This week marks the one-year anniversary of our first online session. Is that cause for celebration? We think so. Because what a lot we have learned in the past year when it comes to online inspiration trips, vision workshops and team building sessions. We would like to share our insights and learnings.
Earlier, I wrote that if a client had asked me in January 2020 if we couldn't do that 1½-day creative workshop online, I would have looked at him or her smiling, shook my head, and said with conviction, "No, there's no way!" Fortunately, this turned out to be a limiting belief of mine and we experienced that once again under pressure everything becomes fluid.
Overnight, last March, our service station abandoned in Hilversum. All scheduled sessions have been cancelled and we find ourselves in a new reality. In an online meeting we put our heads together and expressed our ambition to become the best in online sessions that create positive impact for people and society (our mission). And based on our core values of open, lived through and ownwise we devise the first outlines of our online approach and methodology. After all, an online session of one or more days is not a copy of a physical session, nor is it anything like an hour-long online meeting.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of the environment in which we do sessions is very important to us. Not only for our own energy, but also for what it does for the participants and therefore for the end result. For us, this is a reason not to facilitate sessions from home or in an anonymous studio, but from our own service station. The bar in our skylounge proves to be very suitable for this purpose and also the couches in our lounge with a view through it to the outside are excellent as a backdrop.
Also, when people enter an online session, playing music adds to the atmosphere. Or one's own playlist at the closing drinks. But also an online escaperoom or online yoga class, as well as the use of sound effects such as applause, laughter and unusual tunes. We deploy these kinds of aspects as a substitute for the surprising items people otherwise encounter in our physical environment.
Interaction
To achieve great results together, interaction is a prerequisite. As colleagues, we have that interaction because we always facilitate these types of sessions together (at one and a half feet) and this in turn stimulates interaction with the people who mostly participate alone from their homes.
Interaction opportunities abound online, and they are often nice and efficient. For example, the chat function works faster than pasting post-its, and the digital route to and from a breakout room takes a lot less time than the physical one. Collaborative document work is also a good substitute for a flipchart. Depending on the platform used for a session, you can also freely "walk into" certain rooms and participate in a conversation, visit exhibit areas and network with someone you happen to be paired with.
Online also enables interaction around the world. Especially for our inspiration trips, this offers unprecedented opportunities. These need not be limited to one city or area, but we switch from our raving reporter in Utrecht to the one in Rotterdam, we interview live one of our connectors, for example Jaikumar in India, and in breakouts the participants enter into conversation with speakers from Copenhagen or Seattle.
Preparation
We find that online sessions require more preparation and planning a little longer ahead. Not preparing the necessary items for the session the day before, but preparing a workshop package for each participant a week before the session and sending it to everyone's home address. Of course, in addition to the usual stationery, this package often includes a die, a toilet roll of 'The Good Roll' and, of course, a treat.
Technical preparation is also of great importance, especially if people are going to work with a platform they don't know (so well) yet. Clear instructions and where necessary technical support ensure that 90% arrives at the session without problems and on time, and the remaining 10% is hoisted on board, often on time as well, by our support colleague.
We also have pre-test sessions with our raving reporters, our connectors and the speakers we interact with remotely.
Variety
You can't make people sit in front of their screens all day. It is important to take regular breaks, but even more important to provide plenty of variety. Plenary presentations naturally alternate with working in breakouts, and occasionally we do a energizer, but people also need to get away from the screen. For example, we ask participants to go for a walk and come up with key insights over the phone with a colleague based on the presentation they just heard. Podcasts are also excellent to listen to during a walk.
Since we have access to people's home addresses, we can include inspirational waypoints in our Fresh Forward app that participants can pass by on their bikes, and then share the experience with each other again. We also offer gaming and VR plenty of opportunities, which we are currently exploring. We have much more to learn, just like everything else we have learned in the past year. After all, there is always something to learn and also to celebrate.
Cheers to one year online!
Hilversum, March 29, 2021, Matt van der Poel (CXO)
