This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip gets us thinking about what often is the norm, not the outlier- when technology happens. In a virtual setting a core practice is to “always have a back up”. Technology will break down.
Having a back-up is important on many levels. It may include:

• Having another line/service in case your preferred service breaks down
• Communicating to the group what to do in the event of tech failure (i.e. should they try to call in again, and then switch to another platform OR should they look to email to find instructions)
• Having a list of all contacts for the call – this could include email addresses and phone numbers along with your class list
• Having a back-up computer/laptop in case your system goes down (or decides to update)
• Having a back up copy of your presentation loaded to the cloud and/or USB key
• Having a back up copy of your material (print)

 
Remaining calm and moving into contingency mode is key when facing a tech issue. Before anything happens work through your own list of what you will do and write it down. Have these items in a location which you will naturally “go to” in the event of a break-down.

What else is important for you to note around having a back up?
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With best wishes,
Jennifer

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip focuses on the question “On what platform will connection between calls work best?”. In coaching we have a saying that the “’impact of coaching happens in between the calls”. It is often the actions, insights and connections made in between your virtual sessions where people put ideas into practice, connect the dots, pass ideas forward, that learning and momentum happen.

The platform which connects group members in between the calls can be instrumental in enhancing this. There are many options which are possible including:

• Private Community Groups such as Mighty Networks
• Secret Facebook Groups (non-searchable)
• Chat groups on your own Learning Management System – we use Teachable as our e-learning portal
• Text

​What is going to keep the conversation going for the groups you are working with?

As you go to select your platform, consider these items:

• The purpose – is it to share successes, resources, links, files, other
• Accessibility and mobility
• Confidentiality

Best,
Jennifer

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tips #87 asks you to consider the question “What connection between calls work best?”.
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In the virtual space there may be things that you want to focus on before the conversation and after. If you are working with groups are longer term, consider what connection between calls will work best for them. This could include:

• Emails between calls
• A daily focus question for people to explore
• A message board where people can post – this could be hosted in a Facebook community, or another private network like Mighty Networks
• Peer assignments where peers meet for short 15-minute calls to discuss a question, or talk about action towards their goals
• A one-on-one call with you to go deeper into the areas that are most important

What are the things that will help you as a group keep the focus on what’s important for the group – whether this is learning more, having ongoing dialogue, or taking ongoing action? Be sure to schedule time for these activities as they are often the first things that come off the list.
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Enjoy!
Jennifer

Today’s Effective Virtual Conversations prompt is “Who is driving the bus?”. Some of the most common questions I receive from virtual leaders are “Am I coaching? Am I training? Am I facilitating?”.
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While the focus on this question for the people we are hosting the call for is usually “it doesn't matter as long as I am learning”, it can be important for the person who is leading the call to be aware of what they are doing - training, coaching or facilitating. A key question the “facilitator” can be asking to dig a little deeper is  - “Who is driving the bus?” Who is the one that is shaping the direction, and content of the call?"
 
While this may be overly simplistic, a great starting point for understanding the “director” of the call is to consider who is “driving” and shaping the conversation.
 
In coaching, a fundamental premise is that the person being coached should create with the coach (and others) the direction of the call, and their content knowledge should form the foundation of the conversation. The coach is not there to share a lot of content, but rather use any content to “Spark” the conversation. Coaches focus deeply on Goal Setting, and supporting the deepened awareness around “things below the waterline”, things like values, beliefs, assumptions, perspectives. Coaching is rarely a one-off conversation, and usually has multiple touch points.
 
In training, or a webinar in the virtual space, we lean into the content we bring. We are measured on this, and while we want to poll our group members for what they want to learn, the content may also be shaped by the organization. Training is typically content-rich, and in that respect the trainer may be driving the bus a majority of the time, handing off the “wheel” as new skills are acquired, so that bus members get practice.
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Facilitation comes from the Latin word “facilis”. It means “to become easy”. Part of the facilitator’s role virtually is to help people clarify the focus of the conversation, and how they want to move from a to b. A facilitation may be more apt to be a one-off conversation, and usually uses process to help engage the conversation, especially with bigger groups.
 
Who is driving the bus in your virtual conversations? Are there any changes you want to make to this?
 
For more on these distinctions between coaching, training and facilitating, check out any of my first three books – Effective Group Coaching (2010), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) or From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). 
 
Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer

​Welcome to the 85th Effective Virtual Conversations tip. This week’ tip is “Be clear on expectations”. This is particularly important when you are working in the virtual space, given the diversity of location, experience and past experiences which can exist within any virtual teams or groups you are working with.

This week let’s discuss the many ways we start to create expectations around virtual experience.
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If it’s a virtual team you are working with, you will want to have shared or co-created experiences as it relates to your virtual meetings as well as your virtual processes.
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Virtual team and group meetings will want to have shared expectations or agreement for meetings. For example, as a virtual team or group you might agree to:

• Start and end on time
• Be present and be focused during meetings
• Follow-through

With virtual events our expectations start before the process begins. This may be from the moment people read something on your website, or the first email they receive from you. If there is anything you want the group to do before a program or process, let them know.

Make a list of any items you want people to complete or take action on prior to a conversation.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where we explore topics related to productivity, teamwork, coaching, business development and leadership. ​

Welcome back to another Monday Effective Virtual Conversations tip. This week’s post gets you to consider “Out of sight does not equal out of mind”. One of the common fallacies of virtual teamwork and leadership is that we think that it’s not important to connect with others who are far away. In fact, “out of sight should mean more in mind”.
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Consider the impact of not:

• Holding meetings where people can see each other
• Holding meetings consistently because some people are not there
• Recording meetings and/decisions made
• A lot of misunderstanding occurs when we don’t become proactive in connecting with all team members, as visually as possible.

You will want to consider all the ways you can make things visible and visual for the team. This could include:

• Ensuring meetings are streamed and people can see each other
• Capturing agreements and decisions in chat so you can then circulate the chat log as meeting notes  for everyone (who is there and not there)
• Rotating meeting times and organizers, so even if the leader is on the road, or engaged the team has a strong enough process to be able to follow through and meet around.

Virtual teams can leverage the best of technology so that they can see each other, record, and share information.

What are the ways you can keep the team and it’s focus top of mind this month?
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What will make things visible and visual?

Have a great day,
Jennifer

​This week’s Effective Virtual Conversation tip gets you thinking about the statement “Virtual teams need attention too”. It is often thought that “out of sight = out of mind”. Virtual teams receive a lot less attention and focus than intact, face to face teams. A 2016 study by Culture Wizard (insert link) found that approximately 22-23% of virtual and remote teams surveyed actually benefited from virtual team support.

Virtual teams need just as much attention, and perhaps even more focused space for dialogue and greating shared agreements and norms. Discussion around “how we do things” ensures consistency across a team, and a focus on what’s important.
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What are the conversations important for the team to have? What things need to be clarified or agreed upon?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip is very similar to last week’s statement of “Consider the right modality for the right conversation”, but slightly different.

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip gets you to “Consider the right platform, for the right modality”. In today’s virtual space, there can be multiple channels we hold conversations on. From conference call lines, to Skype, to zoom, to WebEx. Some channels allow us to stream and see each other, while others only allow us to share our screen.

Consider these questions as you go to select the appropriate channel for your next conversation:

1. How important is it that we see each other?
2. How important is it for me to be able to share a PowerPoint deck or some slides?
3. How important is it for us to be able to chat with each other? And also save the chat log?
4. How important is it for us to be able to use annotation, where group members can make notation on the screen?
5. How important is it for us to be able to record the conversation and share it at a later date with those who could not attend?
6. How important is it for us NOT to be able to see each other?
7. How important is it for us to have the ability to break out into smaller conversation pods or breakouts (just like we would in the in-person environment for small group discussion).
8. What are connectivity and bandwidth issues like for the participants

The bulk of the coaching conversations and learning events I have hosted over the last fifteen years has been virtual. Every day I get to work with clients all over the world, not just in my city. With that in mind, each platform has its own pros and cons. Do some research into the different options.

Some of the ones I continue to use regularly are:

• FreeConferenceCalling.com – for when clients want phone only service but one that also allows us to do breakouts
• Zoom – My every day go-to where I host 95% of the programs I offer. The pro account offers breakouts, polls, recording, annotation and pretty much everything I could ever need to create engaging virtual sessions!
• WebEx – usually the preferred platform of my corporate clients. Given that it often signals a more corporate conversation, people may not be as open to dialogue and interaction.

What are your favorite go-tos? I hope you’ll take a few minutes to share your experience in the comments below.

Best,
​Jennifer

o There are many, many different types of conversations we can be having in the virtual space today – from virtual team meetings, to mentoring conversations, to coaching conversations.
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In Effective Virtual Conversations I introduce 9 different parts of the virtual eco-system. These include:

• Educational Events - Instructor/Facilitator led synchronous or asynchronous training through webinars, e-learning, webcasts
• Peer to Peer Learning – Masterminds, Breakouts
• Goal Setting
• Informal Learning: Coaching/Training/Facilitating/Mentoring
• Micro-Learning
• Virtual Team Development
• Video-Based Learning

Check out chapter 4 of Effective Virtual Conversations for more information about each of these different modalities.

What are the different types of conversations you are having? What makes them different from each other. As I write in EVC there can be a variety of individual versus peer-led conversations, formal approaches versus informal approaches.

It’s important to consider the right type of conversation which will be most impactful for the situation. For example, if someone wants to learn how to do something – i.e. replace a fan belt, a short video-based learning series might be most effective in demonstrating the replacement in action. This may be even more effective than pairing them with a mentor.

In contrast, if a team is looking to boost their connection and strengthen their goals, consider a live virtual facilitated team development session where they are meeting face to face, rather than putting them through a series of micro-learning modules delivered via your Learning Management System.

What are the best vehicles for upcoming conversations you have planned?
Also check out the Community Call I hosted on the different platforms for Effective Virtual Conversations. View it here.

Next week’s EVC tip will explore the related question of What’s the Best Platform for my conversation? Stay Tuned!

​Best,
Jennifer

It’s Monday and time for another Effective Virtual Conversations Tip. This week’s tip explores the tip of bringing everyone onto one virtual platform if possible.

With firewalls and varying connection from different locations, it can be common for virtual teams to have different team members connecting from different locations on different platforms. One person may only be able to call in while others may only be able to stream in.

While some of the barriers to connection may be out of our control, we want to try to bring everyone onto one virtual platform if possible.

There may be resistance on the part of team members to upgrade or try things different out, if there is too much of a learning curve, so you will want to make it worth everyone’s while.

At the same time, it is probable that you will have people connecting from different platforms due to their connection options, make sure you consider the needs of those that may be able to see, and those that may only be able to hear. Design for this. Also, be sure to consider if you can do some smaller group work, using breakouts bringing people of the same platform together. Check out this call for more!

Best wishes,
Jennifer