Ten Tips for Bringing your Ideation, Action Planning or Training Workshop Online

– Part 1 of 2

Ideation and Planning Workshops aren't happening online - because they aren't Interactive Enough

Maybe it’s the facilitator in me talking (at home to my toaster), but as we are adjusting to that ‘new normal’ of Skype conference calls, and Zoom meetings, and getting work done even without an hour commute each way (funny, that!), there’s still something missing: what happened to those strategy and ‘brainstorming’ workshops, or training sessions, where we would get 20-30 people in a room, sit in work tables, have breakout rooms with flipcharts, and put together a number of ideas and truly accomplish something as a group? Yes, there are many videoconferencing meetings with 20-30 or more participants, but how interactive are they, really? C’mon: I can bet you that almost everyone is on mute, checking e-mail, watching Youtube on their other screen, etc. That’s right, they’re not interactive, and so we lose interest and check-out. Nothing I’ve seen online thus far has succeeded in recapturing that level of interaction that we have in the live workshop. And that’s why we don’t see many of these types of sessions online. 

It CAN be done!

What if I told you that we can get the same level of interaction and enjoyment like we used to get from those large interactive training workshops, even online? Yes, it CAN be done! But we have to approach these sessions quite differently. So, how can we conduct a successful, interactive, training, ideation, or planning workshop, online? In this two-part blog, I’ll show you ten (10) strategies to making your online session interactive, productive, and fun.

Here are the first five (5) strategies. Read tomorrow’s post for the remaining five.

1.     Plan, practice, and practice some more

Any good facilitator will tell you that the key to a successful session is in the planning. In an online session, this is 10 TIMES more important. As with any session, live or online, we need to have a well-thought out agenda.  But when preparing your online session we also have to practice the mechanics, which means practicing and simulating how people will use (and fumble with) the videoconferencing platform and any software you plan to use. I personally like to develop a step-by-step script in my facilitator notes as to force myself to think about the little things that tend to trip us up online, for example, when to open break-outs, when to close them, when to cue up a file, or share a screen, etc.

2.     Send out video tutorials and handouts in advance

Whereas in a live session you would normally have handouts and printed materials for distribution during your session, I highly recommend you send these to your participants in advance. My approach is to develop the entire session using Powerpoint as your guidebook, then send that to participants as a workbook. It’s also a good idea to send out a video tutorial for your video conferencing platform, so that anyone who may not be familiar with it can prepare in advance. Even if many people have used something like Zoom or Skype before (most of us have by now), they may not be familiar with some features you will need them to use, such as screen sharing, chat, file sharing, or breakout rooms. 

3.     KISS principle

Online collaboration of this sort is not new. There are many collaboration platforms out there, but the large majority of them have been designed for teams that work together on an ongoing fashion, in which case all your team members can set up and invest time in learning a new platform. The same is not true if you’re doing a training or planning session with a different group each time and/or if you’re doing a one-off. So, even though there may be great collaboration platforms out there, you need to use something all of your participants are comfortable with, or at least somewhat familiar with. I have designed my workshops simply using Zoom and Powerpoint. Yes, there are better collaboration platforms out there (e.g. MS Teams, Miro, etc.), but either they require a lot of set up (Teams) or few people are familiar with them.

4.     Don’t forget the fun part (Part 1) – Online Icebreakers

Oh, the dreaded icebreaker. Icebreaker exercises play an important role in a live session. They get people to relax and release their inhibitions and prepare them for the tasks to follow . In my experience, there are two types of icebreakers: the ones that allow people to have fun and relax and create a non-threatening atmosphere; and the ones that do the opposite by imposing a sharing of personal information that many are just not comfortable with (especially at the beginning of the session).

My favourite online icebreaker is: “Draw a Team Logo” on the interactive whiteboards. These whiteboards are available in most video conferencing and collaboration platforms. Anyone who has tried to draw on one of these using their mouse or computer knows how hard it is (see above lol): which is the point.  It allows people to laugh at everyone’s difficulty at using the technology. It’s fun, it provides the opportunity for people to collaborate on the same drawing, and it also familiarizes participants with key features of the platform that you will use later.

If you do like the “let’s get more personal” type of icebreaker, one that works very well (and puts many people at ease) is “Introduce your pet/child/anything in your home to the group”. It is a good way to put people at ease with the inevitable distractions and interruptions which come from working at home.

5.     Familiarize your audience with your videoconferencing/collaboration platform

Many people may be familiar with Zoom or Skype in general, but allow for time in the agenda to walk them through the key features, especially the interactive features, that you expect them to use. Point out how to raise hands, use the chat box, the polling feature, the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ icons, and other features, and encourage their use. The more your audience uses these, the more they will remain engaged. 

Check out tomorrow's blog for tips 6-10. À demain!

Norm Baillie-David is a recognized expert with 30+ years' experience in employee engagement, psychological health and safety in the workplace, and opinion research. He is a well-known, bilingual (English/French) facilitator of highly interactive ideation, action planning and leadership workshops. He is currently a partner at Entegritē Consulting.