Online Workshops that Work

I just delivered a two-part online workshop about plain language to a remote team of over 30 people. Holding workshops online is challenging. People are used to webinars, where all they have to do is listen. But workshops are meant to be interactive. How do you engage a large group (too large to just let anyone interject at any time) who are staring at a screen for three hours?

Here are some of the tips I've incorporated into my online workshops:

1. Use the tools
Zoom has a lot of tools that make interaction possible online. Making use of several of them throughout a long workshop keeps people involved and gives them a chance to have input without the workshop leader losing control of the session. 

Chat: I encourage participants to use the chat box throughout the workshop if they have a comment about something or an example to share. This gives them an outlet for team chit-chat.

I also tell them to ask questions in the chat as soon as they think of them, because sometimes you forget your question by the time the next Q&A comes up. A great idea I got from online event consultant Robbie Samuels is to ask people to type QUESTION before their question, so that you can scroll back and easily find the questions later if there's a lot of chat happening.

I engage participants in the chat space by asking questions and getting them to answer in the chat box. This is much faster than having people raise their hands, unmute, and share their answers. I also find that only a few people in any group are comfortable unmuting and speaking during a workshop. The chat box is much less intimidating, so more people participate.

Breakout rooms: Once or twice per session, I like to put participants into breakout rooms to discuss a problem I've given them or work through an exercise. I keep the rooms small (4-5 participants each) so that everyone has a chance to talk. I also keep these breakouts short – around 5 minutes each – just long enough to generate ideas. When everyone returns to the main room, I will get one or two participants to unmute and share what they came up with in their breakout group.

Polls: Asking questions in a poll is a great way to understand more about your participants. I use polls at the beginning of the workshop to get a sense of participants' level of understanding of the workshop's topic. Then I use them throughout to gather opinions, experiences, and reactions.

2. Make it real
Learning theoretical concepts about communication is all well and good, but many people feel like it's a waste of their time. If someone is giving up half their workday to attend a workshop, they want to know that what they're learning applies directly to their work. That's why I prefer to work with examples that come from the participants' organization. When they see how their own content and communications can be improved with relatively small changes, it opens their eyes (and their minds) to new ways of approaching their writing.

Be nice: When you're using real work from the organization to create examples, it's important not to pick their work apart. After all, the person who wrote that example is likely online with you. Be sensitive to people's feeling about their work, and if you're asking others what could be improved, remind them to be kind in their critiques as well.

3. Give them a break
If an online workshop is longer than an hour, it's important to let participants take a break. Trying to keep your attention focused on a screen for longer is difficult, and people start to tune out. A five- or ten-minute break is enough to use the washroom, grab a beverage, let the dog out, or whatever they are waiting to do. It also gives participants a chance to check for urgent messages and quickly fire off a reply. They usually return from a break more engaged and ready to keep learning.

4. Be flexible
Every organization is different. They have different priorities and needs. They have different cultures. They have different attitudes toward professional development. Offering the same workshop to everyone is very efficient, but it ignores all these differences. I might cover the same general topics from one workshop to the next, but I always try to have a meeting with the organizers as soon as they book me. I want to learn about the people who will be there. What challenges are they facing? What materials are they creating? What are their backgrounds? The more I know going in, the better I can target the workshop to meet their needs and focus on their interests. 

When was the last time you invested in training for your team? Setting aside the time to gather them in person or online to boost their communication skills can

• get them excited about their work again
• help to build a culture of clear communication both internally and externally
• bond the team through shared learning
• improve efficiency throughout the organization
• keep your staff with you for longer

Contact me today to discuss workshops that will help your team communicate clearly, effectively, and more easily.