Zoom is a great tool for getting together with a large group of people. It provides a high-quality video conferencing experience that is easy to use and reliable. However, virtual meetings can present many challenges, including deciding the type of activities to include, keeping participants engaged throughout, and making sure  everyone has a voice. In this post, we outline some critical things to avoid when coming up with Zoom meeting ideas for large groups.

Painting everyone with the same brush

Regardless of the size of your team, everyone is different because they come from different backgrounds. It takes research and planning to find a team building exercise that will appeal to everyone’s interest, while also being fun and budget-friendly. It’s always safe to get general icebreaker or trivia questions that cover many interests - like pop culture, travel/geography, or food and drink.

Using a single Zoom room for your activities

The primary reason for a work Zoom meeting is for productivity, but it’s also important to encourage team building and infuse fun moments for a remote team. However, sometimes this purpose can prove futile if you cram everyone into the same Zoom room - you end up defeating the purpose of the activity itself. With a larger number of participants, having everyone join a single Zoom meeting for any online activity could render the meeting unproductive. Many may not have the time to contribute and could feel isolated. Meetings can last hours in an effort to get everyone to contribute, leading to boredom. This is why breakout rooms are a great option for large teams. You can divide the teams into smaller groups, with each group working together on their set of activities. The main Zoom room can then be used to reconvene at the end of the meeting.

Having limited choices of activities

Regardless of the Zoom activity you are including in your meetings, you should never leave participants with too few activities. Not having enough choices as a large team means it’s only a matter of minutes before you run out of things to do. Once this happens, your meeting will go back to the usual: long, tiring, and boring. If you are picking only one activity, be sure to plan well for the allotted amount of time to avoid lulls and keep everyone engaged. Whether it’s trivia, a word puzzle, or a virtual karaoke, make sure you have as many questions, games, and song samples respectively as possible. This ensures that everyone gets to be involved.

Having one moderator or host

Hosting a Zoom meeting as a large group takes a considerable amount of time, including planning, research, and energy to host. You should never go into such a meeting with a single host or moderator. Get as many hosts as possible to switch positions, change roles, and manage the workload. While this helps alleviate the pressure on a single moderator, it also helps make the meetings lively for participants. 

If you’re needing Zoom meeting ideas for large groups, Bar None Games offers several team-building virtual games that are perfect for teams of any size. Get started here.