Lively online meetings and online workshops

Switching from onsite to online has made us very aware of the success factors of meetings, workshops and trainings.

This article describes 15 pragmatic tips for more effective online meetings.

Initially, the same applies as for successful onsite meetings:

Before we get to the differences between this and Onsite Meeting, I'd like you to have something ready to take notes. There are some questions in the text that are waiting for your written answers. Your notebook or a simple DIN A4 sheet of paper is perfect for your notes. Now for the key differences between onsite and online meetings: according to a recent study on Zoom Fatigue by the Institute for Employment and Employability (IEB) and the Ludwigshafen Article translated from: Kea, J. (2021). Lebendige Online-Meetings und Online-Workshops. In Impulse für digitale Arbeitswelten, (S. 62-71). Offenbach: Jünger Medien Verlag. University of Applied Sciences (2020), stressors include the following:

In addition, it is often unpleasant to be observed by many people during the entire meeting and to see ourselves in the "mirror" all the time - because we are almost always shown our own video image as well. What is an important control function for us moderators can trigger additional stress for participants.

Some of these factors can easily be minimized or turned off completely, such as a better camera setting or turning off the self- view. Others, like the Internet connection and the small time delays, however, can hardly be influenced directly.

What is natural and self-evident at a physical meeting has to be rethought online. The seating and speaking order of the participants, for example. This can be replaced, for example, by a list of names in the chat or a virtual table on a collaborative whiteboard at which the participants "take a seat" with their name.

Now take out your paper or notebook: What are your biggest stressors when conferencing online? Write them down and think about how you can improve two of them with little effort next time?

To create particularly interactive and dynamic workshops for participants, I use Training from the BACK of the Room activities, design and facilitation techniques by Sharon Bowman. The following tips are structured according to the six learning principles based on brain research. (cf. Bowman 2011, p. 42ff)

Learning principle 1: Movement trumps sitting

"Sitting is the new smoking!" it is said (Starrett, 2016, n.d.) Especially in the family and home office, the ergonomic workplace often falls by the wayside. Even small movement units are often missing, such as: walking to another office or floor, different sitting and standing opportunities during meetings, during morning rounds and lunch breaks, and when exchanging opinions in the coffee kitchen. Movement and the oxygen it boosts in our blood is important - and not just between meetings. Therefore, actively invite your participants to stand up, stretch, spend a conversation sequence standing or even take a walk during the break or with conversation partners on the phone (keyword: walk & talk). Taking a deep breath, relaxing the eyes, loosening the wrists, office yoga or picking up objects from the home are further examples that can easily be integrated into a workshop.

Very small movements - namely our facial expressions and gestures - play a very large role in the aforementioned phenomenon called zoom fatigue. According to Professor Jeremy Bailsenson, director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at California's Standford University, research to date shows that technologies like Zoom disrupt the communication patterns we humans have developed to survive. This is because we are used to perceiving and interpreting many small and large signals from our counterparts within an instant. In video conferences, the minimal time-delayed audio and video signal ensures that gestures and confirmation signals of our conversation partners come too late. The look of our own "mirror image" also irritates some. The many pairs of eyes rarely give us the feeling of "real eye contact." It can feel more like looking "against a wall" or "into an empty room" and talking." Because of the lack of Article translated from: Kea, J. (2021). Lebendige Online-Meetings und Online-Workshops. In Impulse für digitale Arbeitswelten, (S. 62-71). Offenbach: Jünger Medien Verlag. nonverbal cues and real-time feedback, participants have to work very hard to synchronize with each other, and over time, this extra effort can lead to feelings of zoom fatigue, according to Jingjing Han, a doctoral student at Indiana University Bloomington's Media School. (See The Advisory Board Company, 2020, n.d.) Still, a video conference satisfies our social needs more than, say, a straight conference call or exchanges via chat and email. Zoom fatigue, however, seems to be the price we have to pay for it.

Now write down two things you can do to increase the movement of your participants during online meetings. Also, think about how you can improve your own camera view so that your conversation partners can see your face and facial expressions more easily? Practice in which corridor your gestures are visible.

Learning principle 2: Talking trumps listening

The person who talks, moves, or writes the most also learns the most! (cf. Bowman, 2015, n.d.) This mantra is a reminder to invite participants to participate, discuss, share experiences, and ask questions as often as possible. After all, learning is a social process. I also find that the later participants are invited to contribute, the harder it is for them to do so. At the same time, it is important to note that not all participants feel equally comfortable speaking in front of a (large) group. This effect can even be intensified by the lack of nonverbal real-time feedback in a live online appointment. Small group work in digital group spaces, anonymous Q&A sessions, commenting and voting opportunities, and asking participants to summarize workshop content are examples of inviting participants into the conversation.

I myself start my workshops even before the official welcome, gladly with an impulse question. For this, I invite the participants in groups of 2 or 3. This gets them talking in the first few minutes.

Now write down what ways you use to bring your participants into the conversation in a focused way? What are your favorite effective questions.

The selection of effective questions is of particular importance in the online space: We moderators depend on regular feedback from our participants at all times in order to remain in proactive contact. Therefore, very short word and chat contributions as well as (digital) feedback are essential.

Learning Principle 3: Different trumps same

Starting a workshop with impulse questions and in small groups is both different and new for many of my participants.

What meeting or meeting sequence from the past few months do you (fondly) remember today? It is very likely that it was novel or contrasting, particularly relevant or emotional for you.

Eric Jensen writes in his book Brain-based Learning that stimuli that appear in our immediate environment, provided they are new or of sufficiently strong emotional intensity (high contrast), immediately capture our attention. (cf. Jensen, 2008, n.d.).

The learning principle Anders sticht Einerlei should always remind us that we workshop designers and facilitators are jointly responsible for the attention of our participants. And this can be increased, for example, through music and figurative language, the use of worksheets, cloze texts and tools such as Metimeter. Cameras can also be used creatively. For example, participants can be invited to tape them off, turn them off, or put something personal in them. The important thing is that all these activities are relevant to the content.

What crazy, brave, unexpected, or humorous "pattern breakers" are appropriate for your participants? Write down two things you would like to try in your online meeting. Who can you discuss your plan with to get feedback?

Learning principle 4: Images trumps words

Bonnie Stewart, assistant professor of online pedagogy and corporate learning at Canada's University of Windsor, sums up the cause of zoom fatigue this way: "Moving between different online meetings is like having lunch in one country with certain customs and traditions, and literally two hours later you're in another country having lunch with a completely different group who have their own customs and traditions. All the while, you haven't even left your desk. (cf. Supiano, 2020, n.d.)

A nice visual comparison! Visualizations - whether images, infographics, metaphors, stories, videos and hand-created sketchnotes are grasped faster and remembered longer. They help to bring complicated, pure word contributions, processes, numbers, data and facts to the point. It's not said for nothing: A picture is worth a thousand words!

Over the next few minutes, add some symbols and simple visualizations to your notes - exclamation points, arrows, stick figures, and hearts are a good start. Which of your meeting and workshop content should be supplemented with a metaphor, image, or other type of visualization to be better understood?

Learning principle 5: Writing trumps reading

"Supervised reading" is what it is heretically called when presenters read their presentation slides aloud. There are two things we should always keep in mind: First, participants can read faster than presenters can read aloud, and second, taking your own notes is a more active process than reading along with information. More active means that the information is processed in many ways by participants: it is read, heard, put into own words, visualized, written down or typed. This makes remembering, learning and understanding more likely than passive consumption.

It is therefore a good idea for your participants to take notes. You can also explicitly ask them to do this, for example, through a worksheet, a cloze to fill in, or by having them create a collective digital log together.

Notes, mindmaps, and outlines created on paper can be photographed and made available live or as follow-up documentation. You can also ask your participants to write the information on analog sticky notes and stick them on the refrigerator, house or office door. In this way, you also encourage your participants to move.

Mark two impulses from your previous notes that you would like to implement next. Write them on a sticky note and place it on your exit door.

Learning principle 6: Shorter trumps longer

Of course, endless monologues, meetings and workshops are just as unbearable online as they are onsite. So what to do? John Medina (2009) - a molecular biologist specializing in brain development and author of the book Brain Rules - has described the 10-minute rule: Something new has to happen every 10 minutes, otherwise our brain activates the energy-saving "autopilot". That is the moment, from which we pay evenly only new, contrast-rich, relevant or emotional again increased attention. According to Bruce Perry (n.d.) this figure is even three to five minutes!

Use this insight as a rule of thumb for your workshop design! This means concretely for us moderators, presenters and trainers:

Another very good way to reduce larger presentation periods is to use the time before and after workshops. Pre- and post-workshop assignments, short videos, screencasts, podcasts, and fill-in-the- blank templates serve as reminders and reinforcement of content and can thus reinforce knowledge. (Note: Yes, not all participants will show up to the appointment prepared. Therefore, it is worthwhile to design the materials created in such a way that they are also suitable as an arrival exercise or can (partially) be worked on during a break).

Think about which meeting or workshop session you can shorten to meet the 10-minute mark. In the extra time, have your participants briefly summarize what they heard in their own words, take notes, or formulate a question. Try it out for yourself now and leave me your key insights from your notes via my article here as a message: http://doku.ws/feedback. And download a reminder of the six learning principles here: http://doku.ws/6Lernprinzipien

Gianpiero Petriglieri, a physician, psychiatrist, and professor of organizational behavior at the French business school Insead, reminds us how we view online meetings: When people who don't otherwise have the opportunity to see each other get together online, it's an opportunity. When people who regularly meet in person use video conferencing, it's a letdown. In other words, it's not so much about the technology as it is about how you look at it. (cf. Supiano, 2020, n.d.)

In another place, he summarizes Zoom Fatigue inspiringly like this: I think fatigue is not technological fatigue, it is compassion fatigue. (cf. ibid., n.p.)

References

  1. Rump, J. & Brandt, M. (2020). Zoom fatigue - phase 2. A study by the Institute for Employment and Employability IBE. Available online at: https://www.ibe-ludwigshafen.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Folien_IBE-Studie_Zoom-Fatigue_2-Phase.pdf
  2. Bowman, S. (2011). Using Brain Science To Make Training Stick. Glenbrook; Bowperson Publishing
  3. Bowman, S. (2009). Training From the Back of the Room!: 65 Ways to Step Aside and Let Them Learn. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sibs, Inc.
  4. Starrett, K. (2016). Sitting is the new smoking. Munich: riva Verlag
  5. The Advisory Board Company (2020). 'Zoom fatigue,' explained by researchers. Online verfügbar unter: https://www.advisory.com/en/daily- briefing/2020/06/03/zoom-fatigue
  6. Bowman, S. (2015). Who's doing the most talking, moving, or writing? Online verfügbar unter: https://bowperson.com/2015/08/whos-doing-the-most- talking-moving-or-writing/
  7. Jensen, E. (2008). Brain-Based Learning: The New Paradigm of Teaching. Thousand Oaks: Corwin
  8. Medina, J. (2009). The 10 Minute Rule. Online verfügbar unter: https://brainrules.blogspot.com/2009/03/10-minute- rule.html
  9. Medina, J. (2014). Brain Rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school. Seattle: Pear Press
  10. Perry, B. (o.D. ) How the Brain Learns Best. Online verfügbar unter: http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/brainl earns.htm
  11. Supiano, B. (2020). Why is Zoom so exhausting? Online verfügbar unter: https://grad.uic.edu/news-stories/why-is- zoom-so-exhausting/

Julian Kea, MBA

Julian Kea is a Serious Games Facilitator and Team Coach from Berlin.

He creates activating learning environments with minds-on workshop methods such as Training from the BACK of the Room, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, Agile Classrooms, Thiagi's interactive training strategies, Open Space Technology and Liberating Structures. These enable teams to engage in authentic exchange, promote mutual understanding and strengthen togetherness. His mantra is "Rediscover Learning. Work Smarter."

In 2016, Julian Kea was trained by Sharon Bowman to become a certified trainer for Training from the BACK of the Room (TBR-CT). He developed the official Training from the BACK of the Room online course (TBR-VE) together with Sharon Bowman and 11 certified TBR trainers from the USA, the UK and the Netherlands. Julian Kea has been offering this online course in German and English since November 2020. His customers include teachers, freelance trainers, workshop facilitators, Agile coaches, and executives from medium-sized businesses and corporations.

Julian Kea is the voice behind the #SeriousGamesPodcast and the creator of #TheDebriefingCube. He hosts the #LSPmeetup around LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and the unconference #play14 around serious games in Berlin.

References

Article translated from: Kea, J. (2021). Lebendige Online-Meetings und Online-Workshops. In Impulse für digitale Arbeitswelten, (S. 62-71). Offenbach: Jünger Medien Verlag.