The Voltage Control team has always been remote (aside from our in-person workshops and events, which were put on a pause due to the pandemic), resulting in our team constantly learning about and improving upon the best and most efficient ways to collaborate virtually. Effective remote work collaboration for teams relies on having the right tools in place. As experts in remote work, our team put together a Virtual Work Guide documenting our learnings for you to more easily navigate work with a distributed team. The past 18 months have also provided additional opportunities to refine remote meetings and develop virtual workshop tools. To succeed in today’s virtual and distributed workforce, all remote teams will need to implement the right tools, processes, and methods to optimize how they work together.

Virtual workshops require careful planning and preparation, as there are various factors to take into account that you don’t need to consider for in-person ones (including Zoom fatigue, scheduling across multiple time zones, and maintaining human connection in a virtual landscape). By nature, digital tools are necessary for virtual workshops to run smoothly and effectively. Improve your next virtual workshop with 10 of our top curated tools: 5 tools we’ve created here at Voltage Control through our own experiences with virtual work, and 5 additional tools we recommend you test out for your next virtual workshop.

The following tools were developed by the Voltage Control team to help individuals, teams, and companies build the skills they need to design and run exceptional virtual workshops.

5 Voltage Control Virtual Workshop Tools 

1. Design Sprint Guide

This guide provides an overview of everything you need to run your own remote Design Sprint, and outlines everything we’ve done at Voltage Control to successfully adapt our tried-and-true Design Sprint model for remote work.

2. Workshop Methods & Activities Templates

A collection of tools to inspire methods and activities for your next workshop, spanning facilitation frameworks, design thinking, improv, active learning, idea generation, prototyping, and more.

3. Workshop Design Template for MURAL

Use this MURAL canvas to design your workshop, meeting, training, or course for lasting growth and transformation. The best workshops are impactful learning experiences. We created the LXD Canvas to introduce learning experience design principles to facilitators who haven’t considered them and to help everyone apply them more effectively in your facilitation to maximize participant potential.

Unfamiliar with MURAL? Use our MURAL Cheat Sheet to learn how to use it.

4. Workshop Design Workshop

Our Workshop Design Workshop is a 2-day virtual experience where you learn techniques on improving engagement, retention, and participant commitment during and after your workshop. You can expect to learn and practice the principles and tools to drive lasting change.

5. Control Room App

This tool helps you run virtual workshops and is for anyone wanting to run magical meetings. We custom-made this tool based on our own facilitation experiences to help you facilitate exceptionally good meetings and events. It includes20 free activities and premium features that allow you to maximize meaningful connection and productive work amongst your attendees. This simple tool is filled with meeting activities that keep your team engaged and captures feedback so you can constantly improve. Check out our videos to learn more.

We utilize the following tools side-by-side with our own to run effective virtual workshops and meetings. Try these out in your next virtual workshop or event if you haven’t already.

5 Virtual Workshop Tools We Recommend

1. Zoom

This video conferencing tool is a must for almost any virtual meeting, but especially important for virtual workshops due to its breakout room capabilities. They even have an Events solution to better host virtual experiences, with features including branded event hubs, customizable registration and built-in ticket options, and analytics to help you understand your event performance and improve your virtual events.

2. MURAL

MURAL is a digital whiteboard with collaborative templates for visual collaboration including planning, brainstorming, and designing. We personally like MURAL because it’s a customizable virtual whiteboard that supports interactive and collaborative work with a remote or virtual team. Everyone can work together in one visual space, and you can create your own templates to support your specific needs. Check out our MURAL cheat sheet for a quick reference on how to use MURAL.

3. Figma

Collaborative design platform to design, prototype, and gather feedback in real-time in one place. Companies like Spotify, Netflix, Nike, and digital innovators have been using Figma to design their next mobile app, marketing website, or proof of concept. We use Figma in almost every Design Sprint process.

4. World Time Buddy

One benefit of virtual workshops is that people can join regardless of location. However, this also means multiple time zones need to be taken into account. This tool is a world clock, time zone converter, and online meeting scheduler to coordinate and plan across different time zones.

5. SessionLab

Dynamically design, organize and share workshops and training content. This tool helps you easily plan and create virtual workshops. It includes 150+ expert-reviewed remote-friendly facilitation methods (and a library of 800+ total methods) and helps ensure your virtual team is engaged and aligned while making changes in real-time.

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Make virtual workshops run seamlessly and get the most out of your attendees by incorporating the right tools and practices. If you are interested in learning about additional tools and best practices for managing remote teams, see here.

Run Your Own Virtual Workshop Successfully

Do you want to run a successful remote workshop but don’t know where to start? Voltage Control facilitates events of all kinds, including live online workshops, boot camps, summits, and meetings. Please contact us at hello@voltagecontrol.com if you have questions or would like to schedule a consultation.

FAQ Section

What collaboration tools does Voltage Control recommend for virtual workshops?
At Voltage Control, we utilize a wide range of collaboration tools, including Google Docs, Google Forms, and Google Drive, alongside other online design tools like Figma and MURAL. These tools enable efficient digital collaboration, allowing teams to work together in real time during virtual workshops and training sessions.

How can I improve team collaboration in virtual sessions?
Using advanced features of virtual workshop platforms and online whiteboards ensures effective online collaboration. These platforms support virtual offices and offer interactive sessions that enhance team collaboration, brainstorming sessions, and the overall creative process.

What are the key features to look for in virtual platforms?
When selecting a virtual platform for your workshop, key features include breakout sessions, video chat, audio calls, and online communication tools like Zoom or Google Meet. These platforms should also support virtual whiteboards and other tools that facilitate digital collaboration and the engagement of your entire team.

What are the benefits of using Google Workspace tools in a virtual workshop?
Google Workspace tools like Google Docs, Google Calendar, and Google Drive allow for efficient collaboration and communication within virtual workshops. These tools facilitate document sharing, scheduling, and real-time editing, making them ideal for organizing collaboration sessions and workshop activities.

Can virtual workshops offer the same level of engagement as in-person workshops?
Yes, virtual workshops can be just as engaging as in-person workshops with the right digital facilitation tools. A lot of platforms combined with the use of online whiteboards and engagement tools, allow for interactive and collaborative workshop activities. The virtual space offers flexibility while maintaining high levels of team engagement.

How do I ensure the success of virtual brainstorming sessions?
To succeed in virtual brainstorming sessions, use online collaboration tools like MURAL or Figma as we already mentioned, since they are perfect tools for visual and design collaboration. Google Forms can serve as a survey tool to gather feedback, while breakout sessions in Zoom or Google Meet help maintain team focus and productivity during brainstorming activities.

The post Virtual Workshop Tools appeared first on Voltage Control.

It’s almost been a year since the switch to digital meetings and workshops. Digital events like remote workshops aren’t always guaranteed to run smoothly. Whether the culprit is a technical glitch, a family member who needs your attention right when you’ve started delivering your perfectly-crafted speech, or a nosy pet who is determined to spend the entire workshop trying to jump on your keyboard, fostering a spirit of focus and connection in a virtual meeting or workshop can be a major challenge.

This doesn’t mean that any remote workshop is doomed to fail. In fact, with the right perspective and a little bit of work, your virtual workshop can provide all of the value and human connection of an in-person event. Read on to learn about how you can craft a remote workshop that makes its attendees feel calm, comfortable, and connected — and has all the benefits of meeting in person with none of the risks.

Preparation is Key

One major key to hosting a great remote workshop is preparation. Give yourself plenty of time to determine when and where your remote workshop will take place. Set yourself up for success by selecting the virtual platform you want to use for your remote workshop. Make sure you understand how it works, and get comfortable with its ins and outs. Consider selecting a backup platform in case you run into issues as the date of your remote workshop draws closer.

But don’t limit your preparation to just yourself. No one wants to get emails the morning of their workshop and find themselves scrambling to download a virtual tool. Send out plenty of information in advance to your attendees about how to access the workshop. Add an itinerary of what you’ll be doing, and any materials they might need. Take the time to plan your remote workshop in advance to ensure you are more focused on your team.

Get Involved

A good in-person workshop should leave its participants feeling excited, inspired, and connected with their fellow participants. So, there’s no reason why a remote workshop should be any different! Instead of spending each section of your remote workshop delivering presentations or leading rote Q&As, think outside the box. Let your teams engage in virtual design thinking exercises or spend time in assigned or randomly generated breakout rooms. Don’t be afraid to break up the monotony of an endless string of Zoom presentations!

Little things can make a difference, too! While you’re waiting for your remote workshop to start or you’re enjoying a brainstorming session, play some fun, energizing music to make your remote workshop feel like a more open and welcoming space. Making the attendees feel excited, inspired, and energized is a great way to turn a remote workshop into a success.

Be Flexible

It’s nearly been a year since we made the switch to virtual meetings. Additionally, it’s still true that remote workshops are often more exhausting than in-person workshops. Adjust for this truth instead of trying to fight it. Shorten your sessions to allow people to remain 100% focused for the entirety of each exercise. Also, add numerous short breaks throughout your daily itinerary that will allow attendees to grab snacks or stretch their legs.

It’s also smart to consider making changes based on your specific participants. Furthermore, think about what would work best for them. For example, a team of young professionals might prefer to power through a full day of a remote workshop. Whereas, parents juggling working from home with providing child care may prefer two days of shorter sessions. Implementing the schedule that works best for the team will make them feel seen, comfortable and respected. Also, this can mean that they’ll be more likely to be fully engaged during the entirety of the remote workshop.

Schedule Cleanup Time

Cleanup time is the perfect way to keep your virtual workshop from being too rigidly scheduled or too free-flowing. Like Goldilocks’ third bowl of porridge, it creates a perfect balance that will make your remote workshop feel “just right”. Scheduling cleanup time involves letting your workshop participants hang out and relax after the workshop is over. Instead of abruptly ending your Zoom session or moving onto another segment. Why take the time to hang? Well, not only is it great for capturing the magic of an in-person workshop and letting attendees connect with each other in a casual, low-pressure setting, but attendees may even feel comfortable enough in a more relaxed setting that they casually ask that question they were too afraid to ask in an earlier, more structured Q&A session.

Help keep cleanup time low-key by not listing it on the agenda. However, be sure to generate some ideas for a semi-structured activity in case people want to stick around but feel unsure of how to get to know each other. Having a fun icebreaker in your back pocket, asking a silly question, or even encouraging everyone to introduce their pets is a great way to foster connection — even when everyone is miles apart.

Don’t Forget to Debrief

With shutdowns being extended through at least the next few months, it’s possible that this won’t be the only remote workshop you ever run. An easy way to make your next remote workshop even better is to collect as much feedback as possible. Debriefing is a great way to figure out what your attendees liked and didn’t like, as well as to encourage them to provide suggestions for improvements. Consider incorporating a session dedicated to gathering and parsing feedback into your remote workshop, or follow up with a detailed survey or questionnaire after the remote workshop for your participants to fill out. Soliciting feedback can be stressful for even the most seasoned workshop coordinator but the information it provides can be helpful for bringing your future remote workshops to a whole new level of excellence.

Run Your Own Remote Workshop Successfully

Do you want to run a successful remote workshop but don’t know where to start? Voltage Control facilitates events of all kinds, including live online workshops, boot camps, summits, and meetings. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@voltagecontrol.com if you have questions or would like to schedule a consultation.

The post How to Run a Successful Remote Workshop appeared first on Voltage Control.

We hosted our annual facilitator summit last week alongside our sponsor MURAL, but this time, it was virtual. Instead of gathering in Austin’s Capital Factory, 172 eager learners, expert facilitators, and meeting practitioners gathered online for a 3-day interactive workshop. Our mission each year at Control the Room is to share a global perspective of facilitators from different methodologies, backgrounds, races, genders, sexual orientations, cultures, and ages. We gather to network, learn from one another, and build our facilitation toolkits. 

This year’s summit theme was CONNECTION. Human connection is an integral component of the work we do as facilitators.

When we connect things become possible. When we are disconnected there is dysfunction. When ideas connect they become solutions. When movements connect they become revolutions. 

Control the Room is a safe space to build and celebrate a community of practice for facilitators, which is paramount to learn, grow, and advance as practitioners and engaging in a dialogue that advances the practice of facilitation. We must learn the tools and modalities needed to foster connection and be successful facilitators in the new virtual landscape. 

“We must establish a personal connection with each other. Connection before content. Without relatedness, no work can occur.” —Peter Block

This year’s summit consisted of 18 expert facilitator guest speakers who presented lightning talks and in-depth workshops, where they shared their methods and activities for effective virtual facilitation. 

Read on for summaries of this year’s Control the Room Summit presentations. Each speaker delivered a 20-minute lightning session in the morning of their following 90-minute facilitated session that afternoon. 

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Voltage Control founder Douglas Ferguson started the summit with an introduction to the importance of connection in the virtual landscape and the critical role facilitators play in it. 

He encouraged the group to not only soak in all of the great information provided by the guest speakers but to network with guest attendees and experts alike to gain as much perspective as possible. 

The first round of lightning talks and workshops consisted of Van Lai-DuMone, Mohamed Ali, Leslie Forman, Michael Wilkinson, Emily Bowen, and Erik Skogsberg.

Van Lai-DuMone

Incorporate Creativity Into Your Virtual Facilitations

Van Lai-DuMone, the founder of Worksmart Advantage, discussed incorporating creativity into virtual facilitations. Creativity allows facilitators to make people feel heard, that their ideas matter, to express themselves, and to feel connected. Van’s workshop was focused on how incorporating creative tools can not only serve to harness the attention of the group but also serve as a practical tool for: Team Building and Development, Collaboration, Idea Generation, Problem Solving and Trust Building. 

“Creativity allows you to make people feel heard.”

Mohamed Ali

You’re That Audience

Mohamed Ali, Service Designer and Facilitator at Independant, discussed how self-interest can create engagement and participation for your audience. Mohamed taught workshop attendees how to prepare an audience for a workshop, long before they show up. The questions attendees answered together were, “how might we effectively onboard participants without overwhelming them with the exercises and time needed to conduct the workshop? How might a beginners’ mindset assist an audience to contribute what they really wish to?” 

“Self-interest for an audience is beneficial; engage your audience as much as possible.” 

Leslie Forman

Secrets, Constraints, and Emojis

Leslie Forman, Senior User Experience Researcher at Linkedin, spoke about secrets, constraints, and emojis. By implementing the 3 Cs (concrete, colorful, and constrained) we can produce the best results from our team. Leslie discussed practical techniques that facilitators can use to guide participants into deeper discussions, especially about ambiguous or sensitive topics. 

Michael Wilkinson

Consensus Building: Techniques for Getting to Yes

Michael Wilkinson, CEO and Managing Director of Leadership Strategies presented techniques to getting to “Yes” in a disagreement; understanding the issue is key to coming to a solution. According to Michael, three reasons people disagree are due to information, different experiences/values, and outside factors. Exploring the type of disagreement – information, different experiences/values, outside factors – and asking questions are instruments to solving the disagreement. In his workshop, Michael equipped attendees with a clear understanding of the three reasons people disagree, three methods for establishing a consensus-focused process, and five techniques for getting to “yes” when disagreements occur.

Emily Bowen

Peace, Love & Understanding

Emily Bowen, Holistic Leadership Consultant and Educator at The Peace Nerd, discussed how to facilitate using peace, love, and understanding. By remaining present and in the moment, facilitators can engage best with their users. Emily showed workshop attendees how to create lightness and ease when facilitators want to connect people to each other and build trust when working remotely.

“Take a moment to breathe and be in this space.” 

Erik Skogsberg

Learn to Transform

The last lightning speaker of the day was Voltage Control’s own Erik Skogsberg speaking on how the best learning experiences are learner-focused. Erik informed the group that the best facilitators, whether they know it or not, are Learning Experience Designers (LXDs). LXDs bring the best of user experience design and the learning sciences to bear on creating transformation: whether in a meeting, presentation, workshop, or course. Participants were guided through some hands-on practice in these methods for use in a meeting, workshop, or training of their own and then were introduced to how to design for better learning experiences and lasting change in their future facilitation work.

“It is up to the facilitator to move and adjust to the learners in the room.”

Day one ended with special prize giveaways and a virtual happy hour with all participants. 

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

After an introduction to open up the day, the second round of lightning talks and workshops consisted of Jennifer Marin Jericho, Kaleem Clarkson, Caitlin Loos, William Aal, Solomon Masala, Alison Coward. 

Jennifer Marin Jericho

How to Pivot When Things Go Wrong

Jennifer Marin Jericho, Co-Founder and Design and Communication Strategist of Jericho Vinegar Works, presented tactics for Effective Facilitation and Facilitation Pitfalls on some of the tips she has learned along the way for when things don’t go the way you expect. We often think of facilitation as the moment when we are in the room, Jennifer said, running a workshop or meeting, but there’s quite a lot of work to be done before and after to host a successful workshop.

“The devil is in the details.”

Kaleem Clarkson & David Klasko

Fighting Isolation and Building Meaningful Relationships through the Power of Play

Kaleem Clarkson, Chief Operating Officer at Blend Me, Inc., and David Klasko, Actor, Comedian, and Founder of Artly Working, presented on what the research says about the dangers of isolation, and how playing simple (and incredibly fun) games can create meaningful human connection in the virtual workplace. Technology has provided a platform to find and foster these relationships, but it takes a thoughtful and structured approach to create a human connection. Based on improv comedy, and built for video conferencing, Artly Working has designed workshops to add humor, vulnerability, and spontaneity to the virtual world – in other words, the human element! Using games and exercises developed specifically for the platform, the goal is to fight isolation and loneliness and build bonds on our remote platforms, and not in spite of them. Participants learned games and exercises that can be implemented with teams right away.

Caitlin Loos & Jordan Hirsch

7 Hours on Zoom…In a good way!

Caitlin Loos, Director of Creative Services at Phase2 Technology, and Jordan Hirsch, Director of Innovation at Phase2, taught participants how they created a 7-hour zoom conference that was energizing, inspiring, & fun. The workshop explored how they turned their annual company conference — a deeply human, connected experience for 100+ people — into a Zoom call that lasted seven hours and spanned four time zones, but still worked. The group experimented and played with activities that helped turn a virtual event into a virtual experience.

“Embracing virtual events should engage all of the senses, incorporate the home, and recognize that virtual is not always better, worse, or the same.” – Caitlin Loos

William Aal

Equity, Power and Conflict in Meeting Design

William Aal, Co-founder and Managing Partner of unConference.net, explored how to disrupt patterns of privilege and oppression that are often overlooked in meeting design in his lightning talk and workshop

 “Explore those dynamics in your facilitation practice. Have fun making the invisible visible!”

In his workshop, participants learned how to set the table for people to fully participate, taking into account the currents of power difference in the space. They also learned how to be aware of their own privilege dynamics; how to acknowledge conflict and use it as a tool to deepen community and when process becomes liberatory and when it furthers patterns of oppression.

Solomon Masala

Zip in your Zoom

Solomon Masala, creator of the Source Consultng Group, reminded participants that most humans have been conditioned to get in front of a screen and go passive. He said we forget that real learning is an active, full-body experience, and in our virtual learning world it’s critical to keep the learning juices activated. In his workshop, Solomon engaged participants in 25+ kinesthetic activities that range from 1 minute to 1 hour, guaranteed to get participants energized and enlivened, regardless of the group.

Alison Coward

Workshop Culture for a Better Workplace

Alison Coward, Founder of Bracket, closed out the day by discussing the lasting impacts of workshops. Her presentation explored the real potential of workshops in improving our experience of work, and what else that may bring. Integrating workshop culture into an environment allows for the intended products of workshops like engagement and progress as well as the unintended possibilities such as open communication and more trust. 

“Workshops bring many of the factors that we want to see in productive, engaged and positive cultures – collaboration, inclusion, motivation, creativity – so how can we take these elements beyond a one-off event and bring them more generally into the workplace?”

Day two ended with prize giveaways and a happy hour with the summit’s participants.

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Summit participants were welcomed with a warm introduction to the final day, followed by lightning talks and workshops from Madelon Guinazzo, Vinay Kumar, J. Elise Keith, Joshua Davies, Elena Astilleros, and Rachel Ben Hamou.

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Madelon Guinazzo

Facilitating Fearlessly with Heart

Madelon Guinazzo, Co-Founder of Cuddlist, addressed that all facilitators have fears, and participants all come with their own fears as well. Her experiential-based workshop explored some common facilitator fears in a safe way. Participants built resilience and the sense of connection that leads to grounded positive action in the midst of fear. Madelon showed attendees how to tap into the powerful potential of transformation that fear holds for both the facilitator and participant. She demonstrated how to let those fear fuel participants into fun and greater trust in themselves and life, and challenged them to explore how to hold fear – their own and others – with equanimity.

“Let your fear out. Exaggerate it. Give it a voice.”

Vinay Kumar

Connecting People and Thinking for Shared Values

Vinay Kumar, Director of Client Engagement at C2C Organizational Development, discussed engagement and creating meaningful connections. In this new age of digital engagement and connection, accessing ways of creating that safe and brave space allows our users to form those bonds and further goals. Using the right brain is not only fun but also helps in drawing out many aspects that participants often find difficult to articulate in a group setting. This is especially true when groups are extremely diverse in terms of experience, cultures, hierarchy, language, etc. Vinay’s workshop explored two methods in creating strong connections that increase the effectiveness of group work.

J. Elise Keith

Facilitating in Real Time, Near Time, and Far Time

J. Elise Keith, Founder and CEO of Lucid Meetings, spoke about facilitating in the present, near, and future. We can take a project from real-time excitement to near and far-time enthusiasm through creating records and remembrances of the occurrence. In her workshop, J. Elise explained that professional facilitators are pretty skilled at planning and running events. But the challenge is how to make sure that the work in facilitated events and the changes these events inspire have an impact on the everyday lives of those being served. Participants explored what it means to facilitate across different time scales and surface ideas we can all use to make a more lasting impact.

“Traditional skills are being replaced.”

Joshua Davies

Moving Minds: Exploring Conversation Maps in Facilitation

Joshua Davies, Founder and Lead Conversation Architect at Knowmium, examined how conversations operate and move in our facilitations. If we are to reach an understanding with others, we must have a path to empathy. Too many conversations are treadmills, endless, going without ever getting anywhere, or broken parallel monologues in search of true dialogue. In his session, participants explored practical techniques for better awareness and co-creation in discussions using conversation mapping, contrasting, and cadence control.

Types of conversations: understanding, problem-solving & exploring, blocking/telling, storytelling/persuading.

Elena Astilleros

$h*t to Hit!! Creating Meetings Participants Love

Elena Astilleros of Empoderment, discussed turning your meeting from “Sh** to hit.” Facilitators are the ones who bring the magic to the room, she said. Our users can’t go further than where we are at ourselves. Elena taught participants how they might be creating the wrong kind of drama (without realizing it) when facilitating. Elena’s workshop taught participants how to lead lively meetings where they (and everyone participating) feel alive and reinvigorated from their time together. She provided attendees with practices they can start using to trigger group genius in their next meeting or workshop and a simple way to up-level the questions they ask their team.

“Do you feel totally drained after facilitating your sessions? When you ask questions, do you get crickets…or worse, only the same handful of people answering every time?” 

Rachel Ben Hamou & Andre Ben Hamou

Onboarding Without Hoarding

Rachel Ben Hamou, Director of Talent Development at PeopleStorming, and Andre Ben Hamou, Co-Founder of PeopleStorming, explored how to develop processes and criteria (that they will genuinely use) that allow facilitators to evaluate exercises and activities at speed. They taught participants how to ‘Yes And’ the great resources they discover, without things becoming unmanageable. By using play and creating a toolkit, we can embrace both the face-to-face interactions as well as creating a space that also includes our virtual interactions as well.

“Since everything has gone virtual, the internet is a treasure trove AND a landfill of every process and exercise humans can imagine. How do you sift through all that noise to find activities that will help YOU facilitate well?”

The final day was wrapped with a raffle prize giveaway and a celebratory happy hour.

We’re already excited about next year’s summit. To be a part of our facilitator community in the meantime, join us for our weekly Facilitation Lab and check out our upcoming events.

The post Control the Room 2021 appeared first on Voltage Control.

Cisco Systems, Inc. is a multinational technology company that develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment, and other high-tech products and services. The goal was to build a successful virtual training. They help “seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the unconnected.”

The Cisco team participated in our recent Mastering Large Virtual Meetings Workshop held on April 13 (and has been held a few times since), co-hosted by master facilitators Douglas Ferguson and Daniel Stillman. In this fun, fast-paced one day online workshop, participants learned how to facilitate large virtual meetings. Our instructors led them through various methods, teaching why and how they work. Attendees learned facilitation tips and tricks and how to incorporate these techniques into virtual meetings. Cisco was among other participants who greatly benefited from the experience. 

“It IS possible. As simple as that—it is possible to run big virtual meetings and make them engaging, fun, and use those as the tools to connect people. It was a huge inspiration and a boost to try things out.” —Valeria Kanziuba, Program Manager, Design Thinking Facilitator, Cisco

Large Virtual Meeting Workshop

Getting good work done is hard enough in person. In a virtual context, it requires even more attention to detail. Virtual sessions can be difficult to run with just a few people, and the dynamics shift greatly when you start to get over 6-10 people. 

“Especially at large enterprises, conversations sometimes have to be large—there are many hands that touch critical products and services, and bringing all the people involved together to have a real conversation can start a project off on the right foot or get it back on track. These gatherings took time and energy to design for ‘real-life’ meetings and the same is true for virtual ones. I’m really excited to see the impact the LVM workshop is delivering for people. The critical work of innovators and changemakers can’t wait for when it’s safe to bring a big group together in person…we can get back to work on our most important challenges right now.” —Daniel Stillman, Master Facilitator

We’ve spent a lot of time at Voltage Control thinking about how to adapt our methods to the virtual space to keep teams engaged during virtual meetings and distribute the work in an asynchronous manner. It takes a pro-level toolkit and mindset to leave virtual meeting participants excited about the next virtual meeting. 

“We felt it was really important to share this knowledge to help everyone level up during this challenging time.” —Douglas Ferguson 

In this workshop, we taught participants how to find the tools they need to get the most out of a team’s distributed intelligence. Each exercise in the workshop was both an opportunity to participate and a teaching moment of the tools we use to drive successful large virtual meetings.

The Workshop

The day began with participants finding their virtual table, followed by impromptu networking techniques used to build rapport with virtual workshop attendees. Just like a wedding reception layout, attendees found their assigned table and connected with others at their table. They were then randomly assigned to other participants in breakout rooms to network and get to know new faces. This level of connection and engagement elevates participatory decision-making. 

Next, the group dove into 9 Whys, an exercise that helps people clearly identify and unpack their challenges. Participants voiced their concerns and challenges with holding large virtual meetings and then the group debriefed the information to learn from one another. The group then synthesized the information, connecting common themes and identifying patterns, acquiring the skills to synthesize data along the way.  

Douglas and Daniel also lead everyone through an  Open Space Technology, a useful method that helps you create and guide participant-driven agendas that align around a common theme. Leaders guided each group as individuals shared their personal methods and learned from each other’s approaches. We wrapped the day with a  Fishbowl Conversation, where the leaders of each session discussed and explored the artifacts created from the group work sessions. 

The group then engaged in a Spiral Journaling exercise to reflect on the previous day and to help clear participants’ minds of anything other than the workshop at hand. 

Participants had the opportunity to gain free advice from others in the workshop during Troika Consulting. People were put into groups of three: one person started as a Client and the other two served as Consultants. The Client shared a problem with the Consultants explaining it in detail. The Consultants listened and then asked clarifying questions. The Client then turned off their camera and listened as the Consultants discussed amongst themselves possible suggestions and solutions to the presented problem. The Client then turned their camera back on and shared with the Consultants their major takeaways from the advice they were given.  We repeated two more times so that everyone got a chance to receive advice on a challenge.

Then, the group engaged in an exercise called 1-2-4-All. Everyone was presented with the same question/prompt about how to move forward with running successful large group meetings. Participants first started ideating possible solutions in silent, solo reflection, generating sticky notes in a MURAL board. Then they were put in pairs, followed by foursomes, and then finally the entire group ideated together. This exercise helps groups naturally build consensus, enrich the quality of shared insights, and engages everyone in the room. 

Mad Tea was the next exercise. Participants were paired up and discussed the tangible things they were going to do post-workshop. They talked about the commitments they were going to make to ensure productive and effective large virtual meetings. 

The day ended with a commitment Chat Storm. All participants wrote out their personal commitment to this work to share with the group and simultaneously “entered” it into the Zoom chatbox. This method is great for sharing and gathering all forms of information from participants in a large virtual meeting. 

“If I would name one tool that found its implementation throughout—it would be a chat storm. I think it is one of the best discoveries that we would like to carry over to the in-person events once those are back. We use it literally in every single engagement, no matter the size. It proved to be a universally easy-to-use tool to ask opinions, brainstorm, respond to polls, sign up for teams, etc. So many use cases, it’s unbelievably simple and powerful.” —Valeria Kanziuba

Major Takeaways

One of the important takeaways that allowed us to build a successful 100% virtual training offer for Cisco Security Business, as well run multiple meeting with big audiences, was the possibility to use multiple technologies at the same time—Mural/Miro + video conferencing with breakouts + chat—switching between those, depending on the needs and the group dynamics we need to achieve.

It was initially too overwhelming to figure out how to manage not only participants (and meet their expectations, if not exceed) but also navigate the tech. We learned from Douglas and Daniel the importance of teamwork, having a tech facilitator, proper setup to allow facilitators to have the right things at hand whenever needed, as well as plenty of planning upfront—altogether that set us up for success from the very first event we hosted. Equally, allowing ourselves to be honest and say Hey, people, we are experimenting here, we are learning how to do it, be patient with us and yourself—also took off the pressure, and that was something I observed during the training.

Another great example of the implementation of our learnings is the successfully delivered Technical Marketing Engineers Summit for the Cisco Security Business Group that we just wrapped up a couple weeks ago. It brought together 65 TMEs from all over the world from all the different time zones for three days. The Summit consisted of two leadership panels, two keynotes, and twelve Design Thinking sessions. It took a team of more than 10 people to plan and design. We were especially challenged with one of the main goals of the Summit: TMEs community building and breaking silos. How could you think of the community building over the screen? We were pretty nervous to see how we might make it work. And we did! We learned that when designed with thought and understanding the constraints properly and finding the ways to work around those constraints rather than fighting with them and trying to mimic what we would normally do for the in-person event, guarantees the success.

“The most important [takeaway] was to understand that it is possible to do, and do successfully, get inspired and get very practical tools and tips on how to make those work. We were able to put all into practice and have success from the very start.” —Valeria Kanziuba

It’s always rewarding to see how this work impacts teams and helps them achieve amazing outcomes. We are excited to see who will come to our future Mastering Large Virtual Meetings Workshops and the awesome work they may bring these solutions to. Maybe we will see you at the next one!

The post Cisco Built a Successful Virtual Training for its Security Business & Established a Large Virtual Meeting Process appeared first on Voltage Control.

Lumos Pharma is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new therapies for people with rare diseases. Its focus is prioritized in areas where the pathophysiology is clear and medical need is highest. Lumos Pharma’s mission and strategy are to deliver safe and effective therapies to patients via time and cost-efficient drug development. 

In light of a recent merger, their human resources team wanted to explore a way to combine the two company cultures and build team unity across departments in the new virtual landscape.

“These sessions really helped us learn quite a bit about ourselves, our co-workers, and who we are as a team…we feel energized, excited, and impassioned about our work.” —Maggi Gentle, Senior Director of Human Resources at Lumos Pharma 

The Workshop

Lumos Pharma participated in a two-day teamwork dynamics workshop centered around the Clifton StrengthsFinder framework: an evaluation of 34 CliftonStrengths themes that reflect a person’s natural way of thinking, feeling, and behaving. The team completed the StrengthsFinder assessment to identify each team members’ core strengths and how they can be combined to form a healthy, productive company work dynamic. 

Identified goal: Focus on a way to help build our team unity in the virtual world we have found ourselves in. 

Day 1

We spent the first day diving deep into all aspects of the CliftonStrengths assessment results at an individual level and team level. 

The Process:

The team began with a team-building activity before diving into the work. Each team member added a picture of their favorite book in a “collective bookshelf” constructed in a MURAL template and we discussed our choices. 

Then, we observed a Macro View of the company’s Strengths dynamics—across teams and different organizations—among the four different CliftonStrengths domains: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking. 

Team members then created personal profiles, based on their individual results, in a collective Mural board. Each person included self-reflection stickies with helpful mindsets and things to be aware of moving forward. They placed the profiles into one of three sections that corresponded to their main CliftonStrengths theme: Execution, Influencing, Relationships, or Strategy. The Mural board serves as an evergreen, transparent resource to get to know other team members and their strengths and refer back to when needed.  

Day 2

We worked through individual and company-wide blindspots and eventually looked at all company 2020 goals through the lens of what strengths could be leveraged to best achieve those goals. 

The Process:

The workshop narrative was set up so that each person could first appreciate themselves, then others, and eventually the entire team. We identified and worked through individual and collective blindspots to ideate unique strengths recipes for company success. The team first talked about the blindspots of each person’s strengths to be more mindful of. This knowledge was then used to workshop strategic strengths combinations within teams to create effective and productive team dynamics. We were challenged to appreciate people and teams through the lens of their strengths rather than only focusing on a person’s work title.

Next, we broke into four teams to 1) Look at identified 2020 company goals 2) Ask important, high-level questions surrounding those goals. To better understand the information, we organized the questions by color-coding stickies in a Mural board in accordance with the domain they most gravitated towards. 

The Outcome:

The Lumos Pharma team gained valuable insight into their individual strengths and their co-workers’ strengths, and by extension, they better understand who they are as a team. They have been able to assess their team dynamic more thoroughly and accurately based on who possesses which strengths.

“Are we utilizing our employees to their strengths or forcing them to work in other areas?” That is something Maggi Gentle, Senior Director of Human Resources at Lumos Pharma, says she continues to discuss with management. “I believe that the workshop helped us learn more about one another. We engaged with team members we don’t normally engage with and the discussion around goals was very inclusive. I also feel that the work around strengths was very enlightening for our management team, specifically our CEO.”

Lumos Pharma’s next step is to continue to work on company goals and the development of its mission statement and values—now better informed by team members’ strengths. 

“We learned about the strengths of our co-workers and how we might be able to collaborate with others to complement our own strength make-up. Many leaders are able to identify the strengths of their team members and play to them well. It is a very powerful tool for us as individuals to identify our own strengths. It is very empowering and affirming to name our strengths and embrace them. It is my hope that the two afternoons spent getting to know our own strengths and those of our team help in some of our exciting upcoming projects.” 

Looking for an Expert Facilitator?

Voltage Control offers a range of options for innovation training, design sprints, and design thinking facilitation. Please reach out to us at info@voltagecontrol.co if you want to talk.

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Protests surrounding police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement have generated much conversation surrounding how to work towards social change. It can be overwhelming to find a first step towards tackling such a huge challenge. Voltage Control hosted a virtual workshop to discuss the facilitation of social change. The workshop was co-facilitated by Bill Aal, Elena Farden, Maui Francis, and Jyo Maan. Control the Room and Voltage Control founder Douglas Ferguson served as the community organizer and Tara Weghorst served as the event manager.

Introduction

Maui started off the workshop by encouraging participants to center their thoughts and conversation around the following intents and principles of measuring success by: 

• Honoring the past–acknowledging that this has been going on for a long time (it’s so important for us to know our history).
• A clear and compelling change mandate–a call for everyone to center themselves in and around the workshop.
• A rigorous and optimistic way forward–a very clear path based on the change mandate. Be ruthless but positive, not negative.

Elena welcomed participants into the virtual space with a Japanese proverb: “As tigers die and leave their skins, people die and leave their names.” Along with identity, she said, names can recount family stories and preserve events for generations to come.  In the recent tide of events surrounding George Floyd’s death, the calling out of his name has become a worldwide charge.

The remembrance or proclaiming of names is not only valued by this social change movement–it is valued by EVERYONE.

She then asked everyone to write down the name of a person–past or present–whom they respected and wished to invite into the space.

Spiral Journal

Jyo transitioned the room into a centering warm-up activity called Spiral Journal. Participants were instructed to draw a tight, continuous spiral as they focused their attention on the name that they had chosen during Elena’s introduction. She explained that this activity would calm the mind and focus attention on the present. Next, Jyo asked participants to divide their paper into five sections and silently and individually answer one of the five following prompts in each section:

1.       I almost didn’t show up here today because…

2.       It pains me that…

3.       It is hard because…

4.       Now that I have shared my grief, it may be possible to…

5.       I am longing for…

Conversation Café

Participants were randomly split into breakout rooms in groups of three to move through four rounds of conversation about the feelings and ideas surrounding social change that had been surfacing for them. Participants shared their experiences of discussing racism and social change with others from different backgrounds than themselves, whether that be due to age, location, race, or anything else. 

During the debrief, Bill asked the room, “What’s calling you now?” Participants spoke about the critical role of listening and how they could become better listeners. They also spoke about releasing self-imposed constraints such as fear and doubt in order to take action.

15% Solutions

After the Conversation Café, participants were again randomly sorted into breakout rooms, but this time in pairs. They were asked to come up with a 15% Solution to the challenge that they were facing–that is, what contribution they could make given the resources, authority, and control they currently held. Participants helped each other refine and enhance their 15% Solutions and exchanged contact information to follow-up with each other on the completion of their action steps. This provided participants an accountability partner who would ensure that they did not leave behind all the ideas discussed in the space after the workshop disbanded.

Chat Storm

Once the breakout rooms ended their sessions and all participants returned to the main room, Bill asked everyone to type their 15% Solutions into the chat. Participants then pressed enter at roughly the same time and were given time to read what others had written. Here are some of the next steps that participants committed to taking after the conclusion of the workshop:

•   “Got a lot of books to read and [will] join some discussion groups on deprogramming white supremacy.” 
•   “I am reading, writing to policymakers, have a dedicated space for this conversation in my workshop tomorrow.” 
•  “Talk to white people heart-to-heart about racial harmony.” 
•  “Hear the voice of people who are not of my ‘circle’ to open my mind.”
• “Re-focus on listening and start at a micro level–home family, neighbors, peers.” 
• “Be more intentional about creating opportunities, coaching, sponsorship for POCs on my team.” 

Participants were then moved into a second round of chat storm, where they shared what they needed in order to begin taking action. Here are some of the responses:

• “I need to make time–stop doing the extraneous.” 
• “Nothing. As facilitators, we can act right now and encourage people to share valuable opinions and guide appreciative conversations.” 
• “To move out of my comfort zone in conversations.” 
• “Uncomfortable conversations to hear different perspectives and better understand one another with a willingness to change.” 
• “Call old friends, ask Qs and listen… take a couple neighbors out for coffee… pray where to apply my leadership… only need a decision… put it on my calendar and make the calls.” 

Participants were moved into a third and final chat storm to discuss the question, “What do you have to offer?” Here are some of the responses:

• “Skills in organizing & facilitating. Empathy, passion.”
• “Processes (coaching and workshops) for people to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, become aware of their narratives, make new choices.” 
• “Authentic perspective on issues as a AA female.” 
• “Time.” 
• “Money and passion.” 
• “My studio to begin mapping the story of privilege.” 
• “A space to listen.”

Closing

Maui closed the meeting by reminding participants not to forget their relentless pursuit of change as media coverage of the protests died down. “The short time we were together today surely was not enough to finish, but hopefully enough to spark an innovative thought or outcome that you would like to continue to see through to fruition.” He closed with a quote from his uncle. 

In the words of Unko Bob (Marley) as he’s known in my family…

“Until the philosophy,

Which hold one race superior and another

Inferior,

Is finally,

And permanently,

Discredited,

And abandoned,

…me say war.”

Mahalo a nui

Participants thanked each other for their contributions and there was an open discussion about the importance of tolerance and open conversation. Elena asked everyone to hold a moment of silence in honor of who they’d been speaking of and who they’d been thinking of during the workshop.

Weekly Virtual Workshop

Join us for our free, weekly community workshops to collaborate, brainstorm, and network with others. Let’s continue to learn from and help one another. We’re all in this together!

Want to learn more about virtual facilitation? 

Voltage Control offers virtual services including Virtual Facilitation, Virtual Transitions, and Virtual Meeting Design. Please reach out at info@voltagecontrol.com for a consultation.

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Planning a virtual workshop? I’m sharing my top tips to help you run it successfully! Voltage Control has been hosting multiple virtual workshops a week using the virtual meeting platform Zoom. Among them are community meetups that discuss the future of facilitation and how to transition to a virtual environment. We also run master facilitation workshops to teach facilitators and business leaders the necessary skills to effectively run and manage remote work and virtual workshops. Zoom is our app of choice because it has all of the features facilitators need to run workshops effectively. The platform supports large groups, user reactions, gallery view, and even the capability for breakout rooms. That’s right–you can assign participants to virtual breakout rooms!

I started to use Zoom because it’s resilient, reliable, and people “understand it”. This made it a really fantastic solution given that previously conferencing software confused people and consistently failed. Zoom switched from rarely working well to rarely failing. It is easy to set-up and manage and it supports 100+ participants. The HD video and audio are super reliable, even in low-bandwidth environments. Essential features like chat and operational audio/video capabilities (like muting) are easy to find & use. 

Below I share helpful pointers for running effective meetings in Zoom, from how to prepare your virtual space to facilitating during the virtual workshop. Good luck!

Workshop prep

Before the activities begin, it’s crucial to set up your virtual space so you’re adequately prepared. First, make sure the app is installed and you are running the latest Zoom. Pro tip: install the Zoom plugin for Chrome. It adds a Zoom button to your Google Calendar which makes for easy scheduling. Check your mic and your video and consider your background and appearance. I Zoom in from my organized, homey office space for every virtual meeting and workshop. It’s important to consider the aesthetic of your environment and dress professionally, just like you would for an in-person workshop. You’re setting the stage. Then, once you have the logistics in order and environment set, do a test session with some friends to make sure it’s all running smoothly (you can even attend one of our free facilitation practices).

An important organizational feature to use is the breakout rooms. This is an assimilation of organizing people in separate spaces for discussion like you would normally do in person. You can assign people rooms in the app–there’s an option for random assignment–and automatically redirect them from the main screen and back again according to your schedule.

When creating your workshop agenda, be sure to schedule extra coordination and synchronization time as everything takes longer online. Things are slower because of varying outside factors that you don’t have with in-person workshops, like wavering internet connection and the need to explain the platform to participants. It’s also important to plan for a minder to help you stay organized during the workshop. This person or these people will handle muting participants at appropriate times to manage the environment, setting timers, and arranging breakout groups. Note: if you have helpers, make sure to create a room for them in Zoom so they have a place to be during the workshop.

Finally, set and communicate expectations to all participants ahead of time so they understand what you will ask of them and how the tools work. You want everyone to be on the same page and ready to engage as soon as the workshop begins. Otherwise, the group won’t get the most out of the experience. For example, we had some people join in a virtual workshop expecting just to listen when the workshop was interactive and required participation. The lack of understanding caused some confusion and stagnation, disrupting the flow.

Clearly inform participants of what’s expected of them for optimum participation and overall success. 

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During the workshop

One of the best ways I’ve found to stay organized during a virtual workshop is to join Zoom using two or more devices, one device per task. For example, have one device for drawing (i.e. iPad), another device for configuring breakout rooms, and another device for sharing your deck. There are also several ways to keep participants organized during the workshop. Use the Auto Mute feature to silence everyone in the main meeting room. This helps you to manage the environment when all participants are together and eliminate the distraction of new arriving members as you’re speaking to the group.

Think: everyone has their own individual background noises that can make it very difficult for the group to clearly hear you and your directions. 

Another helpful way to share instructions is via the chat feature. All participants have access to a shared chatbox, the perfect place to send guidelines for them to refer to throughout the workshop. Note: attendees can only see chats that are sent after they join the meeting and they won’t see the main room chats when they are in a breakout room. 

When using breakout rooms, give people time to connect. They will have less opportunity to connect than at an in-person event. Allowing extra time for interaction can have a big impact on collaboration and productivity when it comes time to work. Use Google Docs, Google Slides or MURAL for breakout rooms to work together. MURAL is one of our favorite tools to use at Voltage Control. It is a virtual whiteboard tool that supports complex group work and allows teams to virtually share and collaborate on digital stickies. We prefer it for our virtual workshops because it has the most features to support facilitators. Pro tip: play a thoughtful playlist while the group works so that they are all in the same flow. Under Share/Advanced you can share audio only. 

Remember, everyone is at home and at their desks. It’s important to get them up and moving from time to time. Give more breaks, even just quick brain breaks. For example, have everyone turn off your camera and stretch. These intermissions will help overall productivity. 

Suggestions for attendees

Take time to explain the tools to people when you start the session. Show them where to find the mute icon and the chatbox. Let them know you will be using the Auto Mute feature in the main meeting room and that they will only be able to see the chatbox from that space as well. Encourage people to use their cameras.

Creating visual connection is a huge component of a successful virtual workshop.

Video is the closest thing to being with people in person. It’s difficult to connect with others when you can’t see their face! If people are embarrassed or shy, maybe suggest that they use virtual backgrounds or a green screen. Zoom has a virtual background feature!

Now with that being said, it’s also helpful to advise people to turn off their self-view so that they cannot see themselves. I know it may sound counterintuitive because I just told you how important it is to use our cameras to foster connection, but we can become less connected with others when we are staring at ourselves. Think about it, you aren’t constantly looking into a mirror during in-person interactions with other people. You’re focused on them and what they have to say, not what your hair looks like or how you look drinking coffee. Eliminating the ability to see ourselves on our screens can save us energy and distraction. Don’t make your brain work harder than it has to. Instruct participants to click on the “three-dot” menu that appears over your face in Zoom and turn off the “self-view”. 

Gallery View is another awesome feature to make participants feel like they are actually in a room with everyone there. It allows you to see thumbnail displays of all participants in a grid pattern. You will be able to see up to 49 participants (50 if you turn off your self-view) and have an arrow to scroll through the remaining participants. Click “Gallery View” in the upper righthand corner of the Zoom window. Hello, everyone!

Have people rename themselves once they’re in the meeting to show useful indicators. For example:

• Group Name
• City
• Affinity
• Skill Level

To do so, click on the “Participants” icon at the bottom of the Zoom screen. Then hover your mouse over your name in the Participants list on the right side of the window. Click on “Rename”. 

As always, collect feedback on the session–both about the content of the workshop itself and peoples’ thoughts on the virtual meeting space. This will help you learn how to better facilitate remotely via Zoom and provide people with what they need to succeed.

Want to learn more about virtual facilitation? 

Voltage Control offers virtual services including Virtual Facilitation, Virtual Transitions, and Virtual Meeting Design. Please reach out at hello@voltagecontrol.com for a consultation.

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Virtual facilitation is more important now than ever. The Great Pause has called upon the need for remote leadership to help the world navigate the forced shift to virtual communication and collaboration. Because important work shouldn’t wait. Even in a global pandemic, we need virtual leaders. The time to have that big meeting, collaborate with team members, capitalize on innovative ideas, and transform your business is now. That may surprise you to hear. But the new virtual business landscape is ripe with opportunity for partnership and teamwork that wasn’t possible before. Now you can gather 20-100+ people from around the globe in a shared space, all at once, and without the cost of renting conference room space or buying plane tickets. And with greater diversity in collaboration, comes more creative ideation and problem-solving. We have the power to solve problems and create collectively at a higher level than ever before. It’s rather remarkable. 

So how do we lead this creative power and innovation in a virtual landscape? Successful virtual facilitation is not as easy as scheduling a Zoom call and using a standard in-person facilitation process. A new landscape calls for a new set of practices. There are specific techniques needed to successfully navigate and lead people in a virtual space. The good news is that we’ve spent countless hours exploring the craft of virtual collaboration, and we have curated a detailed Virtual Work Guide with our findings thus far. From methods to foster human connection remotely to the best interactive tools to support virtual meetings and workshops, this universal toolkit can be applied to any remote team. And we want to share it with you so you can do meaningful work now. 

What’s inside the Virtual Work Guide:

The Virtual Work Guide instructs you on how to set up and facilitate productive virtual meetings to make them just as purposeful and successful as in-person meetings, if not more so. One of the most noticeable differences in working virtually is that screen time replaces face-to-face interactions. The absence of human connection can have a grave impact on team communication and productivity if the proper processes are not in place. Normal meeting guidelines still apply–like scheduling with purpose, creating a sound agenda, and keeping everyone involved and engaged. Adapting to the new virtual dynamic additionally requires choosing the right tools, fostering connection among meeting participants by utilizing tool features, and incorporating intentional networking opportunities for attendees that would otherwise exist in-person. 

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Also included are detailed ways we have adapted our Design Sprint model for remote work. Typically, a Design Sprint is a week-long process for tackling a business problem. Over five days, the sprint takes a team through a design thinking-based process to uncover insights, prototype an idea, and test it with users. Remote Design Sprints must be significantly adjusted to fit into the virtual work environment. The guide outlines ways to tweak the sprint schedule and cadence, set the (virtual) stage, and pick the right tech to maintain the ability to collaborate, creatively solve problems, and design impactfully.

The last section of the guide is focused on the need for human connection in a virtual environment. In the absence of in-person interactions, there is an increased importance placed upon creating human connection, outside of required meetings. It’s super important to create as much human connection as possible in a virtual space.

We list various helpful tools and processes to navigate and make the most of the virtual landscape supporting: organization/productivity, communication, smart scheduling, creative collaboration, and personal and team breaks. 

Bonus: the guide includes a preview of the tool we’re working on in-house to help maximize virtual facilitation. 

Don’t wait. Do meaningful work now. Download the Voltage Control Virtual Work Guide to access all of the tools and processes you need to make virtual work possible and most effective.

Looking for a Virtual Meeting Facilitator? We Can Help. 

Voltage Control facilitates remote design thinking workshops, innovation sessions, and Design Sprints. Please reach out at info@voltagecontrol.com for a consultation.

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In this time of social distancing, how might we embrace the power of facilitation to unlock true human connection in virtual environments? We’ve been hosting weekly Virtual Workshops to explore this and similar questions. Over the past few weeks, participants raised many concerns, ranging from the ability to connect and drive meaningful outcomes online, understand how to adapt to these new environments, support those who have less means to connect online, and concerns over the loss of true intimacy we derive from in-person connections. This fear of permanently losing in-person connections struck me deeply. As I pondered this notion, I wondered if we will want or desire in-person experiences if we become extremely skilled at connecting digitally? The more I thought about it, the thing I kept asking myself was, “Will the virtual natives care?” 

I am hoping to use less text in my work because it fails to set the context. Audio/Video is better and I will continue to learn new tools to do a better job at communicating. Loom is a great example of that.  

After spending WAY too much time pondering all of this, I decided to connect with some of my favorite facilitators and ask them how they are feeling about all these changes and the importance of connection in their work. Here’s what they had to say.

Facilitator Feedback

We are collectively in a moment of change that is making it possible to experiment and learn together in a spirit of generosity that is quite profound. More than anything, I hope we can move into the future together with that sensibility in the facilitative work we do, whether we find ourselves doing that in virtual or in-person spaces.

Anna Jackson, Founder @ Alpinista Consultin

With a sudden ban on traditional offices, people are honoring their own unique way of working instead of being forced into subscribing to a uniform way in traditional offices. So I think a huge wave of people are going to question the need for traditional offices because they find that the environment kept them away from doing their best work. 

John Fitch, Chief Product Officer & Master Facilitator @ Voltage Control

In this virtual environment, it’s important to understand that your content is competing with your participants’ family, dog, and grocery deliveries. Practice brevity and focus. Provide multiple ways your participants can contribute to the discussion (chats, virtual whiteboards, and open discussions).

Vaishali Jadhav, Senior Facilitator @ Procore Technologies

We’ve had 40,000 years as modern humans, speaking and collaborating together in the “real world”…and we still often mess it up. I think we need to be patient with ourselves. It will take time for us to feel that this digital space we can meet in is “natural”.

Daniel Stillman, Founder @ The Conversation Factory

Facilitating online meetings has evolved the way I bring people together and design meetings. It’s my role to make a comfortable space to gather so people have a space to build connections from anywhere.

Hailey Temple, Services Lead @ MURAL

Connections are not dependent on face-to-face or Zoom or audio or tactile. Connections are based on the awareness of the other person. Therefore, there is no reason to resent or resist on-line facilitation or training, as long as we keep our consciousness focused outwardly on servant leadership, on being of service to others.

Terrence Metz, Managing Director @ MG RUSH Facilitation Training and Coaching. 

It’s going to be awkward for a while, but I think since we’re all in the same boat — we all feel this sense of newness to try to adapt our practices to this new ‘normal.’  On the bright side, there’s also a sense that we’re all in this together — we’re all experimenting and learning stuff that will change how we hold meetings and workshops when we come out the other side.

Deb Aoki, Sr. Experience Designer @ Adobe

Now is the time to lean-in and offer more services to current clients. That means not waiting for them to ask, but letting them know what I can do to help. 

Craig Carr, Founder @ The Ascendant Business Programs

I’m prototyping several improv games and warm-ups that I use in my in-person sprints and workshops. Explicit and implicit turn-taking is more challenging in a virtual space so I’m developing new methods and instructions.

Dana Mitroff Silvers, Principal + Founder @ Designing Insights LLC

The tools and techniques of online facilitation are pretty new to me, so I’m actively absorbing what I can. My current focus is working on the balance of synchronous and asynchronous work for online groups.

Tim Nations, Executive Director @ Leadership Network

I’m now particularly mindful of paying attention to everyone’s participation. Sometimes this requires slowing the group down to allow one participant to tend to a kiddo or connecting with them privately via chat to see if they are able to engage in the activity of the moment.

Pixie Renna, Master Facilitator @ Voltage Control

I am considering the physical spaces around our clients (i.e. their houses) and how to use them—scavenger hunts for common objects or asking participants to describe the scene outside their window. I am hopeful that the increased empathy as well as the varied settings, diverse attendees, and new locations will become a lasting impact.

Troy Thompson, Design Director @ EMPATIA.studio

My day-to-day business activities have stayed mostly the same. The real change for me has been family dynamics and creating new routines and structures to handle things like homeschooling, naps, meetings, fixing food and getting ready for the evening. 

Robert Skrobe, Founder @ Dallas Design Sprints

Previously we hosted educational, informational events and now we’re moving towards sessions that are designed for our members to speak freely and for others to listen. I’m also scheduling events like movie watch parties that are easy for people to drop in are not going to take a lot of effort or brain energy right now. 

Sarah Ortiz Shield, Executive Director @ Austin Tech Alliance

I’m hoping that as we collectively reemerge from this moment, it’s with a new clarity about the affordances and constraints of each space. Both virtual and F2F can support deep conversation and connection. And each space has tremendous potential if we’re deliberate about designing them. 

Erik Skogsberg, Associate Director @ MSU Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology

I have had to adapt every single meeting, both internally and client-facing. I’ve created virtual meeting spreadsheets and whimsical digital boards. I’ve even scheduled virtual hang time with my teams. This experience will make me a better project manager. I have had to dial up my empathy and get extremely clear on communication. 

Samantha Schak, Sr. Project Manager @ Handsome

Physical separation has increased our need for emotional connection. We are creating a new culture where the fear of sharing our vulnerabilities is being replaced with the emotional rewards of genuine relationships.

Bruce A. Hayes, Change Catalyst

I am setting up my work as usual designing for online engagement. The softened point is letting go of expectations mostly around time and people getting back to me, but still believing in high possibility. I recently allowed myself extra time to embellish a client video and enjoyed the connection it created for me and my client. 

Nora Scully, Engagement Designer @ Scully Spark

Many studies show that up to 80% of the workforce is not engaged. Any company who can engage their people at a higher rate will have a strategic advantage. This is an opportunity for us to learn how to help companies do just that.

Will Simpson, Executive Consultant @ Ten Eleven Twelve

Shelter in place has reminded me that the world is a small place and I can reach many more people and communities with digital facilitation. Instead of thinking Silicon Valley > California > USA, now I think across time zones and how many I can accommodate.

Rachel Ben Hamou, Culture Focused Facilitator @ PeopleStorming

All of these quotes spoke to me, yet I chose to end with Rachel’s because I found it so touching that these times of isolation have created an opportunity to see beyond boundaries that previously existed. 

A big thank you to my friends for sharing their thoughts and wisdom. In all of this uncertainty and devastation, it is lovely to see them all working together and sharing insights as we carve out the identities we will all persist going forward. This conversation interests me greatly and touches me deeply. If you would like to talk further about this, send me an email or join me at one of our free weekly virtual workshops where we are bringing together the facilitation community to explore and answer these types of questions. 

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We’re here for all teams struggling to make quick group decisions when working remotely. It can be daunting and tricky to make a smooth transition to virtual meetings, even if you’re virtual savvy. That’s why we hosted a community Virtual Decision Making Workshop last week as part of our free weekly virtual workshop series. We wanted to give the community an opportunity to come together to learn and practice virtual decision-making methods and tools. A recap of the event is below. 

Topic: Discussing virtual decision making 

Voltage Control President Douglas Ferguson was the workshop leader and Chief Product Officer John Fitch and Event Manager Tara Weghorst were the minders. The group of 75 participants from around the world gathered in Zoom to discuss virtual decision making.  

Breakout Session #1

Groups of two participants were randomly matched four rounds of impromptu networking where they discussed the following prompts:

1. What is difficult about virtual decision making?
2. What is easy about virtual decisions?
3. What are you hoping to learn?

Here are a few of the synthesized ideas that were discussed about each prompt:

1. What people found difficult about virtual decisions

• Technology glitches and extra time needed to give people instructions and troubleshoot issues
• Lack of connection that in-person meetings offer – keeping people engaged
• Less sensitivity to the vibe/energy in the room 

2. What people found easy about virtual decisions

• Connectivity, the ability to bring people together that wouldn’t otherwise be together across the world
• Ability to make quicker decisions due to less emotional influence in the room allows people to stick to intellectual thought processing

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3. What people were hoping to learn:

• How to transfer to virtual
• Which virtual tools to use
• Virtual meeting best practices

Chat Storm

After the rounds of impromptu networking, all participants were rerouted back to the main event space for a two-minute collective discussion about their experiences. Participants who wanted to share used Zoom’s “raise hand” feature to volunteer to share what surfaced for them with the entire group. Several participants shared their input. 

Decision Tree using MURAL 

Attendees were split into 20 different breakout groups of 3-4 participants to work on a Decision Tree in MURAL. Each group had an assigned section in the app for their group number which served as their workspace. All participants were anonymous in MURAL. They had three minutes of solo worktime to quietly consider bold ways to more easily and more quickly make decisions virtually. Then each person picked their three favorite ideas to share amongst the group. The group had three minutes to vote on the most compelling idea, something that they want to tangibly start now. This was followed by four more rapid rounds of voting to land the group on the single most compelling idea from everyone. Each group picked a delegate to share their idea in a ten minute debrief session with all other workshop participants. 

As delegates from each group shared their winning idea, Tara posted the group’s number and idea in the Zoom chat for everyone to see. Once all ideas were shared, everyone voted on the winning idea by typing the number of the idea they liked best in the chat and hitting enter at the same time. Here are the top three ideas:

1. To create physical templates for agreement/disagreement, other dimensions of a decision so we can quickly see various aspects of a decision that needs to be made
2. More refined focus – incorporating a meeting structure that includes a detailed agenda with a decision that needs to be made, how it will be made and logistics and clearly defined roles

3. Pre-work – done on the platform you are using so everyone is ready to make a decision during the meeting

Troika Consultant

Participants were randomly assigned breakout rooms of three participants each for a Troika Consultant exercise. One person volunteered to be the Client and shared their personal challenges with the transition to virtual and virtual decision making for one minute. The other two participants acted as the Consultants. They asked the Client clarifying questions about their problem for two minutes. The Client then turned off their camera and muted themselves while listening to the Consultants discuss solutions and options for two minutes. The Client turned back on their camera and audio and shared what they thought was valuable about the Consultants’ ideas and feedback. This process was repeated two more times, rotating the participants so that each person acted as the Client. 

Final Chat Storm

Everyone was rerouted back to the main event and discussed their findings and feedback in a three-minute chat storm. After the discussion, Douglas asked everyone to submit helpful and inspiring takeaways from the workshop in the group chat. Some are shared below:

 “Solitude is an opportunity to connect deeper and find a voice of sensitivity and wholeness.” -Nora Scully (Oakland, CA)

“Enable ownership & set the stage for the team to keep them motivated.” -Lisa Wagner (Berlin)

“Ideas that were combining perspectives that seemed conflicting – was a valuable piece!” -Vera, Budean (Moldova)

“Forming/initiating my own virtual meetings/happy hours for networking & connections.” -Mark Peterson (Austin)

Weekly Virtual Workshop

Join us for our free, weekly community workshops to collaborate, brainstorm, and network with others. Let’s continue to learn from and help one another. We’re all in this together!

Want to learn more about virtual facilitation? 

Voltage Control offers virtual services including Virtual Facilitation, Virtual Transitions, and Virtual Meeting Design. Please reach out at info@voltagecontrol.com for a consultation.

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