Employee engagement in the post Covid, hybrid working world is key if businesses are to retain talent and promote a positive, inclusive culture.  

Gone are the days where attendance at the office was a prerequisite to having your voice heard and treating those attending a meeting remotely as a secondary thought was ok!  

Hybrid meetings need to offer not only the opportunity for every attendee to contribute but for them to feel safe enough to share their thoughts and interact in an honest uninhibited way. A live polling and Q&A app is how business like BP are doing just that alongside their online meeting platform, whether that be Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx or any other of the multitude of meeting platforms out there.  

Live polling in various forms has long been a powerful tool for measuring employee understanding, sentiment and opinion in businesses. An expected feature of face-to-face meetings such as staff conferences and ‘Town hall’ employee communication meetings before covid, it now offers the functionality and flexibility to ensure the engagement and inclusion required of hybrid meetings. 

Here’s how… 

1. Inclusivity. Wherever they are, every individual attendee has the same opportunity for interaction. Remote attendees use the polling app with the meeting platform and in person attendees watch a shared video screen or the live presenter and access the app though their own phone or laptop. 
2. Ice breaking and collaboration. A simple live poll such as world cloud in the opening part of a hybrid meeting ensures everyone the opportunity to share a thought, connect and create something together in an instant. 
3. Instant understanding for presenters of both knowledge levels, and the general feeling in the business. Live polls can provide a great temperature check. Opening up the feedback channels before the meeting is also a great way of shaping a relevant and meaningful agenda. 
4. Democratic decisions. Everyone gets a chance to show their support for comments, ideas or questions anonymously by ‘liking’ them in the discussion board of an app, with the most ‘liked’ rising to the top of the display. Where time is limited, the most important questions to the group can be addressed, not just those people shouting the loudest. 
5. Employees feel safe to speak up. People ask great questions and share their ideas when there is no risk or judgement from peers or bosses. The anonymity provided by app removes bias and results in more voices being heard. 
6. Interaction generates engagement. In the past employee comms meetings often had a reputation for being boring, one-way presentations. A polling and Q&A app bridges the engagement gap, keeping people alert and feeling involved. 
7. Continuous improvement. Hybrid meetings are new to many and some experimentation will be required as businesses adjust. A few survey or poll questions completed through the app before participants even leave the meeting can provide not only a clear message that the business is listening and open to feedback, but also provides essential feedback as to how to improve the experience next time. 
8. Complete control. With moderation and management features in a polling and Q&A platform, presenters can control which messages and poll results are displayed back to attendees and when.  
9. Simplicity. Sign up online and you can be running polls and Q&A from a browser or your PowerPoint presentation in minutes.  

Not including live polling or anonymous Q&A in your hybrid meetings yet? Why not Sign up for a free Vevox account or request free 30 minute demo/training session and transform your next team meeting… 

Related articles: 

Vevox Polling and Q&A for Microsoft Teams and PowerPoint users 

How BCH Police make everyone comfortable asking questions