The Guide To Great Remote Workshops (Part 4/4) - Facilitating Smooth Remote Workshops

(This is Part 4 of a 4-Part series on running great remote workshops. Previously we published Part 3: Hosting Great Remote Workshops - Preparing For Your Workshop)

After all the preparation, we are getting to the heart of the matter. Running a remote workshop takes heightened levels of focus and leadership. It is very easy to lose people along the way, as they more easily become distracted or disengaged. We cannot rely on usual quick-fixes and energizers to tackle that. Hence special attention needs to be paid to running the session well to achieve the desired goals.

Always Arrive Early

As the host, dial in at least 10 minutes before the session starts and open the room. Before dialing in, ensure that all tools work, and all necessary documents are ready, and pre-loaded as needed. You do not want to leave anything to chance and want to ensure it all works smoothly.

Start With Ground Rules

To ensure a smooth workshop, especially when some participants might not be familiar with remote settings, you should start with a set of ground rules. Those always include basic video call hygiene (e.g. everyone’s video should always be on; everyone should be on mute by default; and similar).

You can further add participation rules and use this chance to set the tone for the session. Re-iterate that you expect everyone fully focused.

Have Ice Breakers Prepared

People usually chat in smaller groups when starting to gather before the workshop begins. That is part of warming to the group. This opportunity does not exist for your remote workshop — so make sure to allow people to warm up first.

Ice breakers that make sure everyone is familiar with each other and ready to engage are essential.

Of course, re-iterate the goal and agenda to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

Make Space For People To Speak

During an in-person workshop, there are clear physical cues for when someone wants to speak. You can observe their body language, which will often instinctively inform the order of conversation. As this is largely absent from remote workshops, they can easily become chaotic. Either people start speaking at the same time (sometimes also due to problems with connectivity and lag), or no one speaks at all.

“It is important to give people the chance to share their opinion, especially when physical cues are missing,” notes Elyas Munye, Business Designer at MING Labs. “What worked for me is that I stop occasionally and ask a question. For example, after the introduction and agenda review at the start, I would stop and ask people how they feel about it.”

“In general, there should be a rule that the facilitator should not speak for 10 minutes straight without at least pausing to pose a question or gather feedback.”

Another way is to be deliberate about calling on people by name. Not only do people intuitively like to hear their name, which will keep them more engaged, but it clarifies the order of speaking.

You can either lead this as the facilitator or for some exercises ask the person speaking to call on the next one to speak after them. It also helps to regularly call on quieter people, to ensure they get the chance to contribute.

Open And Close Well

When starting an exercise, it is your job to make sure that everyone understands the purpose, required engagement, and desired output.

You are opening a mental frame for your participants to enter and engage. Be very deliberate about that.

Similarly, once an exercise wraps up, make sure to close the activity by re-stating what was done and what outcomes were achieved. Further, it helps to highlight how the result of one part of the agenda connects to the next, to keep people following along.

Guide Participants Through Exercises And Tools

Elyas shares from his experience helping participants understand workshop activities: “What I’ve found works well in this case is if the facilitator shares his screen and guides participants through exercises as he is filling the templates. One particular tool that we found good for this kind of medium is Miro.”

While it would be great if every participant came prepared, already knowing the tools, that is rarely the reality. Often you will have at least one participant who is new to at least one tool.

Our recommendation would be to start the use of each new tool with one easy warm-up exercise that allows everyone to become familiar or remember how to use it.

Overcommunicate

The depth of communication is significantly reduced in remote settings. You will need to make up for that by over-communicating.

Repeat important information until you are sure that everyone is aligned. Explicitly ask for agreement, rather than interpreting silence as agreement. Make sure everyone is on the same page and following along. It takes more focus and energy but is extremely important.

Document Religiously

Make sure that the whole workshop is documented well. Besides real-time note-taking, this can also include screenshots, as well as an audio/video recording of the entire session.

Documentation should be shared with everyone after the workshop to ensure they can revisit discussions and outcomes at any point in time.

In Summary

Running remote workshops is a new challenge for many. Tools and methods optimized for in-person workshops will not do a good job. We also face reduced communication depth, more reluctance to participate actively, and higher levels of distraction.

Over this 4-part series, we have shared how to tackle these challenges by embracing new tools and methods, adapting how we craft agendas and preparing for the workshop.

Running a remote workshop requires heightened levels of focus and leadership.

It is much more challenging to keep everyone engaged and following along. Therefore we need to make time for breaking the ice, setting ground rules, open and close exercises well, and rather err on the side of over-communicating. Great documentation is key for everyone to leverage workshop outcomes in the best way possible after the session.

Key takeaways:

• Dial-in at least 10 minutes before
• Open with call etiquette ground rules
• Have ice breakers prepared
• Make space for people to speak
• Open and close each agenda item clearly
• Guide participants through exercises and tools
• Overcommunicate
• Document religiously

This is the fourth article of a 4-Part series on how to better host remote workshops. Check out the previous posts here:

Access Part 1: Hosting Great Remote Workshops - 5 Tools To Help You Succeed

Access Part 2: Hosting Great Remote Workshops - Crafting A Successful Remote Workshop Agenda

Access Part 3: Hosting Great Remote Workshops - Preparing For Your Workshop

Sebastian Mueller is Chief Operating Officer at MING Labs.

MING Labs is a leading digital business builder located in Berlin, Munich, New York City, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Singapore. We guide clients in designing their businesses for the future, ensuring they are leaders in the field of innovation.