Think about the last time you played a game. How did it make you feel? Games and polls are a great way to engage teams during virtual meetings. Kahoot allows you to gamify your organization’s training and onboarding. This intuitive online platform is free for all educators and relatively inexpensive for paid memberships. You can easily create quizzes, games, and polls that can be shared during team meetings or even go so far as to create versatile blended learning solutions, including self-paced courses. Seamlessly host Kahoots via any video conferencing platform, including Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams.
One of my favorite ways to use Kahoot! Is as an icebreaker to build motivation and facilitate a strong group learning dynamic. You will want to prep your quiz or poll in advance and then get a shared link to drop into the chat box of your video conferencing tool of choice. Once participants click on that link they will be asked to...
What's a Padlet?
In its purest form, a Padlet is a digital pinboard. You can dress it up or dress it down. These pinboards have received significant attention and usage in the education world with the rise of digital learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But they also have great potential to help increase collaboration in the workplace.
Collaboration is what makes Padlet special. One of the strengths of this platform is that each contributor has an equal voice.
What are ways you can use Padlet to Increase Virtual Collaboration?
You might consider using Padlet for the following:
Icebreaker board to connect pre-meeting. Voting board to aid in deciding which topic should discuss at an upcoming meeting or which training they feel they might need. Resource board, one that could be for HR resources or project-specific collections. Pre-training exercise board to introduce employees a topic and track growth. Interactive exercises during a digital meeting Q and A board during a meeting. (Also sometimes called a parking lot.) Company feedback form.Exit ticket,...
Microsoft Outlook is used in many companies. Although much of Outlook is intuitive, many people have never received training on this platform and therefore are unaware of many of its helpful collaboration features. In this continuing series on virtual tools to enhance collaboration, I will share three cool features in Microsoft Outlook to boost virtual cooperation in your team.
@Mentions:
Have you ever needed to send an email to a dozen coworkers but only needed an answer from two of them? In the past, you might have bolded, underline or highlight to draw attention to who you need feedback or input from, but this can be missed or overlooked by team members who do not read the email carefully. With Outlook, you have another option. Type @ followed by their name, and several things happen. First, their name is automatically added to the "To" line of the email message. Members of the team mentioned using the @ symbols will see their name...
You might already know the power of project management software, but the skillful application of it into your virtual meeting can lead to dramatic boosts in collaboration for your team. Project management software like Basecamp, Wrike, Monday.com, and Clickup generally have three main tools to help teams manage their projects. The first is individual tools. These tools allow for individuals to keep track of their workload and have transparency with their direct supervisor. The next is collaborative tools which enable teams from all across organizations and outside partners to build and collaborate on projects. Finally, integrated tools allow managers to see and manage multiple projects at once and assess and adjust the need for the complexity and interconnectivity of these projects. Other notable features of these types of software include cloud-based solutions, combine workflow tools in one place, keep teams accountable, easy documentation, keeping track of budgets.
Check out this blog on Zapier, "The Best Free Project Management Software"
The feature I...
In my continuing series on tools for remote collaboration, I will be focusing on Google’s Jamboard. Not to be confused with Google's Jamboard display, the Jamboard is a virtual whiteboard simulator. Like other Google products, its strength lies in the fact that it is free and available for all operating systems and that it is incredibly intuitive to use.
My favorite way to utilize Jamboard is during a virtual meeting, workshop or training. This tool allows for incredible user collaboration and engagement. In advance of the collaboration, you will want to access this google app through Google Workspace or by going to jamboard.google.com and prepare your set of boards in advance. This process is relatively swift and easy but essential to do before your meeting so that you are not asking people to wait as you set up the necessary boards. Within the board, you will set up a series of sub-boards that all participants can easily access. Participants can then...
I love breakout rooms. I know they aren’t for everyone, but I think they are essential when working with larger teams. Many of your team members might be intimidated to speak in front of the larger group, but when placed in small groups, they can open up and share ideas or be task-focused. I thought this was a premium feature on zoom, but I did some research, and it turns out breakout rooms are included in all accounts; you just have to go into the web portal and then the more advanced settings to turn this on! I have the written steps to do this below, but I found that confusing, so I looked for a video tutorial to assist you.
Steps to enable the breakout room feature for all members of your organization:
Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an administrator with the privilege to edit account settings.In the navigation menu, click Account Management, then Account Settings.Navigate to the Breakout Room...
Over the next few posts, I will share a few of my favorite tools for collaboration in a virtual environment. Helping to promote collaboration in your organization is hard enough in person. When you add the dynamics and challenges of doing it in a virtual environment, it sometimes seems nearly impossible. The good news is that you can foster collaboration within a remote team with the proper training and support.
The first tool that I want to feature is Google Docs. Many students know the power of this tool for collaboration because it is free and easy to use. An often overlooked application, Google Docs can empower a team and foster collaboration. During a video or conference call, multiple people can view and edit a Google Docs file simultaneously. With Google Docs, everyone working on a project can make changes to the same master document. The work saves almost immediately, and team members can brainstorm or work on a shared proposal...
In 2016 The Discovery, in partnership with Click Bond Manufacturing, had the chance to work with Operation Explore. Operation Explore’s goal is to help companies reach their potential by managing change, transitions, alignment, mergers, generational succession, and culture shift. Although not classically trained in education, Operation Explore founder Jeff Boyd demonstrates his understanding of the importance of integrating thoughtful employee development during times of change and transition. My experience with them demonstrated how curating the right learning tools and processes results in organizational transformation for companies worldwide. Operation Explore’s focus is on developing culture, strategy, and structure, and at the core of this is empowering employees. Participating in some of his workshops inspired and showed me that adult training could be as impactful as the educational experiences that I was planning for the students and families at the museum.
After his workshop, I remember having a conversation with Jeff. I expressed how impressed I was with his teaching practices and inquired about his educational...
