Most of the blog posts in this online meeting facilitation series are related to engagement. We want to foster and encourage engagement in order to make the most out of our online meetings but we cannot often tell if folks are engaged or if they have lost interest and started online shopping or checking their […]
The importance of a good “chat” Read More »
As we facilitate meetings, it can be difficult to engage our participants and keep them engaged (especially if it is a particularly long meeting!). One of the strategies that has helped participants stay engaged is to call on people directly – in a kind and encouraging way. It definitely takes courage as a facilitator and
Choosing courage over comfort Read More »
We have all been on conference calls or online meetings where someone put us on “hold” and the music blasted through the meeting audio. We have also all been part of meetings with barking dogs, screaming children, flushing toilets, lawn mowers mowing and all sorts of other background noises. While it definitely helps us be
You don’t really want to hear everyone all of the time! Read More »
When leading a small group online meeting (2-7 people), the ability to move forward well toward your meeting purpose can be dependent upon whether you can “see” one another. This “tip” gets more pushback than any others. And when you lead larger meetings or webinars, it is particularly helpful for those who are speaking to
Be Brave: Show your Video! Read More »
When we are in person, we often have “ground rules, guiding principles or working agreements” that help us set expectations for participation. It’s important to set expectations for your online meetings too! Those who know me well have been in enough online meetings with me that they know I’m going to ask them to show
Set expectations about participation Read More »
When we facilitate an in-person meeting, most folks expect to have some kind of on-site support. Someone will help with registration, take notes, there might be an IT person to troubleshoot technology challenges and you may even have additional facilitators. When you facilitate an online meeting, sometimes folks make the mistake of trying to do
Garner support from your team Read More »
It seems obvious that we would need to identify our meeting purpose, but sometimes we can get into a place right now where the “shoulds” start to get us. We “should” meet, we “should” make sure folks are ok, we “should” keep being as productive as we were in the past. Why those voices may
Be clear about your meeting purpose Read More »
Now that we are all leading, hosting and participating in online meetings, there are a lot of “tips” and recommendations from many different places. As someone who has been hosting online meetings for more than six years before it was the only way to host a meeting, I wanted to share with you my Top
Top 10 Tips for Facilitating an Online meeting Read More »
I had not originally planned to address this in my “online meeting series” but I’ve had lots of comments from friends and colleagues about how tired they have been after sitting through an endless number of online meetings. With everything changing rapidly with COVID-19 and folks wanting to stay connected and figure out some sort
Overcoming online meeting fatigue Read More »
For the last 7 weeks, we have talked a lot about your “yes”, “no”, “ideal week” and staying true to yourself. We have also seen a major upheaval in every day life in the past two weeks with COVID-19. Even if you are practicing these habits often, sometimes you are going to still make decisions
Don’t be so hard on yourself Read More »