Blueprint | 02 Leveraging Online Tools

B L U E P R I N T LEVERAGING ONLINE TOOLS In this session, you will learn how to use online tools when running meetings. We’ll go through some lesser-known features that you can use to help drive engagement and ensure everyone has the best experience. You’ll also learn how to use offline resources, such as a whiteboard, to add value to your meeting. HOW TO USE WEB CONFERENCE TOOLS TO INCREASE ENGAGEMENT One of the best ways to maximize online meetings is by using the online tools available in various web conferencing software. At Winning by Design we use zoom.us so examples will be with their software. BEST PRACTICES Screen Sharing - You have options for how much of your screen you want to share - The full screen, a selected window, or any section of your screen that you choose. Choose the selected window so they get the full experience without added distractions. When sharing your screen, select the Share Computer Sound” button. This lets all participants hear the sound from your computer, useful for sharing a video, instead of them hearing it muffled coming out of your speakers. It sounds much better. Turn off your notifications! - If messages on Slack and personal text messages are popping up for everyone to see while you’re sharing your screen it’s very unprofessional. Polling - You can use polling for having a group of people vote on a subject or as a pop quiz. Throwing in a pop quiz during training is a great tactic to re-engage the group if you notice they’re distracted or losing interest. Chat - A beneficial tool to use in big groups when you don’t want everyone talking over each other. Use the chat to let people share best practices and ask questions, letting them know that you’ll get to as many as you can. PRO TIP: Have someone other than the main speaker be in charge of the chat. They can take notes, highlight key moments, and monitor for questions. Breakout Rooms - One of the most underused tools for group online meetings (of at least 5 people). You have to turn it on in advanced settings, then you can either manually or automatically assign people to different groups. I.e. - After talking about a topic, start breakout rooms with 2-3 people per room and give them 2 minutes to do an exercise or discuss the topic. PREPARATION AND TECH CHECK Modern problems require modern solutions. You probably type faster than you handwrite and want to be as efficient as people when taking notes during a meeting, so you type. The other person in the meeting hears the constant typing but they’re not always thinking that you’re taking notes - they think you’re distracted, writing emails, chatting on slack, or just distracted.

B L U E P R I N T LEVERAGING ONLINE TOOLS A powerful way to be able to type notes and increase engagement is by collaborating in real-time in a Google Doc. Create and email the doc ahead of time, explain that’s where you’ll be taking notes, and offer to them to make notes, fix spelling mistakes, or reprioritize items. If Google Docs (or something similar) isn’t an option, mention you’ll be taking notes at the start of the call, and email them to the other participants after the call. PREP Screen Sharing - If you know you’ll have to share your screen, be prepared before the call. If you’re using a slide deck have it open and ready to go. Another option is tab-based selling. Before you share, make sure everything you want to share is pre-loaded in the right order (see image below). Tab-based only takes 3 minutes before every call and will make you look prepared and professional. Internet Performance - fast.com will quickly check your internet speed and let you know if you’re up the 25 megabits per second speed you need to use video. If you’re concerned about losing internet connectivity, assign a co-host that will own the video if you get logged off. Double-check that your audio is on and is connected to any devices such as headphones. Create a simple checklist and check all your tech before every meeting to make sure you look professional as a first impression. HOW TO USE A WHITEBOARD IN AN ONLINE MEETING Whiteboards are a great tool in video meetings to add notes and help everyone visualize what is being talked about. You should try to get at least a 6’x4’ whiteboard to fill up the screen and give you enough room to properly write everything down. Write big and legibly - make it easy for others to read your writing. It’s ok to write slowly, others can watch after at 2x speed if they want. Use doodles - Even if your images aren’t beautiful, visuals connect with different parts of the brain that help make things more memorable. If you’re creating a video for people to watch later: The shorter the better - Try to keep it under 5 minutes. Keep it focused - Try to stick to one topic per video and avoid overwhelming it with too much information. ADVANCED TIPS FOR LARGE GROUPS

B L U E P R I N T LEVERAGING ONLINE TOOLS There are multiple ways to handle large groups in an online meeting without the speaker constantly being interrupted. ● Raise your hand in real life or in the chat, let the speaker know you have something to say. ● Put your message in the chat and the speaker will get to it at the right time. ● Start a Slack room so you can always revisit what was said during the meeting, and can start sub-threads based on any questions that were asked and really dig deep into those topics. We use Zoom.us because of features such as pools and breakout rooms for large groups. There are other video conferencing options available, but they come with challenges that are worth being aware of. Google Hangouts is a great free service and offers some of the same benefits as Zoom such as an in-meeting chat. But, it’s hard to switch between active speakers and recording the meeting involves adding browser extensions and other software. TOP 3 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN LEVERAGING ONLINE TOOLS X Avoid fumbling around with your tech after the call has already started - plan ahead. X Noone loves a surprise video call. DO Make sure the invite and message are clear that they should be ready to turn on their video when the call begins. X Don’t let your meeting spiral out of control if tech starts to fail. DO have a contingency plan if your internet goes out, such as adding a co-host to the meeting who can take over if something happens.