Facilitation Tip: Virtual Meeting Check-Ins and Introductions

Sharing this quick tip for the everyday virtual meeting facilitator.  

During introductions or check-ins, asking participants to “tag” or pass it to the next person who should speak is not a good facilitation practice. This pulls people out of being present and into thinking about if they’ll be next and will they be seen. IF they remember to do it, participants then have to figure out who has gone and who hasn’t, which puts them on the spot and eats up valuable time. 

To avoid this unnecessary anxiety (added to that which already comes with having to share with everyone), I, as facilitator, often hold the responsibility of setting up the order in which people will speak. I choose an order and either post that order in the chat, share it on the screen, or loving call on people. 

To respect everyone’s precious, precious time, I also offer a clear prompts and a time or sentence limit for check-ins and introductions. 

If I have more than 12 - 15 people in the virtual “room”, I opt for introductions in the chat and/or quick small group check-ins in the breakout room. 

Below is a slide I use to facilitate group sharing if I know who all the meeting attendees will be.

The first person volunteers and we go clockwise from there. The prompt is in the middle of the circle.

I picked this visual strategy up from watching Jessica Solomon facilitate a lovely meeting recently. I used to just put names in a boring list. Jessica introduced a way of showing how we are all virtually sitting in circle.

What tips do you have for smooth, respectful, time-saving check-ins or introductions? Send us a message or share on LinkedIn.