Sometimes the practitioner cannot meet the organisation in-person and must facilitate the work remotely. With the onset of COVID-19, many practitioners have been forced to transition to remote work for the mutual safety of everyone involved. This context has led to greater dependency on webinar and online learning approaches, and digital platforms for community and network engagement.
Some practitioners and organisations are responding by:
While there are a new host of challenges with the move to remote training and assessments, there are clear benefits. Remote convenings broaden accessibility because virtual environments allow for a greater number of participants and provide access to those who ordinarily wouldn’t have had the resources to travel to the event. Following the mass movement from physical offices to personal homes, staff living in more connected environments are realising there are critical internet infrastructure inequities which may lead to greater buy-in to change the way technology is designed.
Remote meetings rely on entirely different tool sets and expectations than their in-person equivalents. Practitioners can’t assume the same approaches will fit in virtual settings. At the onset of the pandemic, we’ve seen an increase in Zoom-bombing and new modes of harassment on digital platforms. How do we prepare and design our virtual spaces to lead to greater levels of engagement, understanding and accessibility?
Here are ten suggestions from community member Trinh Nguyen:
Be realistic about what the meeting can achieve. Set time limits and tackle all points. Even for short, standing team meetings, it is important that your members know the purpose / agenda of the meeting. A guide I like to use to create agendas is POP (purpose, outcome, process): https://facilitationfirst.com/make-your-meetings-pop-setting-your-meeting-up-for-success/
When thinking about your agenda, envision what makes a successful meeting for you. Is it to get clarity on a number of operational tasks? Is it to brainstorm ideas for fundraising? Is your desired outcome to have 100% of your team fully trained on x thing?
Even in standing team meetings, it can be easy to forget to take notes. Documentation is especially important, for those who are not able to be present during the meeting. Create a culture of note-taking that does not rely on just the womxn in your group. Take turns.
Inclusivity is not just about making sure those who need to be in the meeting are there, but also making sure they have the correct tools or ability to access the meeting. Global teams often mean juggling a lot of difficult time zones. On video conferencing platforms that allow for chat, you can ask people to put their preferred gender pronouns and or locations next to their names. It's a good way to "see" who is all in the group.
Make sure to allow time for Check-in activities or exercises. It allows participants to be present, seen, and heard. Check-out allows for reflection. Change up these activities every so often if you're in standing meetings.
Allowing for a co-host is especially crucial if you're using an online video or voice platform. Make sure that not just one person is hosting an event. If their internet disconnects, you don't want the entire room to be closed. This especially happens for platforms like Zoom. Especially for larger groups, a co-facilitator can help jump in when dealing with a difficult participant who always dominates the conversation or interrupts unnecessarily. A buddy will help you mitigate these participants so you can keep on track. For tech platforms, you can consider banning a person's ability to chat. Here are more tips on how to deal with difficult participants. I find that practicing these are key in larger group settings: https://facilitatoru.com/meetings/dealing-with-difficult-behaviors/
It can be especially daunting during a webinar when no one else among the group is speaking after a prompted question. Silence is not a bad thing; just like in a classroom setting, silence can often mean people are thinking or working their fingers to answer via chat.
For those working mostly remotely/online these days, sitting in meetings after meetings can be very boring and soul-crushing. Make sure to make time for play.
Rolling out a "new" tech tool can be daunting and laborious, if not considering the time it takes to build in practice and guidance. Don't just introduce a new tool without going over the security and privacy features.
For a webinar:
There is still interest in more community resources around facilitating remote audits, especially the design of interactive and participatory components. As of June 2020, Internews is working with partners to develop guidance around this topic.