Love it or loathe it Zoom has become a large part of our lives. From virtual pub quizzes to virtual learning Zoom is here to stay.
As a facilitator, have you thought about how Zoom can support your facilitation processes? What has really piqued my interest is the use of Zoom Whiteboards to support the collaboration and co-creation of ideas.
Here are three ways you can use Zoom whiteboards for facilitation:
Establishing a Group Contract/Working Agreement
As a facilitator you may, at the beginning of a session, invite a group to share the norms and behaviours they feel need to be in place in order for everyone to get the most of the session. Using a Zoom whiteboard for this exercise makes it particularly collaborative. Instead of the facilitator noting what each person says, individuals themselves use the ‘Annotate’ tool on Zoom to draw or type in their responses, thus co-creating the group contract.
Dot Voting
Dot voting is a great way to garner opinion on a topic or decision. In a real-life setting ideas are shared using post-it notes on a flipchart or wall, then each person is given a certain number of dot stickers which they then go and place next to their preferred idea(s).
With a Zoom whiteboard a facilitator can note down ideas in text on the Whiteboard and participants can vote on their ideas using the Stamp function within the Annotate menu. Stamp gives us the ability to add a green tick (or heart for example) beside our preferred idea. An added bonus is that the voting process is anonymous (unless you use the arrow for stamping; as a facilitator exclude that from the options), thus reducing (in part) group think bias.
Checking in for understanding
This can be used in many ways, one way for example is to check to ensure everyone has a shared understanding of a problem. Using the Breakout function break people into groups and invite them to draw out the problem. The whiteboard function in Zoom allows people to draw on the whiteboard at the same time. Smaller groups can work together scribbling on the board, drawing out their shared understanding.
I hope this has given you some food for thought for your next facilitation session. Do make sure that you regularly familiarise yourselves with the latest Zoom security updates.
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I’ve made another video – this time it’s one where you actually see my face! I hope you like it. I’m on a mission to get more comfortable with creating videos (I find it strange not having an audience!) so I’d love to hear what you think and what tips you have for improvement.
Today I’m sharing a future visioning technique. If you have difficulty imagining what your future may look like give this technique a try – click on the image below to watch the video. Let me know in the comments how you get on.
If you enjoyed that you may be excited to know that the pilot of the brand new programme Draw Out Your Future is now open for enrolment. The 6-week programme kicks off on Tuesday, January 12th 7pm GMT and I can’t wait to meet everyone.
This programme has been designed so that we can all feel excited about our future regardless of what else is going on in the world.
Over the course of 6 weeks we will:
Learn a clear process for drawing out your future (no artistic skills required) that you can reuse time and time again, using visual goal setting and action planning
Gain focus, clarity and direction in your life so that you feel calm and in control of your destiny
Feel excited about your future and use that excitement to propel you forward
Boost your self-esteem so that you feel more resilient when dealing with life’s obstacles
Harness the power of the collective and be part of a unique supportive community
We’ll be using digital visual templates which you will get copies of to use and reuse at will 😊. Let’s start 2021 as we mean to go on – with creativity, flair and purpose.
And as this is a pilot programme, places are going for around half the price of what I intend to sell them for. There will be a maximum of 12 people on the programme so be sure to act quickly to secure your place! You can also sign-up for a bundle package which includes three 1:1 coaching sessions alongside the 6-week programme.
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Yesterday saw the last session of Secrets of Simple Graphics for 2020 and as we munched on our (non-virtual) cupcakes at the Afterparty Elevenses, the discussion shifted to the benefits drawing brings to our mental health, a topic I touched on previously.
As such, I thought I would share with you today a very simple technique I often use at the beginning of training or coaching sessions which really helps to ground and focus me before I begin – and I think the participants like it too!
Click on the video below to see how it’s done:
Give it a try the next time you need to centre your energy and let me know in the comments how you got on.
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2021 dates for Secrets of Simple Graphics online and the new programme Draw Out Your Future have now been confirmed. Take a look >>
Sometimes, when feeling stressed, the last thing you want is someone handing you a set of coloured pencils and a notebook, urging you to channel your stress in a creative manner.
Yet creative pursuits are generally seen to be a helpful antidote to feelings of stress and anxiety.
Recently I started to do some digging into the connection between creativity (drawing in particular) and the alleviation of stress.
Research led by Jennifer Drake, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at Brooklyn College explored whether drawing reduces stress levels because it helps us to process emotions or because it helps us to escape from the thoughts and events that are contributing to our stress levels.
The answer? It’s all about the escape.
Yes, we can sit and sketch out the pain of 2020, the argument we just had with our partner, our worries about the future and this may help us to process our emotions.
However, the true value is in the escape drawing provides. It takes us out of ourselves, out of our head where stressful thoughts lie.
The act of drawing something requires us to concentrate on what we are doing, to focus on what is emerging on the page. It is this level of concentration that provides the escape from stressful thoughts.
Start with a blank page and draw an item that is in your eye line. A cup, a biro, a piece of paper. Keep going, keep drawing until you feel calmer.
It’s important to pick an emotionally neutral object (so if the cup sitting in front of you is a gift from your partner whom you’re currently furious with, perhaps pick something else..)
I would love to know how this works for you. Give it a go and let me know how you get on in the comments below.
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2021 dates for Secrets of Simple Graphics online and the new programme Draw Out Your Future have now been confirmed. Take a look >>
Ahead of the launch of my *brand new** Draw Out Your Future programme I thought I’d create this short video with instructions on how to draw an icon that represents future.
Click on the image below to be taken straight to the video.
If you were to graphically represent the icon ‘future’ which icon would you choose from this selection? Or would you choose something different? Let me know in the comments.
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2021 dates for Secrets of Simple Graphics online and the new programme Draw Out Your Future have now been confirmed. Take a look >>
I’m a big fan of blending hand drawn graphics into existing ways of working. I often see how overwhelmed people feel when thinking about how to incorporate hand drawn graphics into their work.
Start with what you’ve got. If you currently use PowerPoint slides, for example, think about how you can make a small change to include hand drawn graphics in your slides.
One quick way to do this is to make use of the (often underutilised!) draw function within PowerPoint.
I’ve created a video that talks you through exactly how to do just that.
This is something you can do either in advance of your presentation or – even better – during it. Click on the image below to play the video and learn how:
Tell me how you get on using the PowerPoint draw function in the comments.
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2021 dates for Secrets of Simple Graphics online and the new programme Draw Out Your Future have now been confirmed. Take a look >>
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