Facilitation – Video / Teleconferences
Three threads on video/ teleconferences, one from 2002, one from 2000, one from 1999.
Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2002 20:24:23 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
From: Sandor P Schuman <sschuman@csc.albany.edu>
To: Gary Purser <gary@gpassoc.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [GF] Teleconferencing
On Wed, 6 Mar 2002, Gary Purser wrote:
> I can recall the group discussing teleconferencing some time
> ago and religiously saved the pearls of wisdom, filed them in
> my wonderful system and guess what - I am now involved in
> facilitating one and can't find any of it! So has anyone got
> some guidelines, process advice, hints, do's and don'ts for a
> teleconference of 20 people who have not been involved in one
> before.
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 07:44:12 -0400
From: Martha Lasley <martha@ltworks.com>
To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
Subject: [GF] speaker phones on conference call
Tony -
Speaker phones on a conference call can be totally frustrating.
If you can get each person to call in on a separate line, you're
better off. I prefer using a bridge line, which you can rent for
about $15 / hour. These are some of the tips we share with people
who gather on a bridge line.
Bridge Line Tips and Protocol
1. Schedule one full hour of uninterrupted time to participate in
the call.
2. Use your telephone mute button if you have background noise.
If you don't have a mute button, just call from a very quiet
location.
3. If you have a ^Ócall-waiting^Ô feature on your line, please
disable it before dialing in to the call by dialing *70. After
you hang up, your call-waiting feature automatically resumes.
4. Please do not use speaker phones. Cordless phones and
headsets are usually fine.
5. Since the people on the call can^Òt see you, whenever you
speak, say your name first.
6. Call in precisely at the top of the hour. The first person to
call in will hear the phone ring until the second person calls,
which opens up the line.
7. If you must leave the call early, please notify the leader.
Simply hanging up is not courteous, and is equivalent to walking
out of the room.
Thank you for honoring these requests!
As for lack of visuals, I find it helpful to ask people to
imagine that we're all in one room and that you'll really have to
listen to "see" what's going on. Just like in a face-to-face
meeting, you can hear it if people are multi-tasking or
disengaged or holding back. As the facilitator it helps to keep
track of who hasn't spoken up so that you can draw them in, and
it will help people stay on track if you summarize the
proceedings by flip charting everything orally at important
stages in the discussion. Group calls are a real test of
facilitation skills AND a great learning tool to hone those
skills! - Martha Lasley
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 14:55:18 -0700
From: Tony Wong <TonyWong@uniserve.com>
To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
Subject: [GF] Update: Surviving facilitating 9 way conference call
Recently, I posted a question about tips for managing a
conference call involving up to 9 parties and up to 15
individuals in a brainstorming session. I'm happy to report I
survived the conference call despite the potential for chaos.
Here's an update on what I learned.
Thanks to the folks who provided suggestions on facilitating
such a challenging venue. In addition to the responses already
posted to the group, the following are other suggestions I
received:
- Dig a little deeper and find out why the client is determined
to have a conference call with so many people..
- Do a reality check: 15 people in one hour gives only 4 minutes
per person to speak on average.
- Have participants state their names when they begin speaking
"Tony here...." so we know who is speaking and the facilitator
can call on those that haven't said much.
- Have participants mute their speaker phones to keep background
noise to a minimum.
- Confirm that everyone can participate for the duration of the
call; if someone must leave, to tell the group so we know they
left.
- Participants should be aware if their office phone system pipes
in background music when they put their phone on Hold if they
have to step away.
- Use a dial-in service for the conference call (which we did)
And this from N. White:
>I often use "the clock" on conference calls to help people get and keep a
>sense of place and participation in a disembodied conf call (I use this
>with structured online chats as well).
>
>I ask every one to draw a circle on a piece of paper and mark the hours
>like a clock. Then, each person is assigned a spot on the "clock" as the
>join the group. So the first person is 1 o clock, the second 2, etc. If
>there are more than twelve, I start adding 1:30, 2:30 etc.
>
>I use this initially for intros -- the first go round, then use it to
>ensure everyone speaks, and also to match names/voices/input. I often keep
>little notes on my "clock" as well.
>
>I use this in my online facilitation class (calls with up to 20 people)
>and
>the students consistently love this little tip and take it back and apply
>it
>at their workplace. Simple, but works like a charm.
As an adjunct to the conference call, I set up a Web based forum
for my clients so people can follow and contribute to the
discussions when they have time. I used "www.ezboard.com" but
there are other free and for-fee options available including
www.groupsystems.com. Another suggestion was if available, to use
Lotus Notes to share information.
In the end, we had 9 parties and 11 people on the conference
call. Four to five people did most of the talking. Upon checking
with the other participants, they preferred to listen and
observe. So my concerns about trying to keep order didn't amount
to much. Nonetheless, I think implementing many of the
suggestions I received helped a lot.
The only difficulty (and this is chronic challenge for me) was
keeping within the time allotted for each item on the agenda.
Invariably, I find it hard to know when to cut off discussion
even though the discussion is still on topic and relevant to the
particular agenda item. I feel there is worthwhile discussion
going on but at the same time, the clock is ticking away. I
wonder how other people handle this?
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 09:46:36 -0700
From: Bill Harris <bill_harris@facilitatedsystems.com>
To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
Subject: Re: [GF] Help on Facilitating Teleconferences
"Niziol, Fred" wrote:
> I need some ideas. As a result of last weeks events, a JAD
> session I was to conduct has gone from an in-person event to
> a half-the-
> group-will-be-there-and-the-other-half-are-scattered-across-the-country-and-
> will-be-on-the-phone-JAD. I may have just coined a new term
> here :). I
Love the acronym: HTGWBTATOHASATCAWBOTPJ. I can see it as the
catchy title of a session in some future IAF conference, assuming
you can pronounce it. :-)
> haven't done a lot of telephone facilitation. How do you
> manage multiple conversations? Are there specific things any
> of you like to do when facilitating this kind of situation?
> Fortunately all participants will have subject matter
> documents.
I'm not a JAD facilitation expert, although I was a software
quality manager for a while and am familiar with the approach.
I do lots of online facilitation and work of varying sorts,
though. Here are some ideas; we can talk more if you're
interested.
First, if you're really doing a phone only meeting, remember that
you need to do with your voice everything you'd do in a myriad
other ways. That means using varying tone and inflection, giving
explicit directions, etc., to compensate for the lack of
information organization a shared visual dimension can provide.
For example, you may want everyone to write down some things
you'd normally put on a flipchart, and you'll need to ask people
to do that.
I'm not sure you can manage multiple conversations well on a
purely phone conference. You might get away with it using plenty
of explicit direction.
Don't go too long at a time without breaks. Over an hour gets
pretty lengthy, especially if people have only handsets. Good
headsets do help (I found one I like that isn't too expensive,
and it's good, because there are days I'm on the phone for a full
8 hours, it seems), but attention spans can still be a problem.
Have people identify themselves when they talk; don't rely on
recognizing voices, even of people you think you know (or know
you).
It sounds like you'll have half the team in a room together and
half on phones. Consider abandoning the room and using only
phones to balance influence in the meeting and to raise the
average level of interaction. (I have been in successful meetings
with speakerphones, but there's always the problem of the
phone-in people being second class participants in general
discussions.)
You might consider augmenting the phone with other tools, if
people have simultaneous phone and Internet connections. One
option is simply to find NetMeeting or a NetMeeting "equivalent"
to be able to show material, mark on it, and interact in creating
documents together. Bernie DeKoven has talked about his
technography approach which could work for this, especially if
you added a graphical component so you and others could draw
pictures (Bernie, excuse me if you already use a graphical
component and I misrepresented you). There are a number of
interesting possibilities.
You could also do an asynchronous meeting.
http://facilitatedsystems.com/matrix.pdf gives one person's ideas
about when that might be appropriate. Asynchronous meetings
require a bit of a different mindset than a synchronous meeting
(some people might say it requires a strange mindset to even call
it a meeting :-); http://facilitatedsystems.com/onlinefac.pdf
gives a few ideas that could help in thinking about the approach.
Does that help? Best wishes.
Bill
> Thanks, the help is appreciated
>
> Fred Niziol
> Social Security Administration
> Baltimore, MD USA
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 10:58:14 -0500
From: Sam Lane <SXAL@srskansas.org>
To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
Subject: Re: [GF] Help on Facilitating Teleconferences
attached is a brief guide on the technical process - same
document is provided in two formats. hope this is of some
assistance.
RULES FOR EFFECTIVE AUDIO-CONFERENCING
? Test The Effective Distance A Speaker Can Be From Your Speaker-Phone Microphone
? it is usually
? no less than 1 foot
? no more than 3 foot
? be considerate
? move the mike to the speaker or the speaker to the mike
? add satellite microphones where possible
? alert conference coordinator/speaker when you can't hear
? don't let the meeting go forward until all participants can hear all the time
? Call In On Time
? Provide To All Participants In Advance
? roster of attendees
? take attendance
? note absences or substitutions so that attendees can "see" who is in the "conference room"
? agenda
? a copy of these rules
? Don't Put An Audio-Conference On Hold
? that often adds Muzak
? hang up and call back to rejoin conference
? Raise Your Hand Before Speaking
? by stating your name and location/organization
? Eliminate Background Noise
? use mute button when not speaking
? don't type, shuffle papers, or have a side conversation when the mike is "open"
? Keep it Clear
? don't speak at the same time as another speaker
? mikes are noise activated - noise on two mikes means no sound is carried
? provide written materials in advance
? Break Often For Questions and Clarification
From belazari@worldnet.att.net Mon Sep 17 15:25:20 2001
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 10:45:57 -0700
From: Barbara Elazari <belazari@worldnet.att.net>
To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
Subject: Re: [GF] Help on Facilitating Teleconferences
I have done a lot of facilitating on conference calls and WebEx so here are
some things that immediately come to mind:
1) Draw a diagram on a sheet of paper indicating the locations people are
calling from. Then within those locations, list who the people are and what
their role is. If you can get this ahead of time, you will save some time.
Otherwise do it as part of the introductions to the meeting.
2) If you have a large meeting (more than 7 people), you will need to play a
more directing role than you might normally do. This is due to telephone
technology where one person gets control of the phone and it is hard to get
it back. At the beginning of the meeting, suggest to the group how you
would like to have the meeting progress and then modify accordingly.
3). A good way to start on any topic is to go around the table once,
letting each person speak for a specific amount of time. Then open up for
general discussion. This way everyone has had a chance to voice their
opinion without contention on the phone. If people are grouped together in
a location, you can use that as way to focus questions - "Any questions from
location 1?"
4). Have everyone preface their question/comment with the name of the person
they are addressing or the entire group if that is the case. For example,
"Dave, what do you think about...?"
5) Set time limits for topics and remind the group when they are coming
close.
6). Try to structure the agenda into small chunks of work with specific
goals. That helps to divert tangential discussion to the correct topic.
"Thanks for bring that up, George, we will address it during the ____
topic".
7). Don't forget to take breaks.
8). Keep the energy up by using peoples' names, not letting
anyone dominate, going around the table so everyone can
participate, setting specific, short term targets, taking breaks
and checking with the group frequently for how the process is
going. It is very easy to lose peoples' energy and focus on the
phone. They are all doing email and reading stuff at the same
time.
Feel free to call me if you have any specific items you need help with.
Barbara Elazari
BEB and Associates, Inc.
Connecting People and Process
480-513-4646; email: belazari@worldnet.att.net
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 10:58:14 -0500
From: Sam Lane <SXAL@srskansas.org>
To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
Subject: Re: [GF] Help on Facilitating Teleconferences
Fred stated:
haven't done a lot of telephone facilitation. How do you manage
multiple conversations?
attached is a brief guide on the technical process - same
document is provided in two formats. hope this is of some
assistance.
Sam Lane
Creative Curmudgeon
Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2002 06:38:18 -0700
From: Til Luchau <til@ADVANCED-TRAININGS.COM>
To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
Subject: Re: [GF] Teleconferencing
Hi Gary
You asked about teleconferencing logistics. Here is a participant info sheet
we've compiled, much of it kindly provided by Telebridge.
We also have a list of "Telecourse Frequently Asked Questions" at:
http://www.advanced-trainings.com/telecoursefaq.html
Feel free to adapt it, and have fun!
Til Luchau
Advanced-Trainings.com
Tel. +1 303/499-8811x3
Fax +1 309/423-9281
Email: info@advanced-trainings.com
Web: http://www.advanced-trainings.com
=======
Information for Teleconference Participants
Basic Instructions
If you have call-waiting, we ask that you first disable it before dialing
into the teleconference. For most local phone companies, you disable
call-waiting by picking up the phone, waiting for the dial tone, dialing *70
(that's star seven zero), waiting for the dial tone again, and then dialing
the bridge number.
Please dial the teleconference number at the appointed time. You will be
connected to the other callers automatically without dialing any further
numbers.
Those already connected will hear a short tone when you join the call, and
the call leader will usually say something like, "Hi, who just joined the
call?" or "Welcome, hold on a moment while everyone joins the call." If
you're late, the leader may not acknowledge you. That doesn't mean you're
not welcome. Just listen silently until you catch up with the meeting topic
before speaking.
In general, please say your name before speaking so that people will have no
difficulty identifying you.
Top of page
If Something Goes Wrong
First, Double-check the time, time zone, and number of the call. Most
difficulties are solved with this step.
If the phone rings but won't connect, one of two things has occurred. You
might have mis-dialed, or your timing is off. Check the number and redial.
If still no success, then check the time. The usual convention is to state
meeting times in Eastern Time (New York Time). To find the time for your own
time zone (North America):
* Eastern Time 6pm
* Central Time 5pm (subtract 1 hour)
* Mountain Time 4pm (subtract 2 hours)
* Pacific Time 3pm (subtract 3 hours)
International (Check for daylight saving time differences)
* Sao Paulo (UTC -4):
* London (UTC): 11pm
* Berlin (UTC +1): 12 midnight
* Sydney (UTC +9): 8am next day
If the phone rings and you receive a recorded message saying something like
"All circuits are busy, please try your call again later," or you receive a
"fast busy" signal, it means that not enough long distance lines are busy to
connect you to the teleconference. This sometimes happens between the hours
of 7PM and 11PM Eastern Time. Keep trying, or put your phone on auto re-dial
if you have that feature. You might try the call with another long distance
provider by dialing a predial code (a "10-10" code in the USA), or using a
calling card. Some common pre-dial codes are:
* AT & T = 10-10-288, 10-10-345
* Sprint = 10-10-333
* Frontier = 10-10-444
* MCI = 10-10-321, 10-10-220 (changes form time-to-time)
* VarTec = 10-10-811
You can also visit the web site www.10-10phonerates.com/ for additional
10-10 numbers.
If you receive a busy signal, it means that you either mis-dialed, or the
teleconference bridge is full. Check the number and dial again. If you still
receive a busy signal, then the bridge is full and is likely to remain full
for the duration of the teleconference.
If these steps fail, we have technical help standing by at the time of the
course at help@advanced-trainings.com or tel. +1 303/499-8811 x3.
Top of page
TeleConference Etiquette
There are several things elements of teleconference etiquette, please review
these before you call. They include:
1. Mute Button. Use your telephone's mute button, if there is one.
Background noise, the dog barking, radio, etc., could be a problem for the
other participants. If you don't have a mute button, don't worry. Just try
to call from a quiet location.
2. Breathing. Some people breathe 'heavier' than others. Most of the
heavy breathers don't realize it. (Who, ME?) So, we ask everyone to hold the
mouthpiece or telephone headset microphone a bit away from their mouth and
nose, unless they are speaking. This sounds pretty silly, but when you're on
a call with a heavy breather, you'll understand why it matters!
3. 2-line phones. If you have a two-line phone, please turn the ringer
off of the second line. If you don't, and you get a call during the
TeleClass, it can really be a shrill noise that everyone hears.
4. Pets. If you're on a smaller TeleConference (like 10-30 callers), your
dog will probably woof at exactly the time needed for some comic relief, so
it's not usually a problem. But if you're on a larger TeleConference (30-100
callers), please put pets in another room.
5. Speakerphones, Cell phones and Cordless phones. Please don't use them.
Speakerphones are wonderful things, but we ask that you not speak into them
when sharing. Pick up the handset when you share and put the mute button on
when you're just listening. The clarity/quality simply isn't good enough on
any of these phones.
6. Sharing. The leader will usually ask for callers to share or respond,
throughout the call. However, please wait to be prompted -- don't just speak
up, unless invited. If/when you do share, say something like, "Thomas (or
the leader's name), this is Bob from Tampa." The leader will say, "Yes, Bob,
go ahead." Then you can say whatever you'd like to. Always use the leader's
name and wait until they respond, indicating that you can proceed. On
smaller calls this formality isn't usually needed and there is a natural
flow to people sharing and discussing.
7. CrossTalk. If another caller says something that you want to
comment on or ask more information about, go through the leader,
don't speak to the person directly, at least at first. Let the
leader play traffic director. You could say something like,
"Thomas, can I ask that Marlene rephrase the point she just
made?" Again, on smaller calls, this isn't as necessary, but on
the large calls, it really is.
8. Early/Late Please don't call the telecourse number before the
scheduled time -- another conference may be in session. If you're
late to the call, no problem, just dial in and be silent until
you catch on to what's being discussed. The leader may or may not
officially welcome you -- but probably won't so as not to disturb
the flow of the call. That doesn't mean you're not welcome! And,
finally, if you're more than 10 minutes late, be really careful
about asking questions, as they may well have been asked earlier.
on 03.06.2002 2:50 AM, Gary Purser at gary@GPASSOC.DEMON.CO.UK wrote:
> I can recall the group discussing teleconferencing some time
> ago and religiously saved the pearls of wisdom, filed them in
> my wonderful system and guess what - I am now involved in
> facilitating one and can't find any of it! So has anyone got
> some guidelines, process advice, hints, do's and don'ts for a
> teleconference of 20 people who have not been involved in one
> before.
>
Til Luchau
Advanced-Trainings.com
Rural Route 5, 3514 Nyland Way South
Lafayette, Colorado USA 80026
Tel. +1 303/499-8811x3
Fax +1 309/423-9281
Email: info@advanced-trainings.com
Web: http://www.advanced-trainings.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 08:01:59 -0600
From: "Michael L. Begeman" <begeman@cmsi.com>
Subject: Re: Meetings via Teleconference
Frank - I've done a lot of teleconferencing - several a week. Some of the "tips" for doing this effectively are summarized in a several of the Meeting Guides I did for 3M. Though a couple of the titles say "videoconferencing" about 75% of their content applies equally well to teleconferencing.
Here are the articles...
Remote Meeting Preparation
http://www.3M.com/meetingnetwork/readingroom/meetingguide_location.html
Planning a Videoconference
http://www.3M.com/meetingnetwork/readingroom/meetingguide_plan_video.html
Running a Videoconference
http://www.3M.com/meetingnetwork/readingroom/meetingguide_run_video.html
Leading a Distributed Team
http://www.3M.com/meetingnetwork/readingroom/meetingguide_distribteam.html
If you like these, the complete list of Meeting Guides is at...
http://www.3M.com/meetingnetwork/readingroom/meetingguides.html
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 08:11:44 -0800
From: Bill Harris <bill_harris@facilitatedsystems.com>
Subject: Re: Meetings via Teleconference
Frank,
> Does anyone have experience running meeting via teleconference (not video
> conference). I need to conduct a two-hour session with half-dozen or so folks
> teleconferenced in (no one is in the same room as another).
I presume you're describing a phone conference, not a Web-based conference. (Note that asynchronous Web or email conferences exist and have certain strong advantages.)
One simple tip for a phone conference is to assign people to "locations" when they call in. For example, you could assign them to times on a clock; if they understand where the hours on a clock face are, they begin to have a mental picture of who is "sitting" where. You can also make up something else that gives everyone a simple mental picture of who is present and how they are arranged. Encourage them to write it down for reference during the meeting. That can be useful if you want to go "around the table" in soliciting inputs from everyone.
If everyone can access the Internet while talking on the phone, I've had success with NetMeeting as a simple flip chart to assist the conversation. PlaceWare is a nice tool, too, but it may be overkill for such a small group.
Two hours seems near the upper limit of a teleconference without a bio break, both for the typical reason and to give one's ears a break; it helps if people have headphones rather than handsets, though.
In essence, the key is to use audio cues to replace the features you'd normally get in collocated meetings, or get people to write things down locally to substitute for the flip chart you might use in a conference room. It takes a bit of panache to make it seem natural.
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 13:20:57 -0500
From: Bernie DeKoven <bernie@coworking.com>
Subject: Re: Meetings via Teleconference
Frank asks:
Does anyone have experience running meeting via teleconference (not video conference). I need to conduct a two-hour session with half-dozen or so folks teleconferenced in (no one is in the same room as another).
Bernie gleefully responds:
If you would could add a dataconference channel, then, yes in deed, I've a virtual load of ideas for how you can facilitate productive dialog. To catch my conceptual drift, see my website: http://www.coworking.com.
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 01:07:04 -0500
From: Ruth Urban <ruth_rug@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Meetings via Teleconference
Hi All,
In response to the question "Does anyone have experience running meeting via teleconference
(not video conference). I need to conduct a two-hour session with half-dozen or so folks
> teleconferenced in (no one is in the same room as another)."
I have been facilitating a series of teleconferences for committee meetings of a statewide coalition. Usually, half the participants are in the same room with me and several are on the phone, some together and others calling in on a single line. While this might sound sophomoric, don't forget the basics. Have the agenda and all support materials, including copies of anything posted on the walls, like the mission etc. mailed or faxed to the participants in advance. Sometimes additional people join the meeting and they don't have the materials. If possible fax the material right then and there. We always go over the ground rules, one of which is for the speaker to identify themselves when commenting. My role as a facilitator is often to identify who is speaking when the speaker has forgotten to say their name. In order to keep minutes, the meetings are recorded, only after all participants have agreed to do so.
One challenge that I have encountered is with the portion of the group that are together because they sometimes start discussing issues to the exclusion of those on the phone. My role is to bring them back to the entire group. Because body language is not observable, it is important to check the status of how an idea is sitting by soliciting comment from those who are silent on the phone. Some committee chairs are better than others in doing this. Using a flip chart is problematic for those on the phone. I will often read what's on the chart, asking those on the phone to jot down notes. Recently, the group had to create a list of options and then prioritize them. The group itself came up with the method to do this.They suggested those in the same room go first and verbalize their selection in prioritizing the list so those on the phone would have the benefit of hearing the options. As has been said often on this list, don't underestimate the wisdom of the group. Seek their ideas when a challenge presents itself, even on the phone.
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 08:26:17 -0600
From: "Michael L. Begeman" <begeman@cmsi.com>
Subject: Re: Meetings via Teleconference
Ruth Urban wrote...
> Using a flip chart is problematic for those on the phone. I will often read
> what's on the chart, asking those on the phone to jot down notes.
This "sharing the flipchart" problem reminded me of a solution I've used successfully a few times. It requires some technical savvy & some infrastructure, but it works.
First the infrastructure: I have a "Mimio" in my office. It's a $499 gizmo that sticks to a wall or whiteboard with suction cups and turns the surface into a digital whiteboard. What I write on the board (or wall) shows up on my computer.
Now the technical savvy: I have Microsoft NetMeeting (free) loaded on my computer. I make sure the remote participants do too, before the meeting. NetMeeting allows us to "link" our computers together (application sharing) using a standard internet connection.
During the meeting, I stick flip chart paper (or Post-it(r) Easel Pad sheets) on the wall by the Mimio. What I write on the flip chart paper also shows up on my computer, and on the remote participants' computers too (in color)! They see what we see in the room. Very cool.
For more info on the components of this solution...
http://www.mimio.com/index2.html
http://www.microsoft.com/netmeeting
http://www.3m.com/post-it
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 06:45:41 -0800
From: Bernie DeKoven <bernie@coworking.com>
Subject: Re: Meetings via Teleconference
Mimio is definitely cool. On the other hand, you can also do the same thing without Mimio, right on your computer. You can share a monitor in the conference room, or even use a data projector.
A lower-tech solution: the fax machine. If you've people in the room and you need to use a flipchart with them, have somebody copy the flipchart down onto a sheet of paper. Send the fax as soon as a sheet gets full, or there's a five minute break, or a subject is closed.
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 11:13:30 -0600
From: "Michael L. Begeman" <begeman@cmsi.com>
Subject: Re: Meetings via Teleconference
NetMeeting allows remote users to "see" ANY application running on your PC (provided that you want them to see it). Your pad & pen undoubtedly came with some software application that displays, on your screen, what's drawn on the pad. So yes, that would work too.
Last month I wrote a "3M Meeting Advisor" article on remote presentation technology that bumps up against this topic too. You can read the article (1st one listed) in the Meeting Advisor archives at...
http://www.3M.com/meetingnetwork/interact/archive.html
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 15:37:04 EST
From: Clamo88@aol.com
Subject: Re: Meetings via Teleconference
I've done meetings this way as well had a student complete her course after being transferred to Atlanta a third of the way through. Essentials to success in both types of situations is that any documentation is sent out early, easily referenced during the meeting (PowerPoint slides work well for this, but make sure you put a footer with page numbering in), and time for questions (which also means allowing for silent moments in which people are thinking) is built in.
Providing documentation early gives people time to prepare comments & questions, and if you do a "notes" form of PowerPoint (or similar program), it gives them room for notes and preparation right on the sheet they'll reference during the meeting.
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 21:45:24 EST
From: Frank Hines <ProdIntro@aol.com>
Subject: Meetings via teleconference - thanks
Thanks to all for your messages on teleconference meetings. I got to try out some of your ideas tonite and it was a smashing success. FYI, I went for a simple teleconference with 9 people; no video, no data.
Used simple ground rules like state your name to speak. Also, used (someone's) idea of polling the group often to allow everyone to chime in on a topic or answer a question. Once we got into it everything went smoothly. Most of all, the client was thrilled and I'll be conducting a series of these over coming months.
From: Group Facilitation [mailto:GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu]On Behalf
Of Michael L. Begeman
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2000 9:14 AM
To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
Subject: Re: Meetings via Teleconference
NetMeeting allows remote users to "see" ANY application running on your PC
(provided that you want them to see it). Your pad & pen undoubtedly came
with some software application that displays, on your screen, what's drawn
on the pad. So yes, that would work too.
Last month I wrote a "3M Meeting Advisor" article on remote presentation
technology that bumps up against this topic too. You can read the article
(1st one listed) in the Meeting Advisor archives at...
http://www.3M.com/meetingnetwork/interact/archive.html
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 22:24:43 EDT
From: Frank Hines <ProdIntro@aol.com>
Subject: Teleconference sessions
A while back, I posted a request for help on running teleconferenced
focus-group-like sessions; I just wanted to thank everyone who offered ideas.
Tonight was my first set of sessions and it was a tremendous success.
We run our own flavor of interactive focus groups (we don't really like to
call them focus groups because there is more emphasis on collaborating with
participants than on market research).
What worked: Moving quickly, not polling people in any given order; it kept
everyone engaged and on their toes. Also, in the intros I asked people to
describe their physical surroundings and (while it did not really make it
more like being in the room together) people got a lot of laughs and it
loosened the group up. Oh, and we had a break in the middle of the session (I
told everyone not to hang up, just lie down the phones); of course, I asked
everyone what they had brought back from the fridge for me. The whole break
idea really energized the call.
From someone's input, I selected the Vialog teleconferencing service and it
was excellent. A lot of cool, easy features that helped me control the calls.
Also, sending out ground rules and other stimulae in advance really helped.
Challenges: The biggest problem was that, since they had to dial in, we had
four (out of 16) no shows. Any ideas on how to get folks to call in at the
appointed hour?
Again, thanks to all! This method is infinitely inferior to face-to-face
sessions but, with your input, I definitely made tasty lemonade out of these
lemons.
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 23:07:48 -0600
From: Rosemary Cairns <rcairns@internorth.com>
Subject: Re: Conference Call Facilitation
Now it's time to jump in and ask a question: What is
> people's experience in facilitating a conference call with 10-15 people
> on-line simultaneously?
>
I will be interested to hear other responses to Tony's question. Here in
the North, conference calls are a fact of life, given high travel costs,
less travel money, etc. Today, I facilitated a workshop via conference
call that involved 3 of us in one office here, and three people in three
other communities. The goal was to work on a plan for building and
nurturing new partnerships for an organization that is itself a
partnership.
This was, for me, an experiment. It meant that I had to create all of
the things that I normally would use (cards on walls, flip charts, etc)
just from the resources of the people on the phone and my own voice and
facilitation. I asked people to observe the process and provide comments
at the end, which they did.
Here are some thoughts, based on that experience:
1) a clear focus question, reiterated at several key points, is helpful.
I sent this out by email in advance, along with a request that people do
an individual brainstorming to answer the question, in advance of the
workshop. I supported it with a resource document that took other
relevant work that had already been done and highlighted the parts
relevant to our workshop.
2) in lieu of small group work to take brainstormed individual ideas on
to cards, I asked everyone to write down the key thoughts from each
person's brainstorming list as they read it out. Then I asked each
person, in turn, to say what words they noticed other people use.
3) I wrote everyone's name on pieces of paper, even the people
physically present, and used those pieces of paper to make sure I went
around the circle each and every time. This meant everyone knew they
would have a chance to speak. (The suggestion at the end, for improving
the process, was that I rotate the person called on first - so moving
the paper with the first person's name to the end would ensure everyone
had a chance to speak first. And this is a helpful suggestion which I
will incorporate next time.)
4) At the start of the workshop, I asked everyone to tell me what they
wanted to achieve and if they had any time constraints. This revealed
that several people had to be finished earlier than the conference call
was scheduled to end, so then I committed to be finished by that time.
This also helped everyone else to be aware of the time constraints, and
other factors (i.e. one person's office was moving around them, another
person had a sore throat and cough, another person had just been given a
new assignment to complete before 5 p.m.) that were helpful to know.
5) When an issue was raised that people felt was important to discuss, I
proposed a time limit for dealing with it, and some people advised me
they felt this was helpful in assuring everyone that the work planned
for the meeting would get done, while still allowing an important issue
to be addressed.
6) People felt the 1.5 hour meeting was very productive and achieved
much more than they had thought we would achieve, which was very
gratifying.
I will be continuing to experiment with ways to create effective
workshop delivery and strategic planning methods that use conference
calls, as I think we will be doing more and more of this in the North.
It will be a while before we will be able to do electronic meeting
methods consistently in all small Northern communities, so conference
calls will be the mainstay for a while yet, I think. I will be
interested to read about other people's experiences, ideas and
suggestions in this area.
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 01:08:13 -0700
From: John Walker <jbwalker@smartt.com>
Subject: Re: Facilitating conference call with 9+ parties on speakerphones
Tony Wong wrote:
> As a lurker to the GF group I've enjoyed the discussions and gleaned
> alot to think about. Now it's time to jump in and ask a question: What is
> people's experience in facilitating a conference call with 10-15 people
> on-line simultaneously?
> The situation is a scheduled 1 hour conference call <snip>
> The objective of the call is to brainstorm and discuss methods for
> approaching the next step in planning process.
I've had no problem facilitating conference calls but the most
I've had was about four people.
There are of course the general problems with conference calls,
such as establishing who is speaking, keeping a common visual
record of the meeting points established, at each location etc.
But you're facing a particular issue that would be a problem in
a face-to-face meeting: getting input from 15 people in one hour!
That gives everyone about 4 minutes each even if you don't say
anything!
It might help to find out what exactly is behind the client's
insistence on this particular forum, and to structure the meeting
to fit that particular need. For example, if it is to get the input
of 9 different offices, would it be possible to get each office
to prepare a three minute focus on their particular issues and
ideas? Then follow up with a two minute response from each
group to the other presentations ("we really agree with 'x' but
disagree with 'y'").
Perhaps this isn't the greatest solution, but my point is simply
that there may be better alternatives to a 60 minutes free-
for-all. In fact, even a 60 minute free-for-all may deliver
nothing coherent but still achieve the client's objectives.
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 07:44:12 -0400
From: Martha Lasley <martha@LTWorks.com>
Subject: speaker phones on conference call
Tony -
Speaker phones on a conference call can be totally frustrating. If you can get each person to call in on a separate line, you're better off. I prefer using a bridge line, which you can rent for about $15 / hour. These are some of the tips we share with people who gather on a bridge line.
Bridge Line Tips and Protocol
1. Schedule one full hour of uninterrupted time to participate in the call.
2. Use your telephone mute button if you have background noise. If you don't have a mute button, just call from a very quiet location.
3. If you have a “call-waiting” feature on your line, please disable it before dialing in to the call by dialing *70. After you hang up, your call-waiting feature automatically resumes.
4. Please do not use speaker phones. Cordless phones and headsets are usually fine.
5. Since the people on the call can’t see you, whenever you speak, say your name first.
6. Call in precisely at the top of the hour. The first person to call in will hear the phone ring until the second person calls, which opens up the line.
7. If you must leave the call early, please notify the leader. Simply hanging up is not courteous, and is equivalent to walking out of the room.
Thank you for honoring these requests!
As for lack of visuals, I find it helpful to ask people to imagine that we're all in one room and that you'll really have to listen to "see" what's going on. Just like in a face-to-face meeting, you can hear it if people are multi-tasking or disengaged or holding back. As the facilitator it helps to keep track of who hasn't spoken up so that you can draw them in, and it will help people stay on track if you summarize the proceedings by flip charting
everything orally at important stages in the discussion. Group calls are a real test of facilitation skills AND a great learning tool to hone those skills! - Martha Lasley
Here are some conference call guidelines we identified in our Open Space
at the IAF Conference.
- Use ice breaker questions with roll call
- Reminder to give name every time you speak
- Ask if all can stay for entire conference call ? then you can adjust
agenda if needed
- Have index cards with each person’s name on to ask each person to say
what they want on each topic. These can be used in many ways to manage
participation. Rotate order in using so same person is not always
first.
- Ask everyone to keep notes like their own flip chart.
- Email notes as call is happening
- Try to have the same situation for all on the call (not some in group
and some alone)
- Put phone on mute, when not talking yourself.
- Need to have some face to face meeting.
- Go through list of who needs to do what after call.
- Summarize outcomes at end of call
- Evaluation of call process by each person at end of call.
- Acknowledge accomplishments
- Keep to 1 to 1.5 hours
- Relationship Building ie. like personal calls
Connie Coley Loden
For Nadine and others, here are the suggested Audio Conferencing Protocol
checklist from page 162 of Dr. Simon Priest's latest book on Electronic
Facilitation. Hope this list helps, even though its content may be a
little out of context (without the other supporting pages to explain in
more detail)....
* State your name (and/or location) before speaking
* Connect names to voices (address others by name)
* Speak clearly, slightly louder and slower than usual
* Expect others to experience delays with your voice
* Stand for better voice projection and/or enunciation
* Don't yell, use an active voice and vary your words
* Avoid long sentences and long or complex words
* Overview lengthy ideas before you present them
* Summarize lengthy ideas after you present them
* Take turns talking, one at a time, while others listen
* Expect noise and do your best to listen through it
* Minimize noise by not breathing into the microphone
* Listen carefully and avoid the tendency to interrupt
* Interrupt only when you don't hear or understand
* Ask permission of the moderator to share comments
* Moderator (not facilitator) should control responses
* Moderator should review audio conference protocols
* Moderator usually asks for information sharing first
* Moderator enables a smooth flow of presentations
* Moderator holds question and answer period after
* Consider a headset (reduces keyboard typing noise)
* Switch other phones and pagers to vibrate (or off)
* Disable call waiting (may introduce unusual tones)
* Use mute button (when interrupted or stepped out)
* Don't use hold button (may play background music)
Kimberley Ann Klint, PhD
Steve Spreckley asked for "some help... [regarding]
...any thoughts or experiences of improvement goals and performance indicators
for improving meeting performance."
Steve, and others who might be interested, we work with virtual teams and so
our work is with online meetings. Nevertheless, some of the basic tenets
are the same. I've attached a list of questions we encourage virtual teams
to ask about their meetings during evaluation. These may assist others
with face to face meetings.
For me, the single most objective and effective predictor of meeting
"performance" (this is a product/task related function rather than a
process/relationship one) is: WHAT IS THE RATIO OF TIME USED FOR SYNCHRONOUS
WORK VERSUS ASYNCHRONOUS WORK? We have someone unobtrusively time the
meeting and note when the team is doing work that relates to their reasons for
meeting (cocreation and collaboration) and when they are doing work they could
have done before the meeting (read disseminated information). This ratio
is a powerful way to see how much the team is working and how much they are
wasting.
Here is the list of twelve evaluation questions from Dr. Simon Priest's latest
book on Electronic Facilitation of Virtual Teams.
[ ] Was asynchronous info. sharing done in
advance?
[ ] Was synchronous time used fully for collaboration?
[ ] Was a prioritized agenda created? Was it followed?
[ ] Were all invitees present? Why were some absent?
[ ] Were all on time? Were any latecomers disruptive?
[ ] Did the meeting start and/or finish as scheduled?
[ ] Did introductions or conclusions proceed smoothly?
[ ] Did the discussion stay focused? Always on track?
[ ] Did everyone have an opportunity to contribute?
[ ] Were the meeting objectives totally accomplished?
[ ] Did technical problems arise? Were they solved?
[ ] Were proper etiquette or online protocols followed?
Good luck with your improvement project.
Kimberley Ann Klint, PhD
"Niziol, Fred" wrote:
>
> Hi
> I need some ideas. As a result of last weeks events, a JAD session I was to
> conduct has gone from an in-person event to a half-the-
> group-will-be-there-and-the-other-half-are-scattered-across-the-country-and-
> will-be-on-the-phone-JAD. I may have just coined a new term here :). I
Love the acronym: HTGWBTATOHASATCAWBOTPJ. I can see it as the catchy
title of a session in some future IAF conference, assuming you can
pronounce it. :-)
> haven't done a lot of telephone facilitation. How do you manage multiple
> conversations? Are there specific things any of you like to do when
> facilitating this kind of situation? Fortunately all participants will have
> subject matter documents.
I'm not a JAD facilitation expert, although I was a software quality
manager for a while and am familiar with the approach. I do lots of
online facilitation and work of varying sorts, though. Here are some
ideas; we can talk more if you're interested.
First, if you're really doing a phone only meeting, remember that you
need to do with your voice everything you'd do in a myriad other ways.
That means using varying tone and inflection, giving explicit
directions, etc., to compensate for the lack of information organization
a shared visual dimension can provide. For example, you may want
everyone to write down some things you'd normally put on a flipchart,
and you'll need to ask people to do that.
I'm not sure you can manage multiple conversations well on a purely
phone conference. You might get away with it using plenty of explicit
direction.
Don't go too long at a time without breaks. Over an hour gets pretty
lengthy, especially if people have only handsets. Good headsets do help
(I found one I like that isn't too expensive, and it's good, because
there are days I'm on the phone for a full 8 hours, it seems), but
attention spans can still be a problem.
Have people identify themselves when they talk; don't rely on
recognizing voices, even of people you think you know (or know you).
It sounds like you'll have half the team in a room together and half on
phones. Consider abandoning the room and using only phones to balance
influence in the meeting and to raise the average level of interaction.
(I have been in successful meetings with speakerphones, but there's
always the problem of the phone-in people being second class
participants in general discussions.)
You might consider augmenting the phone with other tools, if people have
simultaneous phone and Internet connections. One option is simply to
find NetMeeting or a NetMeeting "equivalent" to be able to show
material, mark on it, and interact in creating documents together.
Bernie DeKoven has talked about his technography approach which could
work for this, especially if you added a graphical component so you and
others could draw pictures (Bernie, excuse me if you already use a
graphical component and I misrepresented you). There are a number of
interesting possibilities.
You could also do an asynchronous meeting.
http://facilitatedsystems.com/matrix.pdf gives one person's ideas about
when that might be appropriate. Asynchronous meetings require a bit of
a different mindset than a synchronous meeting (some people might say it
requires a strange mindset to even call it a meeting :-);
http://facilitatedsystems.com/onlinefac.pdf gives a few ideas that could
help in thinking about the approach.
Does that help? Best wishes.
Bill Harris
RULES FOR EFFECTIVE AUDIO-CONFERENCING
! Test The Effective Distance A Speaker Can Be From Your Speaker-Phone Microphone
" it is usually
_ no less than 1 foot
_ no more than 3 foot
" be considerate
_ move the mike to the speaker or the speaker to the mike
_ add satellite microphones where possible
_ alert conference coordinator/speaker when you can’t hear
_ don’t let the meeting go forward until all participants can hear all the time
! Call In On Time
! Provide To All Participants In Advance
" roster of attendees
_ take attendance
_ note absences or substitutions so that attendees can “see” who is in the “conference room”
" agenda
" a copy of these rules
! Don’t Put An Audio-Conference On Hold
" that often adds Muzak
" hang up and call back to rejoin conference
! Raise Your Hand Before Speaking
" by stating your name and location/organization
! Eliminate Background Noise
" use mute button when not speaking
" don’t type, shuffle papers, or have a side conversation when the mike is “open”
! Keep it Clear
" don’t speak at the same time as another speaker
_ mikes are noise activated - noise on two mikes means no sound is carried
" provide written materials in advance
! Break Often For Questions and Clarification
Sam Lane
Hi Fred,
I have done a lot of facilitating on conference calls and WebEx so here are
some things that immediately come to mind:
1) Draw a diagram on a sheet of paper indicating the locations people are
calling from. Then within those locations, list who the people are and what
their role is. If you can get this ahead of time, you will save some time.
Otherwise do it as part of the introductions to the meeting.
2) If you have a large meeting (more than 7 people), you will need to play a
more directing role than you might normally do. This is due to telephone
technology where one person gets control of the phone and it is hard to get
it back. At the beginning of the meeting, suggest to the group how you
would like to have the meeting progress and then modify accordingly.
3). A good way to start on any topic is to go around the table once,
letting each person speak for a specific amount of time. Then open up for
general discussion. This way everyone has had a chance to voice their
opinion without contention on the phone. If people are grouped together in
a location, you can use that as way to focus questions - "Any questions from
location 1?"
4). Have everyone preface their question/comment with the name of the person
they are addressing or the entire group if that is the case. For example,
"Dave, what do you think about...?"
5) Set time limits for topics and remind the group when they are coming
close.
6). Try to structure the agenda into small chunks of work with specific
goals. That helps to divert tangential discussion to the correct topic.
"Thanks for bring that up, George, we will address it during the ____
topic".
7). Don't forget to take breaks.
8). Keep the energy up by using peoples' names, not letting anyone dominate,
going around the table so everyone can participate, setting specific, short
term targets, taking breaks and checking with the group frequently for how
the process is going. It is very easy to lose peoples' energy and focus on
the phone. They are all doing email and reading stuff at the same time.
Feel free to call me if you have any specific items you need help with.
Barbara Elazari
Tony Wong asked this question back in August 2000. Below are his summarized
responses. Maybe we can add the ones added today and then have a new faq
for the group?
:
>X-Sender: TonyWong@pop.uniserve.com (Unverified)
>X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 4.3
>Approved-By: Tony Wong <TonyWong@UNISERVE.COM>
>Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 14:55:18 -0700
>Reply-To: Tony Wong <TonyWong@uniserve.com>
>Sender: Group Facilitation <GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu>
>From: Tony Wong <TonyWong@uniserve.com>
>Subject: [GF] Update: Surviving facilitating 9 way conference call
>To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
>
>Hi,
> Recently, I posted a question about tips for managing a conference call
>involving up to 9 parties and up to 15 individuals in a brainstorming
>session. I'm happy to report I survived the conference call despite the
>potential for chaos. Here's an update on what I learned.
>
> Thanks to the folks who provided suggestions on facilitating such a
>challenging venue. In addition to the responses already posted to the
>group, the following are other suggestions I received:
>
>- Dig a little deeper and find out why the client is determined to have a
>conference call with so many people..
>- Do a reality check: 15 people in one hour gives only 4 minutes per person
>to speak on average.
>- Have participants state their names when they begin speaking "Tony
>here...." so we know who is speaking and the facilitator can call on those
>that haven't said much.
>- Have participants mute their speaker phones to keep background noise to a
>minimum.
>- Confirm that everyone can participate for the duration of the call; if
>someone must leave, to tell the group so we know they left.
>- Participants should be aware if their office phone system pipes in
>background music when they put their phone on Hold if they have to step
>away.
>- Use a dial-in service for the conference call (which we did)
>
>And this from N. White:
>>I often use "the clock" on conference calls to help people get and keep a
>>sense of place and participation in a disembodied conf call (I use this
>>with structured online chats as well).
>>
>>I ask every one to draw a circle on a piece of paper and mark the hours
>>like a clock. Then, each person is assigned a spot on the "clock" as the
>>join the group. So the first person is 1 o clock, the second 2, etc. If
>>there are more than twelve, I start adding 1:30, 2:30 etc.
>>
>>I use this initially for intros -- the first go round, then use it to
>>ensure everyone speaks, and also to match names/voices/input. I often keep
>>little notes on my "clock" as well.
>>
>>I use this in my online facilitation class (calls with up to 20 people)
>>and the students consistently love this little tip and take it back and
apply
>>it at their workplace. Simple, but works like a charm.
>
>As an adjunct to the conference call, I set up a Web based forum for my
>clients so people can follow and contribute to the discussions when they
>have time. I used "www.ezboard.com" but there are other free and for-fee
>options available including www.groupsystems.com. Another suggestion was
>if available, to use Lotus Notes to share information.
>
>In the end, we had 9 parties and 11 people on the conference call. Four to
>five people did most of the talking. Upon checking with the other
>participants, they preferred to listen and observe. So my concerns about
>trying to keep order didn't amount to much. Nonetheless, I think
>implementing many of the suggestions I received helped a lot.
>
>The only difficulty (and this is chronic challenge for me) was keeping
>within the time allotted for each item on the agenda. Invariably, I find it
>hard to know when to cut off discussion even though the discussion is still
>on topic and relevant to the particular agenda item. I feel there is
>worthwhile discussion going on but at the same time, the clock is ticking
>away. I wonder how other people handle this?
>
>Thanks again for all the tips.
>-Tony
>From: Ned Ruete <nruete@CSC.COM>
>To: GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu
>Subject: [GF] Virtual Meetings
>Date: Tue, Jan 8, 2002, 11:49 AM
>
> Here's an idea I've been thinking about and I wondered if anyone had tried
> anything similar or had any feedback:
>
> I've had to facilitate several meetings where only about 1/2 the people are
> in the room and the rest are calling in by speaker phone. What I usually
> do is use my same facilitation techniques of "Write it down and hang it on
> the wall" -- and then be very careful to review what is on the wall
> frequently and loudly into the speaker phone and ask the remote
> participants if they have any questions or anything to add.
>
> This led me to wonder whether I could do the same thing when _everybody_
> was dialing in: get a conference room with speaker phone, hang stuff on the
> walls so I can scan it all, and bring people along by frequent reviews.
> I've been a participant on many conference calls, and find that they mostly
> don't work very well. Before I volunteer to start facilitating them, I
> wanted to run my idea past the group wisdom.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Ned Ruete
Hi Ned,
You can still practice the time honored practice of 'papering the walls'
virtually using a combination of web conferencing and an Interactive White
Board such as a SMART Board, Webster Board, or Hitachi's Star Board. All
participants can be on a conference call and everyone can see the postings
and see your edits real time. I've found it very effective and notes can be
easily shared as opposed the challenge that presents with the old fashioned
way. I call the wall paper the 'dead see scrolls' because rarely do they
see the light of day again.
Cheers!
Brad Barrett
Connect Center Inc.
770-607-8450 office
http://www.connectcenters.com
Someone asked in a private reply:
> If EVERYONE is meeting via
> a conference call, why would
> you need a conference room in
> the first place?
I need the conference room for two reasons:
1. To stay in my comfort zone as a facilitator
- control the pace of the meeting by the pace of my writing on flipcharts
- see the flow of the meeting by the chronology of flip charts on the wall
- see the agenda, objectives, and list of expected work products by
glancing around
- remember to review where we've been, where we are, and where we're going
by reading the wall at intervals
- use technology I'm familiar with and stay away from technology that I
don't know and that my company won't buy or rent
This is implied in my short phrase, "so I can scan it all".
2. To be able to SHOUT at the speaker phone!! To be able to use my public
voice without disturbing my cubicle neighbors. Hmmmmm, maybe that falls
under 1. after all...
Ned,
The main reason to "write it down and put it on the wall" is to create a
shared display for everyone in the room, right? So if you're the only one
in the room, why not type it into a computer and make it available to all
the remote participants so they can see what you're typing? You can type
into just about any comfortable software -- Word in outline mode is pretty
good. And you can connect everyone using either point-to-point connections
using Microsoft's NetMeeting (included free in Windows or downloadable from
www.microsoft.com) or one of several web-based "virtual meeting/shared
desktop" applications (http://www.centra.com/econference,
http://www.webex.com, http://www.placeware.com). (This whole approach has
been advocated by Bernie Dekoven for quite a while ...
http://www.technography.com/index.html).
If you don't type well enough to feel comfortable doing it that way,
consider (i) hiring someone to act as your "technographer" while you
facilitate, or (ii) investing in tools that capture and digitize your
handwriting. By the way, there's one such tool, from Virtual Ink
(http://www.virtual-ink.com). It's a $499 portable gizmo that turns any
ordinary whiteboard (up to as large as 4 x 8 feet) into an electronic version.
Anyway, my experience is that your remote participants REALLY benefit if
they can actually see what's "on the wall", instead of trying to remember it.
Yours,
Jeff Conklin
On Tue, 8 Jan 2002, Jeff Conklin wrote:
> ... And you can connect everyone using either point-to-point
> connections using Microsoft's NetMeeting (included free in
> Windows or downloadable from www.microsoft.com) or one of
> several web-based "virtual meeting/shared desktop"
> applications ...
For Links to Materials on Virtual Groups including virtual
meetings and online facilitation take a look at the grp-facl
resource file:
http://www.albany.edu/cpr/gf/resources/virtual-groups.html
Sandor P. Schuman
January 8, 2002
Ned Ruete wrote:
> This led me to wonder whether I could do the same thing when _everybody_
> was dialing in: get a conference room with speaker phone, hang stuff on the
> walls so I can scan it all, and bring people along by frequent reviews.
What about asking everyone to write key things down on paper for
themselves? That way, everyone has the visuals, and everyone is
physically involved.
Of course, you'll have to modify what you write down a bit, for it
should be something you can easily describe verbally.
Bill Harris
Greetings all!
I've read the replies about using a computer for sharing the info....
Doesn't anyone use Mindmaps®? If you and your facilitatees (!) are familiar
with Tony Buzan's Mind Maps, you can use "Mindmanager" from Mindjet
(www.mindjet.com) to list all your info, share it by Mindmanager's own
Conference facility. You end up with everyone being able to participate in
building the final "display".
Have fun
Dave Bramwell
Hi, Ned! This (facilitating conference calls or partial in-person and
partial conferenced in) is a dilemma I've wrestled with also. No major
revisions, but a few tips that have been useful:
1. Periodically give activities that require people to work either alone or
in the group they're sitting with in front of the conference phone and then
report out to you and the other folks in your room or in other locations.
This allows them to talk freely with the necessary constrictions of
conference calls. Also, engaging people in an active way is a challenge when
they can get by simply by half-listening. This has the added advantage of
giving you time to look at where you are from the sheets around the room and
get a sense of direction or course correction.
2. Use expertise as a trigger for conversation rather than a killer. For
example, if the market research people are on one phone and the product
development people are on another (or in your room), have the MR folks talk
about three key insights from their research that they would want the others
to know about. Then turn to the product development folks and ask for their
connections and implications. Thus, you're facilitating a kind of useful
dialogue between the two groups based on information.
3. Sometimes it's useful to have people identify themselves every time they
speak and sometimes it's irritating. I tend now to ask for names when what
is said is controversial or requires clarification or is, simply, a strong
statement. Or the first time someone talks, have them say their names.
4. Share a planned flow for the meeting with participants ahead of time in
writing and review it, just as you would in a face-to-face meeting, at the
beginning of the meeting.
5. Find a way to kickoff the meeting with introductions that have a visual
component. Maybe as basic as a hobby or self-description. This helps people
feel they're "in the room" together.
My overall objective is to have people experience the "feel" and flow of a
true face-to-face meeting while accomplishing the task. So the challenge
becomes how to keep the technology from being a barrier to communication.
Thinking of it that way may trigger some additional ideas for you.
Hope these are helpful.
Peg Kelley
I was asked by private reply,
> by "scan it all" are you referring to scanning what's on the walls
> for the telephone attendees to see or, are you scanning and reading it to
> them? I would think that would make a big difference. If people on the
> other end of the phone can see what the physical attendees can see, they
> feel more a part of the process and not so isolated.
By "scan it all" I am referring to my _own_ need to be able to look around
the room. Then as needed I bring the phone participants along on the scan
by reading the highlights.
Basic idea in all this:
I have had no success facilitating by phone. I asked myself, "How do I get
myself out of the mode of trying to remain interested and take notes but
ultimately disengaging and checking my email?" -- the behavior we're trying
to avoid on the part of participants.
I have had success facilitating meetings when not everyone was in the room.
During at least two of these, one or more of the primary contributors was
not in the room. Based on participant feedback, my facilitation made the
meeting better than the usual unfacilitated meeting with phone ins. So,
because no one in my organization is doing any better, I consider myself
marginally competent in that situation.
Therefore I wondered if I would have more success facilitating a meeting
where ALL the partcipants are on the phone if I used the same techniques I
use when SOME of the participants are on the phone. I've made the leap
from a face-to-face meeting to a meeting where some people called in, by
taking what works for me face-to-face and adding a few new elements to
account for the missing bodies. I have to be the eyes of the people who
aren't able to physically see what's in the room, and I have to make space
in the room for them to be virtually there when they have something to
contribute. I can't say the 'what' of those add-ins better than many who
have written about the subject (see, for example, "Best Practices in
Facilitating Virtual Meetings: Some Notes from Initial Experience,"
Mittleman, Briggs, and Nunemaker, _Group Facilitation: A Research and
Applications Journal_, vol. 2 number 2, Winter 2000, pp. 5-14). But I have
experience in applying them and feeling my way through them. I have a set
of practiced actions for doing the introductions and opening, the reviews,
the check-ins, the polling, the other stuff that makes the meeting go a lot
better than our usual meeting culture.
So now, to make the leap to ALL participants on the phone, to me it feels
like it might be good to stay with what has worked for SOME people on the
phone. A big piece of that is using the media and the surroundings that in
the past I have used to feel "like a facilitator," to have a "facilitator
prescence." To be an effective facilitator, I have to feel like I'm a
facilitator, and that includes flip charts and standing up and moving
around the room. I'll have to add a few more elements to account for not
having ANYONE there, like figuring out how to tell when people are getting
tired or fidgety without visual feedback, but I'm thinking that will be
easier than starting over with a whole new approach.
I've even thought of not telling anyone on the phone that I was the only
one physically in the conference room . . . or scaring up a volunteer to be
there with me just because. . .
What do others think?
Ned Ruete
Ned Reute,
I've been following your postings about facilitating a phone conference
with .
First, I thought you might like to know there is a Yahoo Groups Online
Moderators discussion group - free to join and participate. That group
doesn't deal precisely with your question about phone conferences but they
definitely deal with a very related meeting type.
Second, you've already gotten great advice on the online tools (virtual
flipcharts) available to support meetings: chat boards, white boards,
application sharing, surveys, etc. As I remember, your company is/was not
open to acquiring/leasing any of those. What a shame, since these tools
are great support for virtual meetings and were undoubtedly developed to
solve exactly the problem facing you. My advice, for the long term, is
periodically raise the issue of leasing one of those virtual meeting
software systems with your management and try to get their okay to explore
the costs and potential benefits. My impression is that the leasable
systems are reasonably priced and widely available.
To deal with what you've asked: I have a negative reaction to your idea of
facilitating a phone conference by having a room of flipcharts. It's not
that the flipcharts wouldn't work, it's that they're unnecessary except for
your sense of "facilitation". Notes on computer (typed while the meeting
is going on - and periodically faxed to participants) or handwritten notes
on a pad, would work more simply.
Having said that, I can also tell you that (in our organization) the most
important part of transitioning to virtual meetings was becoming aware of
two closely related principles:
reciprocity
sensory involvement
When we made the transition, we began educating our meeting moderators on
the principle of reciprocity. I owe Nancy White (who runs the On-Line
Moderators group) a thanks for this incredibly appropriate term. Here's
what is meant by reciprocity: a virtual meeting participant's experience is
very "flat" (i.e., very limited sensorially). So, if a speaker makes a
statement or asks a question, participants need to respond (in some
fashion) in acknowledgement (to engage another of their own senses and give
the moderator some feedback about their involvement and comprehension).
We've found the more senses a moderator can engage the more involved the
participants and the more productive the meeting. Our education on
reciprocity comes in two parts. First, we suggest to our moderators that
they use phrases and word their questions in ways that help coach their
participants to respond with feedback and reaction on a continuing basis.
We help them hear the silences and explore the reasons behind it. We
stress that communication in virtual meetings can't be one-way. Then, we
coach the participants to do more acknowledgements than they'd normally do
in a face-to-face meeting.
Of-course, we supplement phone conferencing with faxes sent out regularly
during the meeting. That engages yet another sense. The faxes record the
progress of the meeting and give people the visual tool that so many need
to really respond.
And people still read their emails during our virtual meetings...but,
perhaps, they do less of it (smile).
Hope this helps.
Betsy Daniel
Ned Ruete wrote:
> So now, to make the leap to ALL participants on the phone, to me it feels
> like it might be good to stay with what has worked for SOME people on the
> phone. A big piece of that is using the media and the surroundings that in
> the past I have used to feel "like a facilitator," to have a "facilitator
> prescence." To be an effective facilitator, I have to feel like I'm a
> facilitator, and that includes flip charts and standing up and moving
> around the room. I'll have to add a few more elements to account for not
> having ANYONE there, like figuring out how to tell when people are getting
> tired or fidgety without visual feedback, but I'm thinking that will be
> easier than starting over with a whole new approach.
>
> I've even thought of not telling anyone on the phone that I was the only
> one physically in the conference room . . . or scaring up a volunteer to be
> there with me just because. . .
Well, a facilitator's gotta do what a facilitator's gotta do. :-) I
regularly point and gesture when I'm doing online synchronous work, even
though not a person can see me (unless you count one of my cats who
might be wandering by). OTOH, I've found it easier to do completely
distributed events successfully than events with clusters of people
separated by space (and perhaps time). Check out
http://facilitatedsystems.com/onlinefac.pdf for a few of the things I've
learned along the way.
You might be interested in asking this on Nancy White's
onlinefacilitation yahoogroup, as well. FYI: she's starting the next
session of her very good course in online facilitation later this month,
I believe. That's certainly a good way to get comfortable with this
world. (Disclaimer: while I know Nancy and am one of her Full Circle
Associates, I get nothing for recommending her class except maybe at
most a thank-you email.)
Bill Harris
Hi Gary
You asked about teleconferencing logistics. Here is a participant info sheet
we've compiled, much of it kindly provided by Telebridge.
We also have a list of "Telecourse Frequently Asked Questions" at:
http://www.advanced-trainings.com/telecoursefaq.html
Feel free to adapt it, and have fun!
Til Luchau
Advanced-Trainings.com
Tel. +1 303/499-8811x3
Fax +1 309/423-9281
Email: info@advanced-trainings.com
Web: http://www.advanced-trainings.com
=======
Information for Teleconference Participants
Basic Instructions
If you have call-waiting, we ask that you first disable it before dialing
into the teleconference. For most local phone companies, you disable
call-waiting by picking up the phone, waiting for the dial tone, dialing *70
(that's star seven zero), waiting for the dial tone again, and then dialing
the bridge number.
Please dial the teleconference number at the appointed time. You will be
connected to the other callers automatically without dialing any further
numbers.
Those already connected will hear a short tone when you join the call, and
the call leader will usually say something like, "Hi, who just joined the
call?" or "Welcome, hold on a moment while everyone joins the call." If
you're late, the leader may not acknowledge you. That doesn't mean you're
not welcome. Just listen silently until you catch up with the meeting topic
before speaking.
In general, please say your name before speaking so that people will have no
difficulty identifying you.
If Something Goes Wrong
First, Double-check the time, time zone, and number of the call. Most
difficulties are solved with this step.
If the phone rings but won't connect, one of two things has occurred. You
might have mis-dialed, or your timing is off. Check the number and redial.
If still no success, then check the time. The usual convention is to state
meeting times in Eastern Time (New York Time). To find the time for your own
time zone (North America):
* Eastern Time 6pm
* Central Time 5pm (subtract 1 hour)
* Mountain Time 4pm (subtract 2 hours)
* Pacific Time 3pm (subtract 3 hours)
International (Check for daylight saving time differences)
* Sao Paulo (UTC -4):
* London (UTC): 11pm
* Berlin (UTC +1): 12 midnight
* Sydney (UTC +9): 8am next day
If the phone rings and you receive a recorded message saying something like
"All circuits are busy, please try your call again later," or you receive a
"fast busy" signal, it means that not enough long distance lines are busy to
connect you to the teleconference. This sometimes happens between the hours
of 7PM and 11PM Eastern Time. Keep trying, or put your phone on auto re-dial
if you have that feature. You might try the call with another long distance
provider by dialing a predial code (a "10-10" code in the USA), or using a
calling card. Some common pre-dial codes are:
* AT & T = 10-10-288, 10-10-345
* Sprint = 10-10-333
* Frontier = 10-10-444
* MCI = 10-10-321, 10-10-220 (changes form time-to-time)
* VarTec = 10-10-811
You can also visit the web site www.10-10phonerates.com/ for additional
10-10 numbers.
If you receive a busy signal, it means that you either mis-dialed, or the
teleconference bridge is full. Check the number and dial again. If you still
receive a busy signal, then the bridge is full and is likely to remain full
for the duration of the teleconference.
If these steps fail, we have technical help standing by at the time of the
course at help@advanced-trainings.com or tel. +1 303/499-8811 x3.
TeleConference Etiquette
There are several things elements of teleconference etiquette, please review
these before you call. They include:
1. Mute Button. Use your telephone's mute button, if there is one.
Background noise, the dog barking, radio, etc., could be a problem for the
other participants. If you don't have a mute button, don't worry. Just try
to call from a quiet location.
2. Breathing. Some people breathe 'heavier' than others. Most of the
heavy breathers don't realize it. (Who, ME?) So, we ask everyone to hold the
mouthpiece or telephone headset microphone a bit away from their mouth and
nose, unless they are speaking. This sounds pretty silly, but when you're on
a call with a heavy breather, you'll understand why it matters!
3. 2-line phones. If you have a two-line phone, please turn the ringer
off of the second line. If you don't, and you get a call during the
TeleClass, it can really be a shrill noise that everyone hears.
4. Pets. If you're on a smaller TeleConference (like 10-30 callers), your
dog will probably woof at exactly the time needed for some comic relief, so
it's not usually a problem. But if you're on a larger TeleConference (30-100
callers), please put pets in another room.
5. Speakerphones, Cell phones and Cordless phones. Please don't use them.
Speakerphones are wonderful things, but we ask that you not speak into them
when sharing. Pick up the handset when you share and put the mute button on
when you're just listening. The clarity/quality simply isn't good enough on
any of these phones.
6. Sharing. The leader will usually ask for callers to share or respond,
throughout the call. However, please wait to be prompted -- don't just speak
up, unless invited. If/when you do share, say something like, "Thomas (or
the leader's name), this is Bob from Tampa." The leader will say, "Yes, Bob,
go ahead." Then you can say whatever you'd like to. Always use the leader's
name and wait until they respond, indicating that you can proceed. On
smaller calls this formality isn't usually needed and there is a natural
flow to people sharing and discussing.
7. CrossTalk. If another caller says something that you want to comment
on or ask more information about, go through the leader, don't speak to the
person directly, at least at first. Let the leader play traffic director.
You could say something like, "Thomas, can I ask that Marlene rephrase the
point she just made?" Again, on smaller calls, this isn't as necessary, but
on the large calls, it really is.
8. Early/Late Please don't call the telecourse number before the
scheduled time -- another conference may be in session. If you're late to
the call, no problem, just dial in and be silent until you catch on to
what's being discussed. The leader may or may not officially welcome you --
but probably won't so as not to disturb the flow of the call. That doesn't
mean you're not welcome! And, finally, if you're more than 10 minutes late,
be really careful about asking questions, as they may well have been asked
earlier.
Your remember the thread from a while back about running a meeting with
flip charts even when everyone was calling in?
Well, I did it -- sort of. I volunteered (first mistake) to facilitate a
meeting with everyone calling in.
- I reserved a conference room
- I got a scribe (one of the other members of the participant group is in
the same building with me and has facilitation and scribing experience)
- I sent out initial materials to all participants the day before the
meeting
- I printed out the agenda, objectives, and work products on 8 1/2 X 11in
big letters so I could read them -- and promptly forgot them. I should
have put them on the wall.
- I put charts on the wall where I could write things down as I heard them,
I could read them back, and the scribe could get them in the computer and
email them to participants (nice thought, but as the battle plan -- which
failed to last 15 minutes contact with the enemy -- evolved, there were no
natural break points for sending out updates)
- I put a chart for action items which, as I filled in, I read to everyone
and got concurrence on who got the item and the due date.
Not the best meeting I've ever run, but far and away the best conference
call I've been on in a long time.
BTW -- the scribe thought it was a great idea -- she empathizes with with
me because there's no way she could type into a document or other tool and
still facilitate -- traffic cop, intervener, synthesizer, recapper, process
police...
Even if I had web tools so that people could see what was being typed real
time, I think I'd want do it this way, at least at first. I'd want to have
a scribe while I facilitate, and then scribe while someone else
facilitates, and maybe after awhile I would reach the facility with the web
tools as I have with markers and paper and would try doing both at once and
saving the trees.
Ned Ruete
Waterford, CT USA
April 18, 2002
Hello folks
I've used the mimio system. It's good, but I tend to outrun it when I
start drawing, leaving me with jerkey lines and missing bits. I also have
to be careful how I hold the pen. Being I'm used to handling whiteboard
pens in a "caligraphic" style, so I get both broad strokes and thin lines,
I end up messing up my mimio work unless I'm mindful that it doesn't do
that.
The software that comes with the mimio is great as it's very much oriented
around how the facilitator needs to move from page to page. You can end
up with a file containing each page distinctly separated from each other,
you can go back to old pages for the group, which is great if your working
with it through a virtual meeting format (like for example you have a MS
Netmeeting session going between several far flung locations). being able
to go back and pick up where you left off on a previous thought brings
everyone right there mentally.
Of course I'm very graphic centric in my work, which most of you are not,
so for my purposes I actually have better luck with a wacom "graphire3"
tablet that plugs into the usb port on my laptop.
Since I work "virtually" quite a lot, I can sit in my cube and have a
quiet "virtual" meeting with some distant place using a phone and my
tablet to talk with a remote group-and they see in real time what I'm
sketching. Considering I work for Boeing, which is spread across most of
the known world, being able to come in live, talk, draw, modify and mess
with is really critical to our group efforts and "virtual teaming".
In any case, the mimio is a good thing, IF you consider how it's
limitations effect how you work. I can imagine doing open space work with
it across the internet, and having everyone wherever, see their inputs
come to life before their eyes, which I think is a pretty good thing,
later
Michael Erickson
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From Royleenw@aol.com Tue Apr 27 16:41:38 1999
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 14:44:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: Royleenw@aol.com
To: GRP-FACL@LISTSERV.ALBANY.EDU
Subject: Summary, One Participant by Phone
For all who responded, thanks so much. I did do a bit of prep work, got in
touch via email with Mr. Telephone, had a fax and e-mail connection ready at
the meeting, and used more handouts than usual, so he could *see* what we
were doing. Then, he never called in that day! He must have gotten another
urgent duty, because the group told me he has never missed a meeting before!
At any rate, I learned a lot, because of all of you who helped me out. Here
is a summary of the responses, and thanks, again! This group is the best!
Royleen White
Original Message:
<< I was thinking that when I have them in small groups, I could assign Mr.
Telephone to one of the small groups, and they could be responsible for
including him in their exercises and report outs. I have a slight concern, in
that I tend to have the groups do a lot of visuals and drawings in visioning
project. I suppose we could ask him to draw too, and report out that way.
Any other suggestions or tips for this situation?
>>
Responses:
It sounds as if the most experienced person here is Mr Telephone himself.
Prior to workshop I would try to speak to him before the meeting, talk
through the process and ask him his advice on what works best for him. This
could apply to both the communication process and content
Denis Cowan
-----------
Can Mr. Phone be near a fax machine? B&W 8X10s are not the same as full
color flip charts, but might bridge the gap.
Ned
----------------
I once taught a course in a company where one participant was relocated to
Atlantic for the duration. The course materials relied on handouts and
overheads to enhance discussion.
I would mail each week's materials to her in advance (including paper
copies of the transparencies) so she could follow along over the telephone
and participate fully. It worked well for us.
What you need to add is the ability for graphics to be exchanged in "real
time," if at all possible. Access to a fax machine on both ends with a
separate telephone line from the conference call might work. That's if you
don't have the sophisitication of videoconferencing (which I suspect you
don't). Videoconference via a computer setup (digital cameras at both ends)
might also be viable--you'd have to talk to a local media supplier. You'd be
surprised at how sophisticated they've become--it's often more than they
typical "av" stuff they have!
Good luck.
Claire A. Murray, Director of Community Computing, MATV
-----------
How much access do you have to computers and the web? If you've enough, you
can include this person via NetMeeting from Microsoft and a couple phone
lines.
Let me know, and I'll forward the details.
Bernie
---
I have experience with facilitating this type of group. Please feel
free to call and we can discuss it. Your idea of assigning Mr. Phone to
a small group is excellent.
Lisa Hughes
WorkLife Associates
---------
I am a long-distance telecommuter and have on occasion been the one who is
phoning-in to an in-person meeting.
I recommend three preparations:
1) Ask the caller ahead of time how it has worked for him in the past,
things he would like you to keep in mind, and his "wish list" of what would
make it easier for him to participate. HE's done this before, so he's your
expert. You should also explain to him what you want the group to do and ask
for his advice on how he could best participate.
2) Ask the appropriate person in the office what they've found is the best
way to help this guy participate. In my case, they wouldn't be able to
answer you, but other offices may be more experienced and thoughtful!
3) Make absolutely sure the phone equipment you're going to be using is in
working order and that you know how to use it. Know where it's going to be
in the room(s) you're using. Find out if you can vary the sound level,
whether there's a mike to turn off and on, how long the cord is, and what the
sound quality is. You may need to assign someone to making sure that your
phone participant is hearing everything he needs to hear. Worse, you may
need to assign someone to repeat what he says if the equipment isn't good
enough that everyone in the room can hear him when he talks. Hopefully,
though, neither of these will be necessary, although I've found that there
are certain people I can hear and certain people I can't, just because of
their voice volumes and pitch. Sometimes I can get these people to speak up,
and sometimes I give up. If the facilitator can be especially aware that
people have to be exceptionally clear and loud in speaking (or, at minimum,
looking in the direction the phone mic is), that would be very helpful.
Otherwise, I'd say making this work is really up to them. When you're
calling in, you have a lot of responsibility to ensure you can participate.
If the company's the one that's sending him traveling, then they have a lot
of responsibility to ensure he can effectively participate, too. This one's
not all on your shoulders.
Loree Cook-Daniels
-----------
I am part of a team based in North Carolina. We've done this often, & it
can be ugly! Here are some things I've learned the hard way:
- Send out a detailed agenda ahead of time. Include directions for the
activities and page numbers for easy reference.
- Use a fax to send pictures back and forth. This means making them on
overheads or plain 8 1/2 x 11 sheets, rather than easel pads.
- Check in with Mr. Telephone often and ask if he has any comments,
questions, etc. Ask the group to use the same discipline.
- Arrange for a contact outside of the room so that, if he gets cut off, he
can get back into the action quickly, instead of dialing back in and getting
a busy signal.
- Definitely have him be part of a small group. He can actually do some of
the report out if he's comfortable. It will make him a more "visible" part
of the larger group.
- If he doesn't know the other group members, have some of them call and
introduce themselves to him prior to the meeting.
- It's great if you have a picture of him to share with the group.
- Tend toward more structured input from the group - e.g. going around the
table for comments. It will make it easier for him to hear the responses &
easier for him to give his opinions.
Good luck!
Louanne Klein/Distance Learning Consulting, Lafayette, CA
-----
The techniques used for teleteaching and video tele-conferencing apply.
Keeping it low tech may be required: an interactive participant guide that
is available to all participants is a good idea. Time to develop it is a key
constraint.
Swan, Steve R. SETA CONTR
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