Learn Online Workshop Facilitation & Tips For MS Teams

"Having had to attend numerous online meetings, webinars, and congresses this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I quickly realized that it is easy to lose personal interaction in the online environment. This short course has equipped me with practical tips on how to facilitate meetings and workshops in an online environment, but more so it has provided me with key skills to maintain continuous interaction between presenters and attendees, which is vital to the successful outcome of such a virtual gathering." - Jaco Theron

"This is a good course useful for facilitating meetings and online workshop." - Deborah Solomon

"Thank you Peter, for the precise, well informing and educative course very relevant after this pandemic." - Tapiwa

"Thank you for the insights you shared on running successful workshop or training. This will come in handy when I am running virtual sessions." - Lerato Mokopanela

"I achieved the goal set for the training, and I am glad I attended. Thank you" - Eluwumi

"This was a very interesting course. It gave me some great tips that I hadn't thought about." - Marisa Wilkes

"What I found most valuable about this course was the integration of facilitation skills for use on online platforms." - Lorna

This course will teach you how to run an online workshop that will keep people engaged and achieve your objectives. Effective meeting discipline will ensure that you use people’s time wisely as you meet together virtually to share ideas and collaborate effectively. This course is geared towards Microsoft Teams as your main online meeting software but many of the principles and practices apply to other tools like Zoom.

Why you should do this course:

• Learn how to prepare for a workshop by setting up a proper agenda that has context and objectives

• Use a second device to access the meeting from which you can view your presentation, while interacting on your main PC / laptop

• Set up a poll in MS Teams to get input from attendees on up to 6 different options without interrupting the flow of the meeting

• Use Google countdown timer to display the time remaining for a workshop break so that everyone resumes at the same time

• Agenda timings should match the content and discussion; learn to plan this effectively

• A meaningful title for your workshop will set the right tone and ensure people understand what they will be getting from attending

• Professional table of slots and outcomes for each item will help keep your workshop on track when you facilitate

• The right length for a workshop and the importance of including a break so everyone can get refreshed

• Content preparation; slides, AV and other pre-reads that help drive the workshop objectives

• The importance of sending out the pre-reads and relevant content at least 48 working hours prior to the meeting

• Mental and physical preparation that ensures you are ready to run an effective online workshop which is totally different from in-person

• Working From Home distractions and how you will need to step up even more to ensure everyone stays engaged

• The importance of kicking off on time and how this sets a professional tone for the session

• How to balance and engage different participants and ensure sufficient input from diverse teams and different departments

• Leave sufficient time to wrap up at the end of the session by reviewing carefully noted and agreed actions that will drive momentum

• Ensure SMART objectives will be followed up after the workshop to maintain momentum

• Get feedback from people about your facilitation skills and get input on how you can improve for next time

• Use the handy worksheet as a checklist for running your next online workshop

• Earn valuable credibility by running effective meetings and respecting people’s time

• Create alignment and productivity in your teams

I look forward to hearing about how you have transformed your online workshop facilitation skills!