How often have you left a virtual gathering with less energy than when it started?
When it feels like the energy is being sucked out of a virtual room, it feels like it’s being sucked out of all the participants too as they have to put in extra effort to stay present and engaged.
So how do you design meaningful virtual gatherings that leave participants feeling energized instead of exhausted?
This has been a question I’ve had the pleasure of exploring these past few months in collaboration with some extraordinary facilitators from around the world—Lori Lewis, Linda Smit, and Kiron Bondale—and with the support of Miro (special thanks to Eduardo Gomez Ruiz).
Instead of focusing on the “how” of effective virtual facilitation, we explored the “what” and “why” by taking a principles-based approach to the topic.
Our exploration led us to develop 10 guiding principles of energizing virtual facilitation, providing a powerful lens to tailor the design of your virtual event to best serve your people and your purpose.
10 guiding principles of energizing virtual facilitation:
- Get clear and aligned about your goals and desired outcomes before you choose the process and tools.
- Remember this is virtual facilitation, and not in-person facilitation.
- Set clear expectations about the rules of engagement.
- Context counts, so take it into account.
- Meet people where they are and practice empathy.
- Set your participants up to be the heroes of the experience.
- Take care of your people.
- Know when it’s time to push just a bit more and when it’s time to take a break.
- Don’t be boring!
- Don’t take yourself too seriously!
Facilitation is a key leadership skill, and we hope many people find these principles valuable, including anyone who hosts virtual gatherings and anyone who participates in them.
For more details of each of the 10 guiding principles, check out this guest post we co-wrote for Miro’s blog.
