In April 2020, our coaching team set ourselves the challenge to become “masters of the universe” at on-line facilitation. We had facilitated over video before Covid-19 hit, but back then it was unusual, and rarely first choice for high-stakes facilitated sessions.

We had spent more than two decades facilitating for senior teams; disaggregating and analysing facilitation techniques; and coaching leaders on our famous “Facilitation Magic” courses. Now we’ve had a small number of weeks to figure out completely new ways to facilitate over video at the level we need to.

Many of our customers have generously allowed us to innovate, create and experiment with them.

“We wanted to run our quarterly leadership event virtually and make it really interactive.  Katy facilitated and coached over 30 participants through a hugely impactful session focused on building effective relationships in the Boardroom.  It was important for us to get a deeper understanding of our personal impact and style, and we had never attempted to achieve leadership insight and self-reflection at this level before without being face to face. Another challenge was that our leaders are fast-paced "normally", and more than ever right now, so the pressure was on - to get value from every minute of Katy's session.  Through the wonders of technology we worked in groups, had plenary sessions, did role plays and gave feedback.  If anything, this was more effective for our learning and slicker than doing it in person. For example, we didn't need to worry about physical to-ing and fro-ing between break-out groups and the immediate sharing of group insight through polls was very valuable.  The feedback from the leadership group was extremely positive and we’re looking forward to our next session – virtual, of course!"  Kate Mills, People Director at Newton Europe

Personally, I have led the facilitation of eight very different sessions, for teams and groups of between six and sixty people, since lock-down began. I wouldn’t yet claim mastery of on-line facilitation – nor do my team – but I am going to claim to that we have begun the journey!

Key learnings and tips

Caveats aside, here is what my team and I have learned so far, along the steep learning curve in the Covid-19 lock-down period…

1.      AMBITION & PURPOSE

a. Follow the golden rule: DON’T strive to make your on-line sessions as good as in-person facilitation.
When the goal is to deliver transformational impact for senior leaders, that way of thinking is not going to cut it. We’re not interested in being Not Just Almost as Good. So, throw out the old, and with every constraint that comes up think “what does this allow that “normal” wouldn’t?” For example, in a recent workshop we were able to convince a merry band of CEOs from our networks to join a leadership mindsets session we ran for the 35 top leaders in a business. Participants were able to simulate and practise sales conversations with these CEOs. The CEOs had fun and gained some new ideas about leadership mindsets, and it’s not likely I’d have attracted such a senior group to come to a conference centre in the middle of nowhere for that super high-impact 30-minute section of the agenda!

b. Don’t be blinded by the tech.
For me, the mindset work we do to prepare ourselves to facilitate in “normal” sessions is just as important, if not more important now. Yes, we may have spent three whole days finding and working out how to optimise the ideal technology to facilitate the break-outs, the immediate feedback and the analytics… BUT that’s nothing without an effective design and relevant content. 

2.     OPTIMSING & EASING THE TECHNICAL SET-UP

a. Kick-off with networking in small groups.
It’s unanimous that our participants enjoy starting meetings chatting and networking in break-out rooms before the main session starts. With Zoom, you can pre-allocate break-out rooms, but it works well for the host (and/or a co-host) to allocate people into rooms by filling each one up in the order people join the call. That way no one is waiting on their own for long. You can also avoid confusion if you start by showing a slide saying, for example, “Please enjoy a small-group chat by the imaginary coffee table, we will start the main session at 11.06am”.  

b. Be present(able).
Elevate the camera, so you are not looking down at participants. Ensure you are close to your camera so your face fills most of the screen.

c. Mitigate tech-fail risk with teamwork
It’s helpful to have a support facilitator who can take over it your connection fails – who can also help by broadcasting pre-planned messages to break-out rooms or checking survey/poll results as they come in, ready to screen share.

3.     EXPECTATION SETTING

a. Be very directive about when and whether to have videos on.
There is much debate about whether on or off is better and in which scenarios and I won’t add another opinion into the mix. But whatever you decide, make it easy for participants by making the expectations clear.

b. Check that participants are “in the room”.
Ask everyone to raise a hand if they can see and hear you. Again, this ensures engagement early on.

c. Communicate technology-fail back-up plans to the group at the start.
For example, “If Zoom fails we move to Teams, here is the link. If my Internet fails, we will try to reconnect for 5 minutes then we will postpone the session. This sessions needs full engagement, so we won’t push on without a strong connection.” Giving this kind of clarity on what will happen in various scenarios gives people peace of mind – not least you the facilitator.

d. Ask people to share intentions early on in session via the chat box.
I like to ask “why did you turn up for this session?”. This has the conventional benefit of having people focus on their own positive reason for participating fully, but also helps get people confident with engaging with the technology.

4.     INTERACTION & ENGAGEMENT

a. Get instant feedback and use it in the session.
As a confident and seasoned facilitator, you’re already used to reading and responding to the room. You can respond to participant survey data just as confidently, once you accept that you just need to capture it differently. Mentimeter is very powerful and easy to use. In a recent workshop we asked participants to stop dead during a role-play and input three adjectives to describe themselves at that point in time. The “wordl” style chart we could show enabled a superb exploration of identity and intention and how it could influence performance in the moment.

b. Don’t leave a slide hanging around on screen share.
Be conscious about when to stop and start screen sharing. On zoom you can see more people on your screen at once if you don’t share your screen. We have found it works bets to share one slide at a time, and only if strictly relevant – for example new results from the participants poll responses, then turn off slide share for discussion or presenting.

c. Expect people to follow new etiquette for video participation.
For example, praise people and prioritise their input when they use the “raise hand function”. It makes your life easier.  

d. Get the group focussed on the positives from on-line sessions.
Call out to participants the ways in which on-line facilitation is better, so that they can commit to the process with confidence. For example, we have had a lot of positive feedback about how Zoom-enabled break-out rooms allowed the facilitator to control the movement of people more quickly and keep momentum in the work. I like to make a joke of how I get to press and button rather than all the nice cajoling I usually do to get people to extract themselves from breakout conversations and come back to plenary.

This is what we’ve learnt so far as we continue on with our journey. Ask me again in two months and I’ll have a whole lot more to say, no doubt. Meanwhile, I’m curious to learn how other likeminded coaches and facilitators have adapted to delivering learnings. Please do share so that the next edition could be even more comprehensive.

Connect with Katy Tuncer via LinkedIn

I invent products and coaching methods that transform leadership mindsets. The leaders and coaches I coach are proving the value of our work together every day, by achieving world-changing business results. Katy Tuncer is Director of Coaching, Horizon37 Ltd. Horizon37 designs and delivers leadership coaching programmes for scale-up exec and non-exec teams, enabling them to succeed in breaking new ground.

A serial founder, Katy has “been there, done that” in a vast array of senior leadership roles (in tech start-ups, McKinsey, the British Army, Met Police). Katy brings perspective and insight to transform how leaders think, and she coaches at pace. It’s all about results. Katy is also a McKinsey trained consultant and accredited executive coach (APECS), with a strong and diverse track record of personal leadership and is a global expert on women’s physical activity. She was also listed as one of the BBC 100 Women and also won a Prime Minister's 2016 Point of Light award for her community volunteering.