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Online
Of course, we are social creatures and we often nourish ourselves through physical proximity with each other. So the question that arose for me was how we could connect as whole people in a virtual environment.
As part of my work as a facilitation skill trainer, my team and I have explored the phenomenon of ‘whole person’ facilitation for many years. Since COVID-19, we thought the best contribution we could make is to teach others how to facilitate online meetings in a whole person way so that our human being is nurtured online, and we can create more effective, sustainable ways of working remotely and virtually.
The conclusion was that it is not about how long the meeting is or how many meetings you have. It is all about how they are done.
Below is a summary of five principles that we explored that helped us to manage a sustainable human connection online:
- Make sure you have a break, without screen time
- Go outside and adjust your eyes to nature
- Go for a walk
- Exercise
- Breathe deeply and close your eyes
The Joy of Work by Bruce Daisley and The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha are some great books to read more about the research of increased productivity through regular breaks and increased mindfulness.
Always start the meeting with a check-in
A check-in process allows everyone to speak. The purpose of check-in is to get present. So you might use a question that is related to the context of the meeting. For example, for a remote team that meets weekly you might say ‘Tell us one highlight and one challenge of working at home’. For a group of managers or business partners who meet for a daily short catch-up, a good opener could be to ask them what they need to say or do to be present.
Put people before task
Look around the screen and see where everyone’s energy is at. You might need to shift levels before you go to the next task so that the people can engage. Maybe an energiser could work?
Shift levels
If you plan longer meetings, make sure that you include exercises that shift people into a variety of levels. Shifting levels enables us to stay present and energised and not to get stuck. The Aspects of the Whole Personhood model, which was adapted from John Heron, shows some examples of the different levels that we could help the group to shift into.
Consider different learning styles. Make sure you use visual, audible and kinaesthetic ways of conducting the workshop to keep the whole person engaged.
The hard thing in an online environment is that we can’t read emotions as well, as we don’t have the nonverbal clues. Stating purpose for each meeting, as well as for each exercise, is an important part to enable participation and engagement.
- Presentations, e.g., webinars
- Q&A sessions
- Self-reflection
- Creative representations
- Small group work, e.g., using breakout rooms in Zoom to collect ideas or discuss an issue
- Ice breakers
- Conflict resolution processes
- Deep Democracy processes
- Open Space Technology
In simple terms, it refers to HOW you do something. The HOW follows the WHO and the WHY, which is why this is after presence, people and purpose.
Benefits of using online platforms:
- Videos, chat and online brainstorming can be saved and shared
- Advanced platforms like Mural enable the use of brainstorming templates
- People can edit each other’s ideas
- People can work on idea canvases asynchronously, which means at different times, which is very useful for international teams who work in different time zones.
- Slack
- Zoom
- Adobe Connect
- Skype for Business
- Microsoft Teams
- Google Drive
- Jam Board
- Miro
- Mural
- Redeye
- Wrike
- Social Pinpoint
- Try it out in silence
- People write, read silently, and move post-it notes around. People can just focus on one task and don’t have to focus on the voice and face of a person as well.
- Keep it simple
- If you can translate what you do in a physical meeting into an online environment without using the platform, then do that. For example, use a flipchart, or electronic whiteboard, and get people to use their hands, notepads, or real post-it notes and show them on screen.
- Get off the screen whenever possible. For example, go for a walk and talk in pairs or a small group via phone or rather than online.
- Mix it up and bring kinesthetic elements into it. Hold up a picture rather than looking for one online, etc. When the world stopped business as usual and after about a three-week adaptation period, we started to recognise some of the positive impacts that our staying at home had on the planet
I see a future where our reach of connecting with people will become larger, more diverse and connected on a global scale. Global business opportunities will become more relevant, possible and available once we learn ‘whole person’ co-operation and to overcome the technical difficulties inherent in virtual communications.
Simone teaches facilitation and collective decision making skills, facilitates organisational and group transformations, and coaches facilitators. http://www.collectiveinsight.co.
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