With online Zoom meetings becoming a common norm for businesses that run globally, learning to provide a good first impression in the morning is crucial during a virtual morning meeting. In 2020 during the pandemic, the use of virtual meetings increased by over 1,230%. It has now become a common norm for schools and businesses to engage in online learning since it gives students and employees more time in their days for productivity.
We all know how boring and hard it is to get out of bed first thing in the morning for a virtual meeting. That’s why anytime someone acts a bit out of the norm in a virtual morning meeting, they would tend to stand out. Which is a good atmosphere to have!
Your first impression in the morning dictates how you will control the environment around you, capture people’s attention, and how you go about for the rest of the day. That’s why this article will look into how you can give the best virtual morning meeting.
types of meetings we have in the morning
Before we start to learn greeting ideas, we first must look at the types of virtual meetings we are targeting. Each meeting has its own environment needed in the morning, naturally, you need to accommodate to that environment. Here’s what you need to take note of:
School
The start of a new school year brings a fresh beginning and the opportunity to build a positive classroom community. Virtual morning meetings are a great way to begin the school day and foster a sense of belonging, even in a distance learning environment.
At the beginning of the year, it’s important to establish morning meeting time as a safe space where team members can come together and engage in various activities that promote social-emotional learning, academic skills, and character traits. Morning meeting greetings are an essential part of this process as they provide an opportunity for students to connect with each other and start the school day on the right foot.
Compared to the other environment we will talk about later. School virtual meetings can be the friendliest and easier to handle. If you are planning to share something in the morning, make sure you have enough energy and keep the message short. Students on average have an attention span of about 10~15 minutes, which should be more than enough time to talk about something. meetings need to be illustrated with image descriptions rather than words as it drains energy just reading slide after slide.
Company Meeting
Companies tend to do their meetings in the morning before getting down to business in the afternoon. Morning meetings are crucial for companies as they go about sharing their daily, weekly, or monthly plans for the company and it set employee on the right track during work.
Morning virtual meetings can be an essential tool for companies to stay connected with their employees, particularly in today’s remote work environment. These meetings provide an opportunity for employees to touch base with one another and their supervisors. They are able to share updates on current projects and discuss any challenges or obstacles they may be facing.
Also, these regular virtual meetings can help maintain a sense of community and support within the company, which is especially important for employees who may be feeling isolated or disconnected from their colleagues. By starting the day with a virtual meeting, companies can ensure that everyone is on the same page and ready to tackle the day’s tasks.
Business Talk
Sometimes you have to make an effort to have business talks with other business that is living in a different timezone from you. Understanding each other time of the day is crucial for any business talk. If the person you plan on calling is calling in the morning, naturally your talk has to be lighter and easier to absorb.
Be prepared to ask the right question. If the person on the other side is calling in the morning, you can ask light questions such as what they had for breakfast. If it’s in the afternoon, you can ask about how’s the work going. And if it’s nighttime, you can ask if the kids have sleep. The right way to start a long tough business meeting is to get personal with the person on the other side. It shows concern and genuine love to build connections.
10 Tips to make a good First Impression
Here are some great morning meeting greeting ideas that you can use
- if you are a teacher teaching your students, regardless of grade level, to promote student engagement and build a positive classroom community.
- If you are an employee giving out a presentation
- Or a business owner discussing business meetings
Do make sure to practice these techniques first before implementing them in your online meetings to keep it natural.
Morning message
Start the day with a message that includes relevant information about the day of the week or upcoming events. Use Google Slides or a digital whiteboard to share the message with the rest of the class. Essentially, you are giving a full summary of what you will be presenting. That way, the online users can instantly understand what this meeting is all about.
Scavenger hunt
Choose a student and have them find an item in their home that relates to a chosen theme or topic. Or pull up a handmade board to present your findings in a meeting. It doesn’t have to be all that fancy, a whiteboard with something drawn on it can easily draw a user’s attention. This is a great way to get to know different students and build a sense of community.
Fist bump
Teach your students or employee different ways to greet each other, like a fist bump or a wave. Encourage them to use a different greeting each day to keep things interesting. These ensure that you have set a light atmosphere to work during the day. Making sure that the class/work environment is light and breezy!
Mad libs
Create a mad libs template that includes blanks for different types of words. Have each student/employee/business partner fill in the blanks with their favorite things and then read the resulting story aloud as a group. This emphasizes the words to remember and they leave a better impression in the morning meeting. If you would like to play these games, be sure to use the online tool Kahoot where you can create MCQ(multiple choice question) games instantly.
Brain break
Incorporate a brief yoga session or a quick round of charades into your morning meeting to help students start the day on a positive and energized note. Heck, if you are a business owner, you can start by providing employees with their daily dose of caffeine if they need to revitalize their energy.
Student-to-student greeting
Assign each student a different student to greet each morning. This is a great way to encourage students to interact with different classmates and build friendships. It can be uncomfortable at the start, but once they have gotten the momentum to work with each other, they will be able to support each other well.
And for companies, having employees paired up builds teamwork to complete a project and also builds accountability. This also helps to cover each other weaknesses and improve the company’s efficiency.
Daily check-ins
Use a sticky note or a digital check-in to ask your students/employees how they are feeling each morning. This helps create a positive tone for the day and promotes emotional regulation. It can be really awkward but a certain positive energy can most certainly turn it into a fun one. Students/employees can share about the interesting activity they had yesterday and start the day off with some light energy before getting serious about work.
Favorite songs
Play a student’s favorite song at the beginning of the meeting before it begins and ask them to share why it’s their favorite. This is a great way to get to know each other and discover new music. Who knows, maybe they can build unique relationships with each other. I remembered thanks to this need to play each other’s favorite music, some of my colleagues are now pairing up to go to their idol’s concerts. Sad I wasn’t able to find a concert partner.😅
Group activities
Incorporate group activities that promote teamwork and collaboration, such as a virtual tour or a group brainstorming session. Try to have group activities with the 3 to 5 people range. It’s an optimal number where group work can be broken down easily and distributed fairly to one another.
Positive affirmations
Start the day by having each student share a positive affirmation or statement. This helps create a positive mindset and promotes social-emotional learning. Here are some small talks you can start with:
- Complimenting their hairstyle
- Find interesting things to talk about in their workspace
- Compliment the desk setup
after Greeting. What’s Next?
Now that your first 10~20 minutes are used up for the morning meeting’s greeting. The following step you should take a look at is the continuation of the living environment to have a serious talk or meeting.
Keep the ball rolling
It’s hard to keep the atmosphere light especially if you plan on giving a 1-hour presentation. The only way to keep the virtual meetings active is instead to work with the users. That means asking questions as well during the presentation. This helps to keep the environment going and to understand whether people are paying attention to you.
Final Message
Remember, the key to a successful morning meeting is variety. Mix it up by trying new activities, incorporating different skills, and encouraging different directions for each day. Whether you’re teaching in an elementary classroom or a middle school setting, virtual morning meetings are a great tool for building a positive classroom community that lasts the entire year.
