Let's ZOOM a little better today than we did yesterday.
Many of us are sailing into almost 3 months of using ZOOM for the majority of our professional and social interactions. Yes, we know that it’s exhausting. It’s also been a critical tool as we’ve worked hard to continue to live some semblance of our familiar lives. I know it might feel like the world is healing -- it really isn’t. For the foreseeable future, ZOOM will still play a large role in connecting us with each other.
Yes, it may look like a constant game of Hollywood Squares or the opening to The Brady Bunch but the ZOOM screen is a room. The ZOOM room is a container and we still need to invest in “building the container” as we create a conducive atmosphere for our work. Virtual meetings don’t have to be stale or awkward. They can be effective, efficient, educational, empathetic, and if desired, entertaining. Each ZOOM meeting is an experience that needs to be designed well and the more we remember this, the better we can feel about the virtual days of our lives.
Ahem! Familiarize yourself with ZOOM features by visiting the ZOOM help center or just typing into Google, How do I [insert topic] on ZOOM? Some features to learn more about include:
Rename
POLL
Breakout Rooms
Chat
Share Screen Options
Profile Pictures
Reactions
Waiting Room
A few thoughts:
1. The ZOOM room still needs to have ground rules, rules of engagement, group norms, and/or a social contract. Some of these might already exist from your IRL professional setting that you can simply reiterate to your team, but if not, it’s never a bad time to put these in place. You might also put a few ZOOM specific items in place which could include the following suggestions:
All participants must be on mute unless speaking.
In order to avoid people talking over each other, the host or designated facilitator will call on people to speak. This can be done by using the “hand raise” reaction or commenting in the chat box that you’d like to speak. Depending on how many people are in the meeting, the host might also just ask participants to take themselves off mute to signify an interest in adding to the conversation.
Virtual backgrounds may be used as desired.
We encourage cameras to be on during the meeting and understand that due to home dynamics, cameras may not be able to be on during the entire meeting.
Please avoid irrelevant side conversations in the chat box. Let people know that private chat conversations show up in the transcript.
Please inform the meeting host prior to the meeting if you’d like the ability to share your screen.
All useful documents should be emailed to the team at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.
Please add a buffer of 15 minutes to every meeting time. Everything takes longer on ZOOM. In case there’s technical difficulties, it just allows us to breathe easier if we have a built-in buffer.
Please ask the group’s permission before you take a screenshot of the meeting.
All meetings will be recorded unless otherwise stated by the host.
It is encouraged that, if possible, participants wear headphones, especially if there are other family members in the meeting space. At the same time remind team members that their voices are now in people’s homes. Be mindful of language.
Authenticity is welcomed and grace and compassion will be offered should a child, pet, or partner appear on the screen.
2. It helps to have a co-host or co-facilitator for ZOOM meetings. The co-host can monitor the chat box and reactions while the host leads the meeting. One can monitor the waiting room while another gets the meeting started. It’s always great to have a virtual partner. Technology is amazing and quite unpredictable. To watch all of the aspects of ZOOM can be overwhelming for one host. To add variety, give team members the opportunity to host meetings. Every meeting doesn’t have to be hosted/facilitated by “the boss”. Allow others to put their spin on the team meeting.
3. Think about equity, access, and privilege when constructing ZOOM experiences. Does everyone have the technology needed to engage in ZOOM meetings? If your workplace hasn’t issued standard laptops or phones (ZOOM can be used on your phone and there’s an app), then be mindful of how you ask people to use their tech resources. For instance, everyone’s computer can’t support virtual backgrounds. Asking everyone to use one during a team builder will instantly make this person feel left out. On the other hand encouraging folks to use virtual backgrounds is great for those who aren’t comfortable with showing their living space to their team members. Make allowances for your team members who are working and taking care of family. Your standard meeting time may have to change (ask people) or they may need to not have on their camera. Team members may need to have 1:1 meetings later in the evening or earlier in the morning because they don’t have a closed door office in their home and need to engage in these private interactions when family members are sleeping or out of the space. Be careful about your notion of “professionalism” and know that the home office may not allow for or necessitate certain, what many would call, outdated and inequitable rules. Also, always remember that not everyone on our teams is tech savvy and it might be important to provide tutorials to those who are having a hard time getting the hang of ZOOM. Oh, and if you play music through ZOOM, please make sure it’s the edited version out of respect for people’s families. Use a password on your ZOOM meetings, as unfortunately there have been racist attacks through Zoom bombing. Intruders show up in your meeting and fill the chat box with as well as hurl racist verbal assaults at participants. As usual, check in and engage in individualization to help your team be successful. If you use any of the tips below always ask yourself if what you’re doing is inclusive.
4. Know your audience! All of my suggestions won’t serve every context well.
5. Every meeting doesn’t have to be a ZOOM! You don’t have to see people’s faces to have a great meeting. Phones still work! Email is still alive! If you notice that your people are ZOOMed out then encourage them to log-off and give them a breather. ZOOMing back-to back just like meeting IRL back-to-back will lead to a draining day “at the office”.
6. Don’t neglect the importance of beginnings and endings of meetings. For most of us, we get too focused on the content of virtual meetings and just want to get through it without anything technical going wrong that we forget to effectively design the meeting experience by starting it well and ending it well. We’ve all had the awkward, stare at screen, ZOOM silence moment and the hurried “okay, bye” as everyone fervently clicks the red LEAVE MEETING button. Let’s dig in here:
Beginnings: I know that people cringe at “icebreaker” or “team builder” and it’s still important that we check-in with people and continue to build social connections during virtual time. There’s a reason that we do these activities-- they work! A great opening activity can cause people to relax, get people into the best mindset for the meeting, conjure up the desired energy for the opportunity, and can start to create opportunities to develop the critical element of trust among team members. It’s up to you to know your team/office culture enough to select the best experience.
Endings: Priya Parker makes a great point when she says that most meetings don’t “end” instead they “stop”. This is likely because we’ve run out of time and are rushing to close out the experience. Ending well creates a sense of closure, an opportunity for reflection, and creates clarity around expectations post the meeting.
Here are some beginning and ending suggestions:
Focus Question - This opener gets people focused on the reason for the meeting. Simply ask a relevant question and allow each team member to respond verbally, by typing their response in the chat box, or by using the breakout rooms to allow small group conversations. How do you feel about [insert topic]?, Share a previous experience that you’ve had with [insert topic]., What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say [insert topic]? What’s one thing that you hope to know about [insert topic] by the end of the meeting? Why did you attend today’s meeting on [insert topic]?
This can also be a closing activity as you engage people in answering a question about what’s next and the work that needs to be completed post meeting. These could be Exit Ticket Questions like, “What’s your greatest takeaway from today's meeting?” “After this meeting, what will you stop, start, or continue?, “What additional information do you want about today’s topic?”
SHOW & TELL - Ask participants to bring something meaningful to the meeting and share a brief story about the item. You can theme it if you like or leave it open-ended for team members. A theme might be coffee mugs, concert t-shirts, or high school yearbooks. Pick a theme that you think most people could relate to in your environment.
Name That Tune - Collect a list of favorite songs from team members prior to the meeting and put it on a Spotify playlist. You could also create a Collaborative Spotify Playlist and ask each person to add their favorite song. Use the Advanced Share Screen Sound feature on ZOOM to play each song and then have the team guess which song belongs to each person. You could also just compile a list of songs and have people “name that tune” as a game.
THIS or THAT - Use the poll feature to ask a list of either/or questions. You can do simple ones like sand or snow, Biggie or Tupac, or you can go a bit deeper with prompts like optimist or pessimist, introverted or extroverted, and doer or thinker, etc.
Small Group Exercises/Adventures - Use breakout rooms to split the group into small groups. Pre-email an exercise/puzzle/riddle/case study to the group and have them work on it during the ZOOM as a small group. You could also do exercises like “Lost At Sea” in this format.
Pictionary - Use the whiteboard for some drawing fun! People can verbally offer responses or put them in the chat box.
ONE WORD- This is a great and simple opener and closer that asks each person to offer one word about how they’re feeling at the moment or to describe their last week. It might be to offer one word to describe how they feel about the meeting topic. You can close with this one by getting people to state one word that describes how the meeting made them feel or how they feel about the work that needs to happen post meeting. It’s always great to get a barometer on how people are feeling at the beginning of the meeting as this may inform how they show up in the meeting. Doing this at the end might also help you have a better idea who you might need to do some 1:1 follow up with to make sure they’re in a good place. It also could be the first moment of reflection that people have had in awhile. Folks can offer this word verbally, typing it into the chat box, or renaming themselves the word through the rename feature.
Chat Box or Rename - Either of these features can be used to get people to respond to questions and the chat box is a great way to allow people to ask questions who may not want to speak up in the meeting. You can also put links into the chat box and files. You can ask the team questions and have them respond through renaming themselves the answer. Questions like, “what’s your favorite cereal?” You can rename yourself “Frosted Flakes” or “who’s interested in being on this committee?” and people can rename themselves “Interested”. As usual everyone doesn’t want to or isn’t comfortable speaking in front of the group. Provide other ways to participate.
Artifact Discussion - Send an article to the group prior to the meeting or show a movie clip, YouTube video, or TED Talk during the meeting. Facilitate a discussion about the item as a large group or in a small breakout group. You can share your screen and video through ZOOM.
Check out these 3 from The Magic Sauce
40 Second Blah Blah Blah
Whose ____ is it Anyway?
Get Up and Go For A Walk
Reactions - Familiarize yourself with the reactions feature. As a host you can see participants raise their hand, signal for a coffee break , thumbs up, clapping. A person can also change the skin tone of their reactions which I think is an inclusive feature on ZOOM.
ZOOM Cocktail Party — Now, you may not be hosting a cocktail party at work but you might need to understand how to create a fluid environment where team members can float to different breakout rooms. For instance, you might engage in an open space activity where each room has a different topic and team members are asked to offer their insight or can ask questions of an “expert” space holder.
Theme ZOOM - A lot of people really enjoy a good theme. Theme your next meeting. Perhaps it’s the 80s , Favorite Reality TV Show, Sports, or Beyonce (yep, just Beyonce). Maybe you work at a school and you want a School Spirit theme or perhaps an event was cancelled due to COVID-19 and you want to give people a chance to celebrate virtually. People can dress up in costumes, rename themselves to their favorite character/player, and change their background.
Storytime - Create a story as a ZOOM room! A person can start and others can continue the narrative. It could also just become one large Mad Lib where one person makes a fill in the blank statement and others fill it in through the rename or chat box feature. The best answer is selected by the person who offered the sentence. And the person whose answer is selected gets to create the next line of the story. Another person in the group can serve as note taker and can read the final masterpiece to the group.
I Spy /Scavenger Hunt - “I spy something red.” Participants will need to retrieve something in their surroundings to show to the group. You could also do a Scavenger Hunt, send the list of prompts, split folks into teams, and have them hunt down the items in their home. First team to complete the list wins! Remember, you can broadcast messages to the Breakout Rooms as needed as well as set timers on the rooms.
Dance Party (Follow The Leader) - TikTok is all the rage and people love those dances. Some of them are super difficult but even this Millennial can pick up a few of the others. Maybe you teach people the choreography and share the song while you all participate in a group dance lesson. You can also do a moment of Follow the Leader for a break to get people up out of their chairs. People can always switch to Speaker View to make sure that you’re visible and if folks want to dance in peace, they can turn off the camera.
ZOOM Groupshots - Here are some poses to use in case you want to spice up your ZOOM Screenshots.
Virtual Background Adventure - If everyone’s computer is able to support virtual backgrounds then provide people with prompts like “favorite childhood cartoon”, “ideal office setting”, “celebrity crush”, “favorite store” and have them find a background to match their response. You can also have backgrounds that offer people important information. For instance, my colleague has created virtual CliftonStrengths backgrounds so that you can always see a person’s Top 5 or Top 10. CANVA has a FREE ZOOM Virtual Background Maker.
Profile Pic Challenge - Team members can change their profile pic and when they turn off their camera, their profile picture shows up in the ZOOM room. Participants can still leave their mic on and tell a story about their chosen image. Prompts could include baby picture, first day of school picture, graduation picture, pictures with or of pets, and hobby pictures, etc.
Brainstorm in Breakout Rooms- You can manually or randomly assign your breakout rooms. You can also select the size of the groups. Feel free to put people in groups and have them brainstorm about a relevant topic. You can go over the guidelines in the large group room and then split people off to chat. Remember, you can put a timer on the breakout rooms and broadcast messages to the rooms. You can also join any room as a host. As a facilitator, I love to pop in and check on participants the same way I would do IRL. Bring the groups back to the main room when ready and have them do small group report outs about their session.
DEMO (Teach Us) - Any of your team members want to teach others a skill, recipe, or magic trick? Allow people to sign up for a meeting and choose their subject matter. Maybe it’s how to fold a fitted sheet, tie-dye or perhaps it's a philosophy lesson or a cool Instagram feature tutorial. Have the “teacher” send out a supply list prior to the lesson and try to keep it affordable and accessible for others.
Talent Show - Maybe you’ve got some magicians, singers, musicians, dancers, jugglers, or poets on your team? Have a little talent showcase with voluntary signups! Depending on the dynamic of your team, take some cues from American Idol, America’s Got Talent, or The Voice.
Trainwreck/Connection - A team member can share a fact about them “I’m left handed” and if anyone in the grid shares this fact, they can type into the chat box “connection” or use the applause or thumbs up reaction to show their connection. These two people then become connected. The second person will then offer another fact, “I have 2 brothers” and someone else will have to be fast enough to connect to them first in the grid. People can only connect one at a time. At the end of the game everyone should be connected.
Never Have I Ever - Ahem! An appropriate workplace version. Both hands and all fingers up! The first player starts by saying a simple statement about what they have never done before starting with "Never have I ever". Anyone who at some point in their life has done the action that the first player says, must put a finger down. Then the game continues around the circle, and the next person makes a statement. When all of your fingers are down, you’re out of the game or you can be crowned the winner.
I commit to… - This is a great closing activity that asks every team member to make a short statement starting with I commit to… which offers what they commit to doing or how they commit to being because of what was covered at the meeting. Once again, this can be a verbal response with people called on to share by the host or co-host or this can be entered into the chat box. The host can save the chat transcript and follow-up with participants on their stated commitments.
Journal - Offer a journal prompt to the group and provide them with time to engage in free writing. The prompt can be posted in the chat box or on a slide so that participants can refer back to it and you can even play some writing music. Participants can share their writing in the main room or be sent to breakout rooms to share in small groups.
Quotes - Everyone loves a great quote, right? Have each person share their favorite quote with you and end or begin each meeting with a new quote. Whoever the quote belongs to can spend a little time explaining why it’s meaningful to them. Perhaps you can have a bigger discussion around how the quote can be applied to our current time period or the team’s work. An image of the quote can be shared on the screen and it can be typed into the chat box for copy and paste access.
For any activity you might normally use, take a moment to ask yourself, “How can I ZOOM this?” The more familiar you become with the features the more you’ll be able to recreate or replicate many of your IRL experiences.
For many people, ZOOM will still be their primary outlet and it’s important that we treat our team members as people and not just as cogs in a wheel. Create experiences that have contrast, compassion, creativity, core content, and that continue to build community.
Let me know what you think about the suggestions and if you use any of them for your team.