Planning virtual meetings
Some weeks in to the coronavirus restrictions, people are connecting through virtual meetings. But are you planning meetings so they are effective, participative and achieve their goals? This matters most for complex meetings, perhaps a strategic discussion with external collaborators. But good planning matters for any meeting even it’s only...
What’s the difference between good and bad virtual meetings?
In the past few days many people have adjusted to running and attending more virtual meetings. Some are great, others less so. So what’s the difference? Here are some of the factors that make a difference. The invitation How not to: Copy and paste the link from the virtual platform...
Seven things I’ve learned about facilitating virtual meetings
As a professional facilitator for over twenty years, virtual facilitation has been a growing part of my work for the last ten. At a time when people are asking ‘how do we have effective virtual meetings’ I started to look back on some of the milestones in developing my own understanding...
Running virtual meetings from home
So what if you find you need to run meetings from home? Here are some thoughts… Make sure you have the best equipment set up you can – ideally, cable internet connection rather than wifi, a webcam and a USB headset on your laptop. The last two are not expensive...
10 tips for successful virtual meetings
Health concerns are pushing virtual meetings up the agenda. Shifting the balance from face to face towards more virtual meetings also helps save money, time and carbon. Yet in practice people often find virtual meetings frustrating, disappointing and ineffective. Having designed and facilitated virtual meetings for more than ten years,...
What is the power of facilitation?
I’m working with an international group putting together a book on the Power of Facilitation. I am co-authoring a chapter on collaboration. I’ve been facilitating groups for more than twenty years and for much of that time I’ve defined myself principally as a facilitator more than as a consultant, coach...
Flipping the page
‘We don’t get asked for them much anymore. But we must have one somewhere’. It was the first time I realised that the flip chart may be on its way out. I first encountered a flip chart as a meeting participant in the late eighties. I remembered being baffled as...
Co-production, hammers and nails
We have been facilitating co-production for several years. In public services this is where the people providing the service and those receiving it work together on equal terms. We’ve worked with citizens and service providers to improve health and other services. A speech by Mark Brown to a ‘Fulfilling Lives’...
Who knows where Trustees’ time goes?
What makes for good trustees and good governance? I am fascinated by this question. I’ve been on several trustee boards – local, national and international – and advised and supported different types of board. I value the volunteer model in which people give their time and expertise to oversee the...
How distant is distant?
I’ve been working with groups for years, helping them improve how they work together. The question of geography often comes up as a barrier to working together. When I probe, ‘geography’ can mean many things – one team in London, one in LA; a remote outpost in the North, core...