Teams365 #560: Virtual Facilitation - Creating Powerful Starts and Ends
Copyright 2015 - Jennifer Britton, All Rights Reserved
In today's world of Death by PowerPoint, Meeting and Webinar, creating engaging virtual meetings and learning can be a challenge. This week I turn my attention to the realm of virtual facilitation, an area I have been involved with for more than a decade.
It's important in any learning process tore member that we remember the start and end of things. Known for decades as the latency and recency effects, our brains retain the start and end much more easily than the middle of any process. So, what are the implications for virtual facilitation? It's key to create powerful starts and ends to virtual learning. Some of the considerations we will want to keep in mind are the following:
Creating Powerful Starts:
Creating connection and "safety" as well as providing an overview of what to expect from the call is key. Consider how you will open the session, and welcome people as they arrive.
Be clear about the expectations and guidelines for the call. Remind people how to use things like mute, annotation, chat etc. Don't assume!
Getting people to pin their location to a map is a great way of visually orienting people, or if you are together for longer, can you get people to send out a quick intro/bio before hand. Make this easy and consider creating a standard format for people to use.
Reinforce the importance of a clear connection that mobile phones often do not allow for!
Creating Powerful Ends.
The end is just as important as the start. Providing a reflection point for people to consider what they have learned is key. As a facilitator you may be very tired at this point of the process, so consider how you can create your own standard ways of bringing calls to a close. Some possibilities are asking -
What new learning or ideas are you leaving the call with?
What's the one action you are going to take in the next 24-76 hours to put this learning into action? (note that the retention window after learning is very short so getting people to apply their learning as quick after the process, the better.
What other ideas do you have about creating powerful starts and ends to virtual learning? Please feel free to comment below.
Best wishes,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or performance support you or your team
Are you a leader, coach or trainer wanting to amp up your skills in virtual facilitation? Our next Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive course will start on September 15th (Tuesdays 5-8 pm ET). 15 hours of learning, practice and feedback on your virtual facilitation skills. Click here to learn more.
Copyright 2015 - Jennifer Britton, All Rights Reserved
In today's world of Death by PowerPoint, Meeting and Webinar, creating engaging virtual meetings and learning can be a challenge. This week I turn my attention to the realm of virtual facilitation, an area I have been involved with for more than a decade.
It's important in any learning process tore member that we remember the start and end of things. Known for decades as the latency and recency effects, our brains retain the start and end much more easily than the middle of any process. So, what are the implications for virtual facilitation? It's key to create powerful starts and ends to virtual learning. Some of the considerations we will want to keep in mind are the following:
Creating Powerful Starts:
Creating connection and "safety" as well as providing an overview of what to expect from the call is key. Consider how you will open the session, and welcome people as they arrive.
Be clear about the expectations and guidelines for the call. Remind people how to use things like mute, annotation, chat etc. Don't assume!
Getting people to pin their location to a map is a great way of visually orienting people, or if you are together for longer, can you get people to send out a quick intro/bio before hand. Make this easy and consider creating a standard format for people to use.
Reinforce the importance of a clear connection that mobile phones often do not allow for!
Creating Powerful Ends.
The end is just as important as the start. Providing a reflection point for people to consider what they have learned is key. As a facilitator you may be very tired at this point of the process, so consider how you can create your own standard ways of bringing calls to a close. Some possibilities are asking -
What new learning or ideas are you leaving the call with?
What's the one action you are going to take in the next 24-76 hours to put this learning into action? (note that the retention window after learning is very short so getting people to apply their learning as quick after the process, the better.
What other ideas do you have about creating powerful starts and ends to virtual learning? Please feel free to comment below.
Best wishes,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or performance support you or your team
Are you a leader, coach or trainer wanting to amp up your skills in virtual facilitation? Our next Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive course will start on September 15th (Tuesdays 5-8 pm ET). 15 hours of learning, practice and feedback on your virtual facilitation skills. Click here to learn more.
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