"Offsite meeting."
For most business people, these words evoke the sensation of dozing off in a stuffy conference room far from home.
Last week, I attended a really good offsite. My leader brought our 70-member department together for 2 1/2 days, and it was energizing, thought-provoking, and fun. On the way home, I pondered how she pulled off this feat.
1. Location, location, location.
The worst place for an offsite: A conference room in your own building. Sure, it’s easy and inexpensive, but it’s also not off-site. Familiar surroundings promote everyday thinking. Offsites are designed to elevate the level of thinking, to accomplish things that are important and distinct from the day-to-day work.
Last week's offsite was held at Friendship Park in Cincinnati; we were in a beautiful, well-ventilated building with a glass wall that provided a view of the park. The occasional distractions of joggers and Segway tours were offset by the pretty scenery and the sense that we were in a space without boundaries.
The perfect location might be right under your nose. At a prior job, my manager held an offsite at her house. It was a lovely home, and it gave us a chance to connect with her and each other on a more personal level.
2. Don’t do anything for longer than an hour.
With the exception of Hollywood blockbusters, there aren’t many things people will enjoy sitting and watching for more than one hour. If you have four hours worth of content to share, chunk it up. Have one speaker present for an hour, then give the group a break, then do an interactive and fun activity before bringing out the next speaker.
3. Be present, literally and mentally.
The Blackberry stays on the table.
My department is made up of busy people, and each of us had left our cell phone number on our voicemail message in case of a work emergency. The ground rules were laid out early: If your phone rings, you may step outside and take the call, but everything else can wait.
It makes a noticeable difference when you’re in a room full of people who are not multi-tasking. When the devices are set down, the emails are ignored, and we’re all focused on the conversation happening in the room right now, the time together is more productive and powerful.
4. Food matters.
I’m not a nutritionist, and I’m still waiting for a scientific study that shows the effects of conference food on attendees’ learning and participation. But here’s my hypothesis:
Two or three hours after eating, blood sugar drops and a person’s energy level plummets. The cliff is steeper if that last meal was heavy on the simple carbs. If you stuff people full of doughy sandwiches and cookies at noon, then take away all food until dinner, prepare for a pretty exhausted audience by about 3 p.m.
My ideal offsite would have a continuous supply of snacks, including protein-rich snacks like cheese, nuts, and yogurt. We had a 2 p.m. delivery of energy bars and trail mix. The only thing that might have been better: Bacon.
5. Structure the social.
One side benefit of an offsite is that teams who don’t regularly work together have a chance to build rapport. To maximize this, plan a group dinner or activities during the offsite that encourage socializing. Mix up the seating and group assignments to shake up comfortable cliques and make new connections easier to forge.
At my recent offsite, we had plenty of chances to connect: A scavenger hunt and small group brainstorming sessions with randomly assigned teams, and a group dinner where everybody had freedom to mingle.
6. Let things sink in.
On the third day of our offsite, after a morning full of presentations and lively discussion, everyone was exhausted. When we wrapped up, my coworkers and I headed to the airport – where we all agreed it was OK to not talk to one another for awhile.
Introverts need time alone to recharge. Everyone benefits from some quiet space to process the new ideas that have been stirred up, to pick up loose threads of thought and follow them to interesting places.
The best way to conclude an offsite is with a little quiet space. End early. Send people home for the afternoon, or encourage them to take some hours off on the following day. Jumping right back into workday stress (compounded by a few days out of the office, yikes) is a sure way to wipe out the fresh ideas that you invested so much time and effort in cultivating.
What do you think of offsite meetings? What are some of the best and worst things that you’ve experienced?
Showing posts with label facilitation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facilitation. Show all posts
Monday, October 29, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
8 Ways to Rock a Conference Call
I spend a lot of time on the phone. Talking to people is a big part of my job, and most of the people I need to talk to aren't in the same building or even the same city. I've been on awesome conference calls, I've been on unfortunate conference calls, and I've facilitated my share of both.
I've compiled these tips based on some of the best calls I've observed, the ones where I hang up the phone and think "Wow, we got a lot done!" or "I can't wait to get working on this project!"
Here are 5 tips for facilitators, and 3 for attendees. I'd also love to hear your tips.
1. Send a detailed meeting invitation. In the meeting description, let your invitees know what the meeting is about, why you invited them, and what action you expect from them both before and during the meeting. Include your conference call number, link to the Sametime meeting (if applicable), and attachments or links to any documents you'd like your participants to review. If you need to add details later, open the invite on your calendar and save the updates directly into the meeting invitation. Nobody enjoys starting a meeting by scrambling through a cluttered Inbox trying to find all the details.
2. Get to know your conference line. I recently learned that, on my company's conferencing system, you can press *5 to mute all lines except your own. This is perfect if you're experiencing background noise, or if one of your attendees is eating a crunchy sandwich or puts you on hold. Just be sure to tell your participants to press *6 to un-mute if they'd like to ask a question or make a comment.
Our system has a default setting in which a robotic voice instructs callers: "Please state your name, then press the pound key." One day, I called into my own conference line and didn't press 1 to begin my meeting. I stayed on the phone with the friendly robot to listen to what other options she had for me. It turned out, this feature could be turned off. I like to think that anyone who dials into one of my conference calls is getting precious seconds of his or her life back.
3. Boost interactivity with online meetings. I recently attended a meeting where the presenter used the Sametime Whiteboard to brainstorm ideas with 30 people. It was great: Everyone got a chance to be heard, nobody talked over one another, and lots of great ideas were captured. Other fun tools include screen sharing, live polls, and group chat. Group chat and hand-raising are handy ways for large audiences to ask questions without interrupting the speaker.
4. Mind the time. If your meeting's agenda is packed with multiple topics or speakers, allocate a time for each, and clearly communicate it to all presenters well in advance. Build in some buffer time and schedule Q&A at the end of your call, so that none of your speakers feel rushed.
Do you or your presenters tend to ramble? (I do!) Have a designated timekeeper on your call watch the clock and send speakers an instant message with 5-minute and 2-minute warnings when it's time to wrap up. If there's just NO way you can fairly cover a topic in 15 minutes, give it the time it deserves and set up a dedicated call.
Ending on time is a basic courtesy, but to rock your call, end 5 minutes early, The best gift that you can give to a coworker who's been on back-to-back conference calls all day is a sweet little 5-minute respite to stretch, get something to drink, or use the restroom before the next meeting.
5. Don't read your slides. Think of your PowerPoint deck as a complement to your presentation, not as the presentation itself. If you're using your slides to anchor key points of your presentation, be brief (7-10 words per key point, up to 3 key points per slide). If you're including the slides as reference material, you can be more verbose, but resist the urge to read the slides aloud to your audience. Your spoken commentary should include examples, stories, and context for the points in your presentation.
6. Do your pre-work. Set aside some time at the beginning of the week and at the beginning of each day to look through your upcoming meetings. Is there any pre-work or reading required? Do you have a good understanding of what's expected of you and what each meeting will be about?
7. Know the difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak. I'm one of those extraverted people who's very excited to share my own ideas, so I've had to make a conscious effort to listen more closely. I take copious notes. Taking notes on others' comments helps me listen and absorb their ideas more effectively. Jotting down my own ideas helps me remember them and clear them out of my mind so I can give others my full attention.
8. Resist the multi-tasking urge. I can't tell you to stop multi-tasking altogether, but know that you can't rock a conference call unless you're truly present. Switch your instant message status so it automatically shows that you're in a meeting. If that doesn't work, change to "Do Not Disturb" or sign out altogether. I have found that signing out of email, while scary at first, is a good way to minimize distraction.
If I'm feeling incredibly restless, sometimes I'll pick up a physical task such as cleaning. My hands are occupied, but my ears and brain are on the conference call. I've been known to remove and clean under every key on my keyboard, just so I could keep my attention focused on a really important call (and because, frankly, it was kind of gross under there).
You're not going to rock every call. There will always be calls that are just plain old status updates, short and utilitarian run-downs of straightforward facts. But when it really counts, when you're making decisions or charting new courses or looking to WOW an audience, try some of these tricks and perhaps your call will be the one everyone remembers.
I've compiled these tips based on some of the best calls I've observed, the ones where I hang up the phone and think "Wow, we got a lot done!" or "I can't wait to get working on this project!"
Here are 5 tips for facilitators, and 3 for attendees. I'd also love to hear your tips.
If you're leading the call...
1. Send a detailed meeting invitation. In the meeting description, let your invitees know what the meeting is about, why you invited them, and what action you expect from them both before and during the meeting. Include your conference call number, link to the Sametime meeting (if applicable), and attachments or links to any documents you'd like your participants to review. If you need to add details later, open the invite on your calendar and save the updates directly into the meeting invitation. Nobody enjoys starting a meeting by scrambling through a cluttered Inbox trying to find all the details.
2. Get to know your conference line. I recently learned that, on my company's conferencing system, you can press *5 to mute all lines except your own. This is perfect if you're experiencing background noise, or if one of your attendees is eating a crunchy sandwich or puts you on hold. Just be sure to tell your participants to press *6 to un-mute if they'd like to ask a question or make a comment.
Our system has a default setting in which a robotic voice instructs callers: "Please state your name, then press the pound key." One day, I called into my own conference line and didn't press 1 to begin my meeting. I stayed on the phone with the friendly robot to listen to what other options she had for me. It turned out, this feature could be turned off. I like to think that anyone who dials into one of my conference calls is getting precious seconds of his or her life back.
3. Boost interactivity with online meetings. I recently attended a meeting where the presenter used the Sametime Whiteboard to brainstorm ideas with 30 people. It was great: Everyone got a chance to be heard, nobody talked over one another, and lots of great ideas were captured. Other fun tools include screen sharing, live polls, and group chat. Group chat and hand-raising are handy ways for large audiences to ask questions without interrupting the speaker.
4. Mind the time. If your meeting's agenda is packed with multiple topics or speakers, allocate a time for each, and clearly communicate it to all presenters well in advance. Build in some buffer time and schedule Q&A at the end of your call, so that none of your speakers feel rushed.
Do you or your presenters tend to ramble? (I do!) Have a designated timekeeper on your call watch the clock and send speakers an instant message with 5-minute and 2-minute warnings when it's time to wrap up. If there's just NO way you can fairly cover a topic in 15 minutes, give it the time it deserves and set up a dedicated call.
Ending on time is a basic courtesy, but to rock your call, end 5 minutes early, The best gift that you can give to a coworker who's been on back-to-back conference calls all day is a sweet little 5-minute respite to stretch, get something to drink, or use the restroom before the next meeting.
5. Don't read your slides. Think of your PowerPoint deck as a complement to your presentation, not as the presentation itself. If you're using your slides to anchor key points of your presentation, be brief (7-10 words per key point, up to 3 key points per slide). If you're including the slides as reference material, you can be more verbose, but resist the urge to read the slides aloud to your audience. Your spoken commentary should include examples, stories, and context for the points in your presentation.
If you're a participant...
6. Do your pre-work. Set aside some time at the beginning of the week and at the beginning of each day to look through your upcoming meetings. Is there any pre-work or reading required? Do you have a good understanding of what's expected of you and what each meeting will be about?
7. Know the difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak. I'm one of those extraverted people who's very excited to share my own ideas, so I've had to make a conscious effort to listen more closely. I take copious notes. Taking notes on others' comments helps me listen and absorb their ideas more effectively. Jotting down my own ideas helps me remember them and clear them out of my mind so I can give others my full attention.
8. Resist the multi-tasking urge. I can't tell you to stop multi-tasking altogether, but know that you can't rock a conference call unless you're truly present. Switch your instant message status so it automatically shows that you're in a meeting. If that doesn't work, change to "Do Not Disturb" or sign out altogether. I have found that signing out of email, while scary at first, is a good way to minimize distraction.
If I'm feeling incredibly restless, sometimes I'll pick up a physical task such as cleaning. My hands are occupied, but my ears and brain are on the conference call. I've been known to remove and clean under every key on my keyboard, just so I could keep my attention focused on a really important call (and because, frankly, it was kind of gross under there).
You're not going to rock every call. There will always be calls that are just plain old status updates, short and utilitarian run-downs of straightforward facts. But when it really counts, when you're making decisions or charting new courses or looking to WOW an audience, try some of these tricks and perhaps your call will be the one everyone remembers.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The 6 Hardest Things that Great Facilitators Do
Facilitating classroom training seems like it should be easy. We've all spent time in classrooms, whether at school or at work, and we've seen it done well and poorly. Yet some of the most powerful facilitaton skills are counter-intuitive, surprising, or just plain hard.
1. Talk less.
Chances are, you became a facilitator because you have expertise, great public speaking skills, or a combination of the two. That's why it's so hard to stay quiet, but it's one of the best things that you can do for your learners.
You might think you're well prepared by having a detailed lecture full of facts, examples, and anecdotes about your topic. In fact, the person who best connects with your examples is you. Present a nugget of information, then ask the class to provide an example that illustrates it. Unless your topic is completely foreign or abstract, your learners will recognize the concepts, ground them in their own knowledge, and provide the context for deep and meaningful learning.
2. Count to 7.
So, you've decided to try tip #1. You ask for an example, wait for the class to respond, and... silence. You wait a moment. The silence deepens. You realize that nobody is going to answer your question. You answer it yourself, then move on.
How long did you wait before answering your own question? It may have felt like a lifetime, but it was probably closer to 3 seconds. Silence is uncomfortable, and people will speak to fill it. However, a 3-second silence that feels excruciating to a facilitator does not feel nearly so long to learners. For many, it's not long enough to gather the thoughts and courage to answer your question.
If you slowly, silently count to 7, then one of your learners will break the silence for you. If nobody does, then they may not actually know the answer, and you can provide additional context.
3. Allow your learners to fail.
In 7th grade, I blew my chances at the county spelling bee by flubbing the word "sadistic." I didn't make it to the state championship, but you can bet that I never misspelled that word again.
Learning professionals tend to be a helpful bunch, and it's hard to watch your learners floundering through a software application or a logic problem. It's tempting to grab the mouse, nudge a conversation in the right direction, or give a hint to resolve the tension of uncertainty.
You're doing a disservice when you interrupt those moments of doubt, because that's when the real learning happens. If you establish a safe and supportive classroom environment, where it's OK to be wrong and learn from one another's mistakes, your learners will do just that.
4. Admit that you don't know the answer.
If you think of your role as "subject expert," trying to convince the class that you know more than they do, then you might be tempted to make up an answer or dismiss the question as unimportant. However, there are some great benefits to acknowledging your own uncertainty: You show humility and relatability. You reinforce creative thinking beyond the curriculum ("Wow, that is a really good question!"). You also have a great opportunity for an impactful learning and teaching moment.
Search for the answer and bring the learners along for the ride. If it's as simple as Googling the question or checking in a book, ask one of the learners to do the legwork. If the question is complex, off-topic, or needs someone else's input, write it down on a "parking lot" to be revisited at the end of class or on break. You can either track down the answer yourself, or invite the learner who asked the question to research and report back.
5. Step away from the PowerPoint.
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation tool, not a teaching tool.
Please read the above sentence aloud. Repeat 10 times. Thank you.
6. Be a broken record (or, if you prefer, a scratched CD).
Sad as it may seem, your learners are not hanging on your every word. Most training has a retention rate of 15-20%, and you don't get to choose which 15-20% the learners remember.
If there is a particular concept, fact, or message that is essential to your course, know what that is. Say it. Repeat it. Have the learners repeat it. Have the learners translate it into a work of art, interpretive dance, or infectiously catchy jingle. Say it so many times, so many ways, that it becomes your class's favorite salutation and inside joke.
1. Talk less.
Chances are, you became a facilitator because you have expertise, great public speaking skills, or a combination of the two. That's why it's so hard to stay quiet, but it's one of the best things that you can do for your learners.
You might think you're well prepared by having a detailed lecture full of facts, examples, and anecdotes about your topic. In fact, the person who best connects with your examples is you. Present a nugget of information, then ask the class to provide an example that illustrates it. Unless your topic is completely foreign or abstract, your learners will recognize the concepts, ground them in their own knowledge, and provide the context for deep and meaningful learning.
2. Count to 7.
So, you've decided to try tip #1. You ask for an example, wait for the class to respond, and... silence. You wait a moment. The silence deepens. You realize that nobody is going to answer your question. You answer it yourself, then move on.
How long did you wait before answering your own question? It may have felt like a lifetime, but it was probably closer to 3 seconds. Silence is uncomfortable, and people will speak to fill it. However, a 3-second silence that feels excruciating to a facilitator does not feel nearly so long to learners. For many, it's not long enough to gather the thoughts and courage to answer your question.
If you slowly, silently count to 7, then one of your learners will break the silence for you. If nobody does, then they may not actually know the answer, and you can provide additional context.
3. Allow your learners to fail.
In 7th grade, I blew my chances at the county spelling bee by flubbing the word "sadistic." I didn't make it to the state championship, but you can bet that I never misspelled that word again.
Learning professionals tend to be a helpful bunch, and it's hard to watch your learners floundering through a software application or a logic problem. It's tempting to grab the mouse, nudge a conversation in the right direction, or give a hint to resolve the tension of uncertainty.
You're doing a disservice when you interrupt those moments of doubt, because that's when the real learning happens. If you establish a safe and supportive classroom environment, where it's OK to be wrong and learn from one another's mistakes, your learners will do just that.
4. Admit that you don't know the answer.
If you think of your role as "subject expert," trying to convince the class that you know more than they do, then you might be tempted to make up an answer or dismiss the question as unimportant. However, there are some great benefits to acknowledging your own uncertainty: You show humility and relatability. You reinforce creative thinking beyond the curriculum ("Wow, that is a really good question!"). You also have a great opportunity for an impactful learning and teaching moment.
Search for the answer and bring the learners along for the ride. If it's as simple as Googling the question or checking in a book, ask one of the learners to do the legwork. If the question is complex, off-topic, or needs someone else's input, write it down on a "parking lot" to be revisited at the end of class or on break. You can either track down the answer yourself, or invite the learner who asked the question to research and report back.
5. Step away from the PowerPoint.
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation tool, not a teaching tool.
Please read the above sentence aloud. Repeat 10 times. Thank you.
6. Be a broken record (or, if you prefer, a scratched CD).
Sad as it may seem, your learners are not hanging on your every word. Most training has a retention rate of 15-20%, and you don't get to choose which 15-20% the learners remember.
If there is a particular concept, fact, or message that is essential to your course, know what that is. Say it. Repeat it. Have the learners repeat it. Have the learners translate it into a work of art, interpretive dance, or infectiously catchy jingle. Say it so many times, so many ways, that it becomes your class's favorite salutation and inside joke.
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