There are many different types of calls we have during the week, with most not having as much connection and dialogue as they could. The beauty of the virtual space is that conversations and connection can take place in a number of ways. 

As I shared this summer in the Stand Out Virtually Challenge, we want to connect people on five levels:

• To you, the host
• To each other
• To the content you are offering
• To the context in which you are having the conversation
• To the technology

 
Consider these 12 different possibilities for creating more connection:

1. Doing a pre-call with each participant to learn ore about them
2. Sharing a welcome video message instead of/or in tandem with a welcome email
3. Having group members share a welcome video introduction
4. Using Breakouts to connect people
5. Assigning an accountability partner or buddy during the process
6. Taking a poll to see where everyone is thinking around a topic
7. Using annotate to have people stamp where they are in agreement around a question or topic
8. Doing a scavenger hunt during the call
9. Using an icebreaker like BINGO during the call to find things in common
10. Using Kahoot to connect people into the content you covered
11. Using MentiMeter to take a poll
12. Using mural to help people connect and share ideas

What else can you do to incorporate more connection on the five levels?

Enjoy the conversation!
​Jennifer

How was your week? This week we covered a range of really important topics for today’s remote worker. It reflects some of the writing I am doing this month as part of NANOWRIMO – the National Novel Writing Month. It probably won’t be a surprize that I am writing about Standing Out Virtually.

This week we’ve explored the following topics:

• Saturday – Weekly Journaling Prompt – 128 – “Elements which are key…”
• Friday’s Flashback Friday to Stand Out Remotely
• Thursday’s focus on the Team Building Question 268 – Celebrate!
• Wednesday’s focus on Personal Branding – What are you signaling?
• Tuesday’s focus on Motivators in the Remote Space
• Monday’s focus on Micro-meetings

I hope that you enjoyed this week’s topics as much as I enjoyed writing about them. What are you enjoying right now? What’s going to move your work forward?

With best wishes
Jennifer

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip gets you to think about the concept of Micro-meetings. What’s a micro-meeting you ask? A short, meeting burst which is often held on a regular basis, compared to the longer, more drawn out conversations you may be considering with meetings.

What’s the value of a micro-meeting? Given the remote space, and virtual world of work these days, our worlds can shift and change quite dramatically in the course of the week, without our colleagues seeing it unfold in front of them.

What are the elements needed for a micro-meeting to work well?

• Time earmarked for the conversation on a regular basis. This may mean daily, or every few days, rather than weekly or even monthly. The value of meeting more frequently often means that you don’t have to cover as many topics, or don’t have to spend as much time on updates, given that calls are more frequent.
• A specific topic. Trying to bite off too much in one meeting doesn’t work well. Have a focus, and possibly a micro-agenda – i.e. topic of the day or different days earmarked for different topics
• A system so that notes and takeaways are focused on. This might include things like using a Kanban board, to help you keep on focus.
• A system so everyone owns the meeting. If meetings fall to only one person on the team, it’s likely that it becomes “their” thing, rather than the entire “team’s” focus. What are you doing to ensure that everyone on the team OWNS it?

Enjoy your focus today on this. What else is important to note?

Best,
Jennifer

It’s almost been a year since we launched the Remote Pathways podcast and little did we know how 2020 would the YEAR of REMOTE!

Our most recent episode brings on special guest Kristin Winkle-Beck to talk about her experience of pivoting a high profile in person event to the virtual space. With in person events being shelved for the mid-term, what type of virtual events are you exploring?

Catch up on our conversation with Kristin a few weeks ago as part of our October 1st Community Call 

You may also want to catch up on Episode 21 – Virtual Co-Working, where we explore several different types of virtual co-working experiences. You will find the podcast here and then the related Community Call here (30 minutes).

What are your most important tips about remote work and virtual events?

Enjoy the conversation!
​Jennifer

It is not uncommon to hear at the end of my training sessions – “WOW, the time really flew!” “That was amazing.”

These comments are a contrast to the negative press we hear about zoom fatigue and yet another “talking head” experience. Just last week a group member indicated that my virtual session with their organization was the first one that they had not fallen asleep in since March.

So, what can we do to keep virtual calls as they are intended – a deeper way to connect people to the content and each other?

Watch your pace change! Keeping things moving. A pace change every 7-10 minutes provides enough time for content and information, and then shift it up. A shift might involve:

• Asking a question and having people respond
• Doing a poll to take the pulse of the group
• Moving people to breakout rooms for discussion
• Using annotation to have people engage on the screen
• Incorporating an energizer
• Getting people to turn to chat and share their ideas

​Provide time for people to do things real-time. Is there a process you can take people through, working on step by step? Is there something people can draw out and work on?

Being clear with the end result. What is important? What are the questions that will help you get there?

Plan it. We can’t “wing things” in the virtual space like we could in-person. Take time to plan and prepare for the conversation.

Want more tips? Listen into the 60-day series of Effective Virtual Conversations Daily Author Readings I hosted this spring over at the Effective Virtual Conversations website. 

Enjoy your conversations!
Jennifer

Inefficient meetings have simply transposed themselves over to the virtual space in recent months. Before you step into what is often the busiest part of the year (post-Labor Day!), consider these 10 tips for better video meetings.

#1 – Consider your audio – How clear is it? Are you using a good microphone? Is there any background noise?

#2 – Consider your lighting – When lighting is behind you your face may be shaded. It’s important to get lighting right so that you can be seen. Visual cues are key in the virtual space. Being able to read someone’s face is essential for building (and maintaining) trust. The best lighting is often created when a window is just in front of you, with muted light (I use a sunshade in my office to keep the light a little more diffuse).

#3 – Consider what visual cues will be useful – What are the elements you want to include in your meeting? What could be provided in a visual way?

#4 – What is your call to action – i.e. what do you want people to do afterwards? Make it as clear and focused as possible.

#5 – Always include a dial in number in case people have challenges accessing the call via their computer or app.

#6 – Keep to time – Don’t wait or everyone to show up because you don’t know if they will. Likewise, make sure you wrap up on time as well!

In addition to these 6 tips, always be asking the 8 Essential Virtual Meeting Questions I share in my book, Effective Virtual Conversations. The questions are:

1. What’s the purpose?
2. What takeaways do we want?
3. Who needs to be on the call?
4. What preparation is needed for us to be most effective in the meeting?
5. What pace do we want in order to keep it engaging?
6. What will help keep the focus?
7. What’s absolutely essential? (versus what will be nice to cover or where can people go for more information around topics?)
8. What follow up might be required?

 
Let us know what your favorite meeting tips are by sharing them over at the Virtual and Remote Visionaries Hub. You can find it here.

Best,
​Jennifer

A large part of my work for the five plus years has been in supporting organizations make the transition from in-person learning to online learning. This year has created a tidal wave for the need for engaging and interactive virtual meetings, learning and teamwork.

As I wrote in Effective Virtual Conversations

“Meetings can be an essential part of the communication needed for a high-performing team, and, unfortunately, they have gotten a bad rap due to poorly planned and poorly executed meetings. We know teams that excel usually have shared practices like meetings, which focus on building relationships and getting results.

With more than 35-50% of people’s time being spent in meetings each week, the question of “what could we do to make team meetings more effective?” is a strategic one.

As a team consider:

• What are the top three reasons we should be holding meetings?
• When is the best time to hold them?
• What’s working with our meetings currently? What’s not?
• What’s the one thing we could let go of doing in our meetings without having too much of an impact?
• What is the one thing we wish we did more of?
• What is the best way to communicate information in different topic areas?
• What are the things we want to start doing as a team instead of meetings?

END OF EXCERPT - © Jennifer Britton, Effective Virtual Conversations, 2017, pp. 312
 
Catch up on other EVC Author Readings I hosted during April, May and June. You can find them here at the Effective Virtual Conversations blog site. You’ll be able to listen into Chapters 1 to 4 of the book as I read it in a daily 5-7 minute reading. Enjoy!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

As someone who has worked virtually for the better part of multiple decades I too can suffer from “The Death By Conference Call” or what’s now being referred to as “Zoom Fatigue”. I’ve been so committed to helping others create more engaging calls for themselves that I even wrote a whole book on it - Effective Virtual Conversations. Pick up a copy here.

Having hosted my own calls on Zoom since 2016, I’ve always had a majority of people say that they love virtual calls with me. So, what’s different? INTERACTIVITY. ENGAGEMENT. Not talking AT people, but sparking a dialogue.
Dialogue comes from the Latin words “dialogus”, meaning discourse or conversation.

What are you doing to spark a conversation in the remote space on your zoom (or Teams, or Blue Jeans) calls?

Consider these elements:

• Use breakouts where possible, and limit breakouts to 5 or less. The smaller, usually the better. People love to connect with peers, share their ideas and hear their own voices. Consider how you will have people report back with their ideas.
• Consider the multiple ways you are going to get people active during the calls. There are a variety of different ways from chat, to polls, to annotation. What’s going to help people interact and be in conversation, in multiple ways, on multiple channels?
• Ditch the texty slides - - or at least intersperse them with rich graphics. Our brains process visuals quicker than text, so consider alternative ways to communicate your message
• Consider the pre- and post- work (reading, videos etc) which can be done so that your time together is a conversation, not a presentation.
• Engage at least every 7-10 minutes. This “7-10 minute pace switch” which I write about is key to keeping calls moving and people engaged. You can change the pace by asking a question and having people respond, doing a poll or having people annotate on the screen.

What are the things we can do? What are the changes you want to make to your work?

Want to learn more? Consider joining me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program to boost your skills and confidence in leading virtual calls. Learn more and register here.

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

Inclusivity in the virtual space is an essential area to explore in virtual meeting spaces. What are we doing to ensure that we are bringing all voices into the room?

From time zone differences, to language differences, different technical backgrounds, and geographic differences, working in the virtual space often expands the diversity of those in the room. It’s not uncommon for most virtual conversations to vary on these different areas, along with many more – gender, race, sexual orientation, social identity, as well as the different thinking and learning styles, and ways we interact with the world.

For example, some of us need more time for reflection that others. Some of us may be learning by doing (kinesthetic) while others learn by hearing (auditory) or seeing (visual).

As a leader, facilitator or virtual host, what are you doing to ensure that you are incorporating a variety of techniques to bring all different voices in the room?

Consider these tips:

• Mix it up to ensure that you are incorporating approaches for different learning styles. For those that like visuals and learn that way, what images (versus text) can you incorporate? Might you include a video?
• For those that have a kinesthetic preference, what can you do to make the call more interactive and physically active? Can you incorporate annotation? What can you do to ensure that there might be some movement (safely!)?
• For those that learn auditorily (by listening), what can you do to incorporate more opportunities for virtual breakouts, dialogue and small group sharing?

Another dynamic you will encounter is those who are possibly dialing in by phone, and those on the web that can see each other. Consider what you are doing to speak to group members from both locations. If people cannot see others (i.e. dialing in by phone), I will usually get them to go first, to connect them in more quickly.

Geographically, what’s important to consider? Are you moving West to East, East to West, South to North, and North to South?

If group members on the call speak different first languages, what can you do to incorporate more visuals, and/or written prompts so people who have stronger reading ability can follow that rather than spoken words?

What else is important to note?

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your Q2 planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar
​
PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here. ​

Earlier this year I shared a post on ten things you would want to make sure you took time to schedule. You can read Teams365 #2199 post here.

As we moved into the months of January and February a lot of our focus was on getting up to speed, and with the pandemic taking a lot of attention in recent months, some of these activities may not have been on the radar as much. I thought it would be useful to go back and take a look at these areas:

#1 – Team Meetings – Make them consistent and regular. It’s likely that you won’t be able to have everyone at the table (or the screen). Make sure that you create shared team agreements of what team members need to do if they are not present for meetings.

#2 – Meetings with Your Boss – Have you scheduled in time with your direct line manager? Keeping visible and being in regular communication is essential in today’s workplace. Corporate priorities can change quickly as can your boss’ priorities. How often are the two of you meeting? What format are you using? What’s important for them to know?

#3 – One-on-Ones with The Team – While group and team meetings are great, team members still need some 1-1 time. Be sure to schedule in some time with your team on a regular basis. Are you aiming for monthly 1-1 conversations? Quarterly deeper dives? Daily touchpoints? As a team talk about expectations and make agreements about who is responsible for scheduling and follow up.

#4 – Team Development Time – As I shared in yesterday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip, team development time is critical and is often overlooked for virtual teams. Teams don’t just excel by osmosis! They need time to get to know each other, clarify how they are operating and focus in on what’s important.

#5 – Strategic Thinking Time — Are you leaving yourself enough time for reflection and thinking? Be sure to leave in enough time for strategic thinking. This can include creating, or revisiting your VISION, MISSION and MANDATE. Taking time to think strategically is important so that you have a clear big picture with a longer-term horizon. With things changing rapidly, the strategic horizon of 1, 3 or 5 years down the road can be invaluable in helping us keep moving, and not getting too set back by the small changes which can feel frenetic.

#6 — Time to Get Things Done — With meetings, communication and email taking a lot of time, what time are you leaving for yourself to get things done? For some professionals, it means coming into the office early to tackle key tasks for 30-60 minutes before others arrive. For others, it means booking a conference room and closing the door. Notice when you are most productive and when it’s important to get things done.

# 7 – Learning Time – What are your learning and development goals this year? Embracing ongoing learning has never been more important. What are the skills, processes and approaches which are going to help you do your best work? Note that learning can take many forms: including in-person programming, virtual learning as well as on-demand learning. Finally, peer learning (see #9) is another set of approaches.

#8 – Feedback Time – What feedback touchpoints are you building in throughout the year? Feedback in many organizations has moved to an ongoing cycle, and it can be important to make sure that it is happening regularly. Block off time in your schedule to get it done.

#9 – Peer Learning Time/Mentoring Time — What is the peer learning you want to undertake this year? Is it possible to do some job shadowing or pair with a peer partner throughout the year to compare notes, share resources and learn from each other?

In addition to peer learning, what about identifying a mentor in your organization or industry who can share their experience in order to help you understand “what’s below the waterline”?

#10 – Time Within Your Industry or Outside Your Regular Scope of Work — Finally, industry connections are key. Keeping current in your area of work may be as important, or more important, in the medium- and longer-term. What connection into professional associations are going to support you this year?
 
What do you want to make sure you make time to focus on?

Best,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your Q2 planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar
​
PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here. ​