Designing virtual workshops: lens' top tips
COVID-19 has changed the way in which many of us work:
Zoom has seen an increase to more than 200 million daily users in March (from 10 million 3 months before) and…
…(On 9th April) Microsoft reported a new daily record of 2.7 billion meeting minutes (on Microsoft Teams) - up 200% from the 900 million minutes it recorded on March 16th
And studies predict that virtual meetings are not only on the rise but are here to stay – very much a part of our ‘new normal.’
Hosting a virtual ‘meeting’ is one thing…but running a virtual ‘workshop’ is another – and it can be an unfamiliar and daunting prospect…!
…But they don’t have to be! Our recent experiences have taught us that the ‘what’ makes a successful face-to-face workshop still applies in a virtual world, though the ‘how’ we, as facilitators, make things happen may look a little different.
We thought we would share some tips that you might find helpful to ensure successful design and running of virtual workshops; these are summarised in four steps - these might seem simple but they can be really key to success!
1. SCOPE out the session
Central to the success of any workshop is a carefully crafted design:
Start with your objectives, desired output(s) & a list of attendees - being mindful of the number of participants, their respective organisations, and where they’re located, i.e. are they all in the same time zone?
List the steps needed to deliver against your objectives –
E.g. in a recent (virtual) customer journey optimisation workshop we facilitated, this included: pre-work > warm-up/ ice breaker > root cause analysis (of customer pain points) > ideation (customer-led solutions to address pain points) > reflection > prioritisation (of solutions)
Allocate rough timings to each step - taking the number of participants into account and allowing a bit of extra time (to account for any accessibility issues etc)
KEY TIP: Assign roles and responsibilities within your project team – in a virtual setting, it is critical that at least one person is responsible for the ‘tech’ side of things (and this should ideally be a different person to the lead facilitator)
With the above in mind, create a draft workshop agenda/ plan (as you ordinarily would).
2. IDENTIFY the right platforms and tools
Use your draft plan to identify the right platforms and tools to bring your workshop ‘to life’ and make it happen. In a virtual context, you specifically need to consider:
a) Communication platforms – e.g. Microsoft Teams vs Zoom vs Skype vs Google Hangouts, etc
Current usage: Is there a preferred platform across the business? Are all your participants from the same organisation – if not, is there anything specific you need to consider for external participants?
Format: Do you want/ need to use video (or not)?
Access: What kinds of materials/ documents will your participants need to access throughout the session…and how are you going to provide those?
Breakout sessions: Will you be working as a whole group…or do you need to ‘breakout’ into sub-groups during the workshop? If so, how many groups?
If you do need to breakout, it is worth looking at how this works across the different platforms – e.g. Zoom allows you to breakout into up to 50 separate sessions (depending on the number of participants); in Teams, you need to set-up a main meeting and then different links/ channels for each of the breakout groups
b) Collaboration tools – the success of your workshop will be dependent on your stakeholders working together as a team. There are several ways you can create a collaborative environment in a virtual setting, for example:
Sharing your screen within your communication platform – allowing people to see and comment on the same document simultaneously (either verbally or via the chat function) …
…Uploading files to a shared space (e.g. ‘Files’ area within Teams/ Google Drive) …
…Sharing files live on your video call (via Zoom or Google Hangouts, for example) …
…Or using digital workspaces such as MURAL or Miro, which act as ‘virtual whiteboards,’ with the ability for teams to add sticky notes, comments, icons, images etc - emulating the techniques used in a face-to-face session (as far as possible)
KEY TIP: Do some research / practice runs to check that these tools will work through the communication platform you have chosen – for example, sharing screens whilst using certain tools may cause the communication platform to break down / lose connection, for example
3. DESIGN interactive and engaging tasks
In any workshop, keeping the momentum going (and mitigating ‘participant fatigue’) is a challenge – and, with participants working virtually and remotely, this is even more the case. Here are some examples of how you can ensure that your virtual session is both interactive and engaging, using the features of your chosen platforms to help:
Breakdown your plan into ‘bitesize’ chunks – ‘power hours’ with breaks in between the different steps/ AM and PM sessions, allowing participants to take a break
For each step, design an interactive task – keeping things simple and visual helps to stimulate interest and engagement, with adaptable templates on MURAL and Miro particularly useful here
Time box each task/ activity – e.g. MURAL’s ‘facilitation superpowers’ include a stopwatch tool, which can help the facilitator keep time
Encourage input from all the team – e.g. via the chat function on your communication platform/ asking participants to comment on documents individually
Ask participants to vote on critical issues – e.g. with the new ‘raise your hand’ feature in Teams / polling feature on Zoom/ by starting a voting session on MURAL
4. PREPARE & PRACTICE…and then practice some more!
Finally, it is critical to prepare and practice – as both facilitators and participants:
Facilitators should:
Create one document with all the links needed to access the main workshop meeting, breakout rooms, and individual tasks – and make sure participants have this information (and can gain access) in advance
Prepare all your tasks before the workshop – files or ‘virtual whiteboards,’ complete with instructions, examples, and sticky notes, etc
Create breakout channels/ links for sub-groups – and assign participants to these before the session
Practice accessing the meeting/ team and tasks – as both a facilitator and participant – checking that all the links work etc
Practice moving between the main meeting and breakout sessions (if relevant)
Prepare a back-up plan – e.g. if using MURAL/ Miro and this doesn’t work, have alternative documents (e.g. PowerPoint versions) ready just in case
Provide a clear briefing at the start of the workshop itself
Participants should:
Check that they can access the meeting in advance (and there are no IT issues preventing access)
Complete any pre-work, making sure that everyone comes to the session ‘on the same page’
Practice moving between the main meeting and breakout sessions (when instructed in the briefing)
Are you thinking about planning a virtual workshop? If you’d like to chat through your ideas or ask any questions, we’d be more than happy to help – please just get in touch…