Course Outcomes
This virtual facilitation skills training course for virtual and hybrid meeting facilitators will:
- Share best practices for engaging participants when all or some are not in the room.
- Offer ideas for increasing the quality and quantity of contributions.
- Suggest solutions for addressing challenges related to people and technology.
Course Overview
Even the most skilled facilitators can have their talents tested when a meeting goes online or shifts to a hybrid format. This multisession course comprising three two-hour segments focuses on best practices for engaging all participants regardless of their location. Session one covers best practices for setting expectations and managing mechanics when facilitating virtual and hybrid discussions. In segment two, we will explore ideas for gathering input anonymously, encouraging contributions, and using breakout rooms and other online engagement tools. The final session offers best practices for balancing discussions and handling challenges.
Segment One Objectives
- Articulate challenges specific to virtual and hybrid meeting facilitation.
- Explain the importance of anchors, echoes, and loops.
- Identify the purpose of the meeting and the best way to achieve the objectives.
- Craft a framing statement and an expectations statement.
- Create a robust agenda that can serve as a roadmap and record of the meeting.
- Follow technology best practices.
Segment One Modules
- Not All Together: The Challenges of Not Being Together
- Three Keys: Anchors, Echoes, and Loops
- The Frame Game: Structures to Get What You Want
- Map Matters: Robust Agendas
- Top Tech Tips: Mechanics Made Easier
- Here and There: Room Balancing Skills
Segment Two Objectives
- Explain actions facilitators can take to increase participant collaboration.
- Establish a common vocabulary and arm people with tools to avoid rabbit holes and other traps.
- Use a range of tools to explore the current state.
- Practice multiple tools to take different perspectives and surface new ideas.
Segment Two Modules
- Brain Balance: Three Parts to Manage
- A Common Vocabulary: How to Establish a Language for Participants
- The Present State: Great Questions to Ask
- Solve This: Tools for Digging Deeper
Segment Three Objectives
- Ask meaningful questions.
- Pay attention to what’s said and what isn’t.
- Describe how style preferences can influence a participant’s behavior.
- Discuss methods for managing different communication styles when facilitating virtual and hybrid discussions.
- Employ tools for navigating conflicts.
- Navigate multiple challenges.
Segment Three Modules
- Pointed Prompts: Great Questions
- High and Low: What’s Said and What’s Not
- Style Matters: Skills for Adapting to Different Preferences
- To the Top: When Conflict Surfaces
By the conclusion of this course, participants should have command of a variety of tools to better facilitate virtual and hybrid discussions.
