If You Want Engagement… Be Engaging
During a recent leadership retreat with a client, the following question was asked:
“How do we, as leaders, effectively engage with our teams in a virtual environment?”
My first thought was, don’t suck at engaging your people, virtually or otherwise.
Too harsh? Let’s explore…
I know it is an important question. After all, the virtual world isn’t going anywhere. Even as in-person conferences and meetings begin to come back, I believe a combination of virtual and live events will be the trend going forward. This presents the next challenge for leaders.
Rather than seeing this as a virtual problem, let’s reframe it and look at our challenge as a problem in our ability to connect because that’s what’s really going on here.
When the pandemic shut down meetings and conventions, my business came to a screeching halt. If there were no conferences, then there’s no need for a keynote speaker. We went from 120 speeches a year to unemployed, literally overnight.
Now what?
I did what almost everyone else did…
I blamed others.
I got angry.
I was scared.
I worried.
I denied reality.
My team told me that we needed to figure out how to do virtual keynotes.
I resisted.
I thought it was going to kill my brand. I had all the reasons why it wasn’t a good idea:
“I need the energy of a room filled with people.”
“I need to see their faces.”
“I need to hear them laugh.”
“It won’t be the same!”
“We either figure it out or become irrelevant,” they told me.
“Besides, shouldn’t you ‘Walk your Talk' during this season of change, Mr. Motivator?”
Damn. I hate it when my team plays that card. But they were right.
So, we went to work.
It’s amazing how taking positive action can change things almost immediately. We decided that Covid would not become an excuse for doing nothing. It would instead become a catalyst for elevating my game.
We adapted.
We moved our keynote performance from the stage to the computer screen. We found a studio partner to help us make the transition.
We figured it out, and the reviews came in.
“That was the best speech I have ever heard.”
“I felt like he was talking directly to me!”
“I didn’t want it to end.”
I was stunned.
We were hitting our virtual stride from thirty minutes to three hours (with no audience drop off). Just me and a camera. No power points, no videos, no screen shares. We violated every best practice the “gurus” plastered all over social media.
I am proud of what we accomplished, but I am not telling you this story to brag about our work. I am telling you this because I didn’t believe that engagement was possible in a virtual world.
I was wrong.
We were blessed to do nearly a hundred events in 2020. I was forced to stretch beyond what was comfortable for me. I tried different things, developed new material, and was willing to fail until we got it right.
And through it all, I learned a couple of important lessons about virtual engagement:
#1. If you want engagement, you must first be engaging!
When engaging an audience, a team, or an individual, leaders need to know that engagement is a response, not a right. We can demand attendance at a meeting, but engagement must be earned.
The truth is that the same principles of engagement apply, whether in-person or online. It just feels different. Virtual platforms are not the culprit robbing us of engagement. The misuse of virtual platforms is causing us to lose our connection with those we lead.
And yet, organizations continue to lose their virtual minds.
The pandemic is not a pass to mail it in and hide behind technology, claiming that we simply can’t engage with our teams remotely.
That is total BS.
Most organizations got really creative and figured out how to engage with customers during the pandemic. They understood that the goals had not changed; they simply had to find new ways to connect and serve.
The same is true with our internal customers and our teams.
And yet, I see organizations everywhere completely missing the mark when it comes to engaging with their teams in remote and hybrid work environments. They have unproductive, time-consuming, and exhausting video calls and meetings that leave a wake of zombified teammates diagnosed with the dreaded “Zoom Fatigue.”
When people say they are suffering from Zoom Fatigue (which is a real thing), what I believe they are really trying to say is;
I am tired of being alone.
I am tired of being bored.
I am tired of staring at a screen smattered with words and numbers.
I am tired of having to set up a studio, put the dogs in another room, a sign on the doorbell, and tell the neighbor not to cut his grass for the next 45 minutes.
I don’t want to be “ON” today.
Raise your hand if there are days when you just don’t want to be “ON.”
For the record, my hand is up.
Why then are some leaders so hell-bent on virtual meetings?
A couple of reasons. First, it’s because leaders think they have to and second, they feel compelled to use the technology and platforms they have invested in. Makes sense.
It just doesn’t necessarily make a connection. I believe it gives the illusion that engagement has occurred because they can put a checkmark beside the box labeled “team meeting.”
The leader’s job is to create an environment, virtually or otherwise, that produces the desired outcomes. One that draws people in and creates an environment where learning, growth, and inspiration can occur
If our job is to equip, encourage, mentor, and remove the barriers to success for our people, we must learn to leverage the virtual arena the way we leverage in-person meetings and events.
This brings us to lesson number two…
#2. Not everything requires a virtual meeting.
You don’t have a conference or convention every time you have an idea or need to communicate with the team. That’s why conferences and events are so special. They are full of energy and excitement. Packed with fun, fellowship, and learning.
You prepared your speech; you have a cool theme, a point to rally around and call back to after the event. You rehearse, your walk-up music plays, the lights hit you, and you kill it.
Nice work.
Perhaps we should look at virtual meetings in the same light and use them as one of our main events reserved for our most important messaging. What if the team knew that it would be of high value to them when a virtual meeting is scheduled and not just a data dump or report out?
What if there was something to look forward to that offered them encouragement, inspiration, an opportunity for growth, and celebration?
If you had a convention once a week, it would soon lose its luster. Wouldn’t it?
A leader’s number one role is Communicator in Chief. Effective communication is about getting through and connecting regardless of the situations or circumstances we find ourselves in. We cannot afford to become lazy when it comes to connecting with our teams. We must connect by any means possible, and that means mastering the virtual medium and expanding the definition of what it actually means to communicate virtually.
Virtual engagement offers the ability to leverage and connect with people when we cannot be with them in person.
That sounds different from video conferencing. That sounds like a commitment to use various mediums to deliver compelling and captivating content that inspires, informs, equips, and engages our audience regardless of whether that audience is one person or one thousand.
I believe one of the reasons we have had success with our virtual keynote is because it incorporates many different elements, from humor and emotion to teaching and inspiration, we paint pictures in our minds and ask questions that ignite introspection and reflection. We touch the personal and professional sides of life along with the struggles between our humanity and our humanness.
The more emotions and senses we use to connect, the deeper and more meaningful the engagement is.
So, when it comes to virtual engagement, let’s apply new thinking to how we connect online and otherwise. I have clients who have become very creative in this virtual season — seeking new ways to connect, engage, and walk alongside the team when they cannot physically be together.
Here are a handful of creative ways that some of my clients engage with their people and redefine engagement.
Bi-weekly newsletter from the CEO
In-house TV production delivered on-demand to the team
Weekly voicemail from leadership
Weekly text of inspiration and celebration
Video email message from leadership
Coffee with the boss by phone (yes, by phone. How old school.)
Email notes from senior leadership praising individual performance
Handwritten notes sent to team members (even more old school and special)
Care package/box sent to team members homes
The possibilities are truly endless if we can think beyond the video call to engage our teams virtually. Finding ways to leverage your voice and leadership style in this season is paramount to connecting at a meaningful level with the people who are in your charge.
Here are three important questions to ask yourself when it comes to preparing messages in a virtual world:
Is it valuable? In other words, what is the potential ROI for the team or teammate? How will this contribute to their growth, their success, their influence? How will it make them better?
Can I make it memorable? How can I leverage stories, information, research, packaging, and delivery to make sure the message sticks?
Is it actionable? Did I clearly communicate what right looks like and the next steps forward?
This simple process, and my new perspective on what is possible in a virtual world, has led me and many of my clients on a leadership journey that has forced us to find new ways to connect, engage, and grow together with our teams virtually and beyond.
This article is part of a NEW series called The Hero Effect® At Work: A monthly newsletter to guide organizations in creating a culture of heroes at every level in their workplace.
Unleashing Your Hero
My new book, Unleashing Your Hero (HarperCollins Leadership, October 2021), incorporates this framework from The Hero Effect® to help readers find their gifts and superpowers and encourage them to rise above any challenge, expand their impact, and become the Hero the world needs.
Copyright © 2021 Kevin Brown. All rights reserved.