Keeping stakeholders engaged during meetings is essential to support collaborative working, build trust and achieve shared goals. However, keeping various participants motivated and aligned can be challenging, especially when you’re dealing with different priorities and communication styles.

In this guide, we explore the best ways to ensure your meetings are productive and engaging, so you can create an environment where every stakeholder feels valued.

Planning and preparing

Engaging stakeholders during meetings should start well before the meeting itself. You’ll need to prepare properly by laying the foundation for productive discussions.

You can start by identifying who will be in the meeting and what their priorities are. You should aim to tailor your approach to their interests and concerns to ensure everyone feels valued and included.

You’ll need to set clear objectives, otherwise the meeting can lose focus. Define the purpose of the meeting, whether you need the meeting to make a decision, solve a problem or share updates. Communicate these objectives with stakeholders in advance so they know what to expect.

You can then create an organised and inclusive agenda. This will be a vital tool to guide discussions and ensure everyone in the meeting has a chance to contribute. Your agenda should be structured but also flexible, with space for questions or feedback. Share the agenda with stakeholders before the meeting, so they have the chance to prepare and suggest additions.

Communicating effectively

Clear and effective communication is key to keeping stakeholders engaged during meetings.

You should aim to create an environment where stakeholders feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. You can start by asking open-ended questions and actively listening to their responses. You should acknowledge all contributions and provide constructive feedback to show that their input matters.

Complex ideas can be difficult to communicate verbally, but visual aids such as whiteboards, slides or charts can simplify and highlight key points. These types of visuals not only make information easier to understand but also help retain attention throughout the meeting.

Different stakeholders will have different priorities, so you should customise your presentation to address their specific interests. For example, decision-makers might focus on outcomes, whereas technical teams might need more detailed data. If you can tailor your approach, you can ensure the information is relevant and engaging for everyone in the room.

Utilising the right tools

The right tools can significantly improve stakeholder engagement during meetings and make sessions more interactive, efficient, and productive.

Whiteboards and other collaboration tools such as flipcharts enable stakeholders to engage actively rather than passively listening. These tools are great for brainstorming sessions, allowing you to visually map out ideas and encourage creativity and participation.

You can further engage stakeholders by using live polling tools during the meeting. Quick surveys can instantly capture opinions and thoughts, which can support discussions. They can help you gauge what stakeholders are thinking, so you can adapt the direction of the meeting as needed.

Presentations should be a key part of your meeting if you’re looking to keep stakeholders engaged. Having a visual reference can help people to stay focused and keep up with what’s being discussed. You can use diagrams, videos and audio to make the presentation dynamic and interactive, which can better encourage engagement.

Managing challenges

Meetings often bring together diverse perspectives, which can sometimes lead to disagreements or distractions. You’ll need to manage these challenges effectively to ensure the meeting remains productive and focused.

Disagreements might be natural when working collaboratively, but how they are handled makes all the difference. You should aim to approach conflicts with a calm and neutral attitude and encourage stakeholders to respectfully communicate their viewpoint. You can acknowledge differing opinions but focus on finding common ground. Disagreements can be reframed as an opportunity to find alternative solutions, to help ensure the discussion remains constructive.

It’s easy for meetings to go off-course, especially when discussions become lengthy or sidetracked. This can have a negative impact on stakeholder engagement, as people may become bored or feel frustrated. To keep the meeting focused, you should refer back to the agenda when necessary and remind participants of the time allocated for each topic. You can make a note of off-topic issues to address later, to ensure no-one feels as though their views or opinions are getting ignored.

Following up post-meeting

A well-executed follow-up will be vital to maintain engagement and ensure the meeting leads to actionable results.

At the end of the meeting, you can provide a summary of the main points discussed, decisions made and any unresolved issues. This recap will help people to better understand what has been spoken about and what the outcomes of the meeting are. Stakeholders can then refer back to it after the meeting when they need to.

You should aim to share detailed meeting minutes promptly, and they should include the key decisions, action items, assigned responsibilities and deadlines. The next steps should be clearly defined for all participants, so everyone knows what is expected of them. You can use collaboration tools or project management platforms to track progress and keep stakeholders updated, which will help to keep stakeholders engaged as the project progresses.

Hold engaging meetings with Nobo

Nobo has a range of tools and workplace solutions to help you conduct effective, productive meetings. From whiteboard pens to portable projection screens, we have what you need to keep your team engaged throughout your sessions and workshops.