When we hear “online workshop”, collaborative workshop actually, we often tend to believe that the marvel of the Internet and a fairly well-designed tool will be enough to get the work done. Thinking that way will only lead you, at one point or another, into a a dead-end. Even though your participants seem to be able to work autonomously from their computer, do not forget the saying: “out of sight, out of mind”. A colleague’s involvement to an online work session can quickly become as faint as the distance is wide. Even though a keyboard is the only thing that separates you from your audience, keep in mind that you remain their facilitator, their guide and their landmark for the task you’re asking them to complete.
The secret path to a successful online workshop.
For the magic to operate as it should, here are three tips to help you. They may seem pretty basic but they are the result of the incredible experience Stormz accumulated over the years in online collaborative mechanisms:
- Inform: Set the overall setting of the workshop. How long will it last? How many steps? What are your goals and what kind of deliverable would you like to get at the end? How will you use it? You will be able to do all of that with an individualized invitation email.
- Chase up: Thanks to the notification settings, which you can choose to activate or not, participants will automatically receive an email encouraging them to join the workshop if they still haven’t done it.
- Facilitate: Launching the workshop and turning on the notifications is hardly enough to yield involvement. It is absolutely critical you motivate your troops, actively engage them and keep up the workshop’s dynamic at all times. To do so, all you need is a customized message to foster and nourish the group energy. You can also follow how the workshop is going thanks to the activity stream.
As ready as can be.
By following these few simple tips, you will dramatically boost your participants’ involvement and safeguard the group dynamics. You should also be mindful of formulating your instructions as clearly as possible and avoid designing too complex workshops. We will expand on this point in another article. Until then, don’t hesitate to try Stormz out by creating your account on stormz.me – it’s quick, simple and free!