Virtual Facilitation
With so many people working from home, thanks to the pandemic, more companies are realizing two things:
- Keeping people engaged in virtual meetings is a lot harder than in person!
- It may be a long wait before we can safely hold in-person gatherings again.
Thankfully, we’ve got you covered!
Whether you need a virtual offsite, a virtual retreat, or a bespoke training to get your managers up to speed on how to lead non-boring virtual meetings, we can help.
Case Study: Teaching the King of Engagement How to Engage
When C, a research manager at Facebook, came to Creative Sandbox Solutions™, her team was in need of some diplomacy skills.
They struggled to empathetically understand different audiences.
They “buried the lede,” firehosing their readers and listeners with ALL their research findings.
Their communications were filled with “research-speak”—jargon that was incomprehensible to colleagues and stakeholders.
Their tone tended toward negative and adversarial, which turned people off.
All of this meant they weren’t getting engagement from their communications, and their valuable insights weren’t having the impact they deserved.
Meanwhile, the pandemic had everyone in a funk, so they also needed a morale boost.
We designed a program, Communicating for Influence, which improved cross-functional communication, skyrocketed engagement, and boosted morale, all in a matter of weeks (and all using play-based methods).
In the span of six months, Facebook brought us in to work with five other teams. And it’s no surprise why: participants not only saw behavior change, but also said these were the “most fun meetings I’ve attended all year!”
Learn MoreVirtual Session Design & Facilitation
Don’t want to wait until “Shelter In Place” is over to hold the retreat/offsite you’ve been planning? You don’t have to!
The interactive activities I use to facilitate virtual sessions are fun and engaging. It really is the next best thing to being there.
If I could change anything, I’d be tempted to say “make it longer – I want more!” The two hours FLEW by!
This was the first Zoom meeting that didn’t leave me feeling drained (despite being an awfully extroverted activity for an introvert).
I was skeptical that a virtual “offsite” was even worth doing, certainly one that involved “play” for my team, but Melissa proved that it can work. The Communicating for Influence workshop she created for my research team was great at teaching key skills while at the same time being fun! I have already seen my team using these tools in their day to day work. Melissa was easy to work with, and knows how to design and facilitate an impactful program. I have already recommended her to my colleagues at Facebook, and will continue to do so.
Melissa’s “Communicating for Influence” program was an impactful, refreshing change from “typical” team education sessions. We saw deep engagement and real learning through the highly interactive and very fun activities. It’s a unique offering totally designed for this challenging video meeting age we’re in, and maximizes the possibilities of the medium. Customizing the course with Melissa was a wonderful process – she was so collaborative and focused on the results we needed.
Bespoke Virtual Meeting Facilitation Training
I’ve been leading virtual gatherings of all kinds since 2010. In May 2020 I started offering Non-Boring Virtual Meetings workshops, bringing the tools I’ve learned from my training in applied improvisation and other play-based methods, to teach folks how to lead virtual meetings/classes/gatherings that are engaging, interactive, and fun!
I’d be happy to work with you to customize a bespoke Non-Boring Virtual Meetings training for your team or company.
“Melissa provided an engaging workshop with tangible exercises that we experienced—and some tips to use functions within Zoom more dynamically—which I’ll be bringing into my own sessions! I especially loved learning how to make physical interaction more possible. Highly recommended!”
“My biggest takeaway from Non-Boring Virtual Meetings was the creative ways to engage team members. I’ll be recommending this workshop to friends and colleagues, because it’s really easy to disengage from virtual meetings and do other things. Your ideas give a reason to stay tuned.”
“Having designed and facilitated meetings for many years I’ve learned the critical importance of managing the energy of any gathering. And it is this aspect I struggle with most as events move on line. That’s why the aspect I liked best about Non-Boring Virtual Meetings was the energy and sense of play/exploration. To succeed in this new world we all need to adopt a “beginners mind” and Melissa makes that a reality by providing a space of experimentation and discovery that is essential if we want to create genuinely engaging and energizing on line experiences”
“It was a game-changer and I really enjoyed it! Thank you!”
