How inviting is your virtual meeting space?

There are different kind of online meetings and each meeting also has a different characteristic trait. It can be very formal or more informal. Some are transactional others reflective, conversational, experimental, inspirational or playful.

Characterising a meeting can be helpful in the preparation process. Putting words around the meeting’s unique character supports us in developing a shared understanding why and how we meet and what we want to achieve together. I like to play the association game to find out what type of container and atmosphere I have to create as facilitator.

Which color would this meeting have? Blue, green or orange?
How would it smell?
Is it more spring or autumn? Is it low tide or high tide? Early morning or later afternoon, Monday or Friday?
Is it male or female?
If it would be an animal which one would it be? What would it do?
What is the landscape, how does it look like?
What is the temperature? Is it a bit cloudy or is the sun shining?

In an online meeting this imaginary preparatory work is maybe even more important than if we would meet in person.

In the virtual space we cannot play with chairs (LINK) or tasty coffee breaks. It is us, the people, our words and our voices, our faces and expressions, our mood and our motivation that create the atmosphere. A colourful invitation and the spirit in which we invite people can make the difference. Inviting people into a virtual meeting space is not a technical question. That is why I love the association game.

Upcoming workshops

Unhurried at Work Workshop Amsterdam with Johnnie Moore, September 10 & 11, info here
Unhurried Conversations – gesprekken zonder haast, May 28 on Zoom, info here

Liberating Structures Immersion Workshop, July 8 & 9 ONLINE on Zoom info here
Liberating Structures for Monitoring & Evaluation specialists, Sept. 3 & 4, Leiderdrop near The Hague NL info here

Bringing your meetings and workshops online: Confident, Creative & Convincing! 3rd edition starting on May 18 on Zoom, info here

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