December 2021 - The FoCuSeD™ Facilitator eNewsletter
Applying a Few Lessons Learned from Remote Work… | Gary Rush,CPF | M
The Pandemic has forced most of us to move to remote work and for me, that includes facilitated remote meetings, classes, and workshops. I have always been a fan of these taking place in person but having to adapt to remote and keep them engaging has taught me a few lessons learned that I want to share with y’all.
Engagement
Whether facilitating remote meetings, classes, or workshops, it can be like watching paint dry unless you effectively engage the participants. I use breakout rooms with small groups and focus on visual tools, such as Mural, Lino, Google Docs, and the Zoom whiteboard. These require planning “how to” redesign them so that they help keep the participants engaged to achieve results. Now I find that the more I plan “how to” engage and interact with the participants, e.g., more small groups and tools, such as Gallery Walks, flip chart templates, Post-it's, and others, the more they participate and the better the outcome.
Breaks
Hourly breaks are critical to avoid burn-out. Previously, we would take breaks every 90 minutes to 2 hours but that caused the participants to drift off. Now, I am more conscious of including hourly breaks, 8 to 10 minutes every hour. That makes a big difference.
Summarize, Summarize, Summarize
I always insist that my students summarize, summarize, summarize because it ensures participants don’t forget. In remote workshops, summarizing is critical because the visual cues are often missing – you can only display one or two windows. Hearing enables participants to remember better, so summarize what has been said, decided, etc., every 10 minutes or so. The frequent summarizing helps even when they can see the information. Now, I find that the more I summarize, the less we backtrack and the more we progress.
Keep Learning!
I’ve been facilitating for decades and I find that it’s a continuous learning journey. Learning gives you great ideas, different perspectives, and new skills that enhance all you do. 
‘Never Stop Learning’