Zoom Breakout Rooms

Zoom Breakout Rooms

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
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...
Read More
Google Docs

Google Docs

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
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...
Read More

What It feels Like to Attend a Bad Training

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
We all know what it feels like to attend bad training or professional development session. If you are like me, you might even have a pretty visceral reaction, or worse, you can’t remember the training at all.  So what are some of the signs of lousy professional training?  You have no idea why you are there or what you are supposed to get out of the training.You feel resentful about being there and wish you could be anywhere else.Despite how hard you try, you can’t stay focused and keep checking your phone, thinking of the other places you would like to be, or things that you would rather do.You leave the training not knowing anyone else who was attending the training.You are never given the opportunity to share your knowledge or input with the group. The instructor-made training tool is what seems like an endless deck of PowerPoint slides, each with approximately 500 words on them.Your butt hurts from sitting in one position...
Read More