrate company wins, recognize employee achievements, and keep everyone informed of important updates and plans.
How Often Should a Company Have a Virtual Town Hall?
The frequency of virtual town halls will depend on many factors, including the size of the company, the pace of change in the organization, and the needs of the employees. But a good starting point is to hold them quarterly (every three months).
This allows for regular communication and updates without being too frequent and overwhelming. Companies can supplement quarterly town halls with more targeted or departmental virtual meetings to cover specific topics or initiatives.
What's the Perfect Day and Time?
Unfortunately, there's no one "perfect" day and time for a virtual town hall that will work for everyone. But here are some tips to maximize attendance and engagement.
First, be mindful of your global audience if you have employees in different time zones. Holding the town hall at a time that's inconvenient for a large chunk of your workforce will defeat the purpose.
Second, avoid Mondays or Fridays as these are usually busy days for employees.
Finally, consider midweek mornings or afternoons, as these may be a better balance for employees in different time zones and schedules. So, ask your employees. Do a quick poll or survey and choose the time that works for the most.
Next, read the complete guide to virtual conferences in 2024.
