Do not use 'silence means consent' to make decisions. People sometimes feel embarrassed to break an online silence. It is better to vote by having people put 'agree' or 'disagree' behind their name in the chat. Ask 'disagree voters' for an explanation and adjust the proposal if possible for win-win situations and support for choices.
3. Workshop
Is it really about learning and innovating together? Then you organize a workshop. The interaction between the participants is intensive and focused on solving the central question. Remain neutral as chair, then dissenters are more likely to share their valuable experiences.
In workshops the liberating structure '1-2-4-All' works very well.
Each participant first thinks about the question individually for one minute,
then participants share and generate ideas in pairs (for three to five minutes),
then they share the ideas in groups of four for five minutes,
after which the subgroup shares the main idea with the entire group.
A method for more interaction during video calling.
In '1-2-4-all' pairs speak to each other briefly
For each idea, you can then ask participants to write down the strengths and weaknesses of the idea. And what possible solutions are for the weaknesses that make the idea even stronger. You can do this, for example, in a prepared harvest document in Google Slides or an application such as Miro . You can also vote for the best idea with the stamp tool of Zoom.
For networking in large groups, you organize an online social event. Meetings in halls often also yield results, because participants come up with new ideas through spontaneous encounters or surprising work forms.
You can choose to integrate parts of the program into software that gives the experience that the participant is 'walking around' at a virtual conference or fair. Software for this is for example Hexafair or vFairs . Participants can then knock on your stand with questions, join a presentation or drink coffee with other participants in the coffee bar.
If you want to have students or starters on the denmark telegram data labor market advised by seniors during an online open day, then 'Troika Consulting' is a useful structure. It is a role play with groups of three: a client and two consultants.
The 'Troika Consulting' liberating structure is a kind of 'positive gossip'.
The 'Troika Consulting' liberating structure is a kind of 'positive gossip'.
Participants are given one minute to think about the question they would like to ask if they were the customer.
They can then explain their issue to two experts by experience, who play the role of consultant, in one minute.
The consultants can ask the client clarifying questions for one to two minutes.
The client then turns off the camera but continues to listen as the consultants brainstorm suggestions together for four to five minutes.
Finally, the customer takes one minute to tell what was most valuable about the experience.
Successful online interaction & fun
For successful interaction, it is important to have a lot of fun. Whether this is by making time for small talk during the walk-in, a nice pop song while the participants DM each other to make coffee appointments, or by integrating movement into the meeting. For example, by 'tap-a-light-on-and-say-your-thing'. Take the liberty to offer this.
