As offices reopen many employees are looking forward to returning to face-to-face interactions. There's an office culture that has been missing over the past couple of years. Return to work will also bring back the separation of home and office for many.
With that said, there are some lessons learned during work from home that should definitely stick around. The big one I'm going to focus on is virtual company-wide meetings. I'm not referring to normal day-to-day Zoom meetings that became a mainstay of work from home. What I'm referring to is well-produced all-hands meetings, town-halls and virtual meetings that can bring employees together from various offices, locations, etc.
While we live streamed events for years before the pandemic, during COVID, many companies have learned to effectively use virtual events to keep employees informed, share important information and reduce travel. Some business travel will return, but some can easily be replaced with more cost effective virtual solutions.
When I refer to well-produced events, I'm not referring to company leadership sitting in front of a web camera speaking to staff. Virtual town hall meetings can be multi-camera events with presenters wearing microphones, and professional lighting. These events can be distributed internally, live streamed, or produced as a webinar. Virtual town hall and all hands meetings can be interactive with moderated question and answer sessions, live chat, handouts and slide and video presentations.
These types of events can be monthly, quarterly or annually. As workers return to the office, just keep in mind virtual doesn't have to be a negative. It can be used as a way to engage and interact with the workforce. We're here to help you make your virtual or hybrid events a success.