All businesses are in a constant state of change. In The Grid, author Matt Watkinson, explains why the traditional way of studying business as a static system is ineffective. Traditionally Watkinson says that businesses like to “break things down into small pieces, and then study them in isolation.” While your organization may see strong results from hosting many small meetings with dedicated teams, it’s often difficult for these small groups to see the bigger picture. In reality, all businesses are interconnected systems where one decision affects other areas of the system. Managers need to remain tapped into the collaboration efforts of their team members to look for overarching cause-and-effect scenarios that can result from small team decisions. This is why large “all hands” update meetings are also important for connecting departments under a common vision.

Organize the way you collaborate

No matter how big or small a meeting is, it’s an important exercise to consider the best possible outcome for all parties when you bring people together for a meeting. Once you have an idea of the best possible meeting outcomes you can attempt to crystallize the idea into a presentation slide. High-level presentation slides can prime meeting attendees for the desired meeting outcome. You may decide to display this type of slide at the beginning of a meeting, or toward the last moments of a meeting to share a call to action. You can always download a single slide from PowerPoint or Google Slides as an image. Or, insert a single meeting outcome slide as an attachment on calendar invitations to share a slide that primes attendees for your meeting.

As organizations continue to push the boundaries of collaboration, a sense of “digital saturation” can clutter our lives and reduce productivity. If you’ve already lost important ideas inside of your online collaboration suite, it’s time to organize your team’s digital strategy. In the Tipping Point, Gladwell reviews a concept in cognitive psychology known as “Channel Capacity” which explains the limit our brains have for categorizing specific channels of information. Tests were conducted using a variety of scenarios to test the ability of human memory to categorize and recall information.

“The Magical Number Seven”

HUMAN INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY.pptx

One example comes from Bell Laboratories as it decided how many numbers to include in a standard telephone number. Bell wanted to use more than seven digits but after it tested the memory of hundreds of people, the company found that they had a difficult time remembering number strings beyond seven digits. This famously became known as the “The Magical Number Seven” and it explains why telephone numbers are seven numbers long. Gladwell notes: “As human beings… we can only handle so much information at once. Once we pass a certain boundary, we become overwhelmed…[with] our ability to process raw information.” (Gladwell, 2000).

Gladwell also points out that the concept of human channel capacity also applies to social channel capacity. A British anthropologist named Robin Dunbar notes, “One hundred and fifty [people] seems to represent the maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship with knowing who they are and how they relate to us.”

Gladwell notes that the group size of 150 comes up in history repeatedly as the largest number of people in a group that can be organized and still maintain meaningful relationships.

An interesting example of this comes from a religious group called The Hutterites that has a policy in place to split the size of a colony as soon as it reaches 150. Since the publication of The Tipping Point, many businesses have adapted to this model and reduced the size of their organizations into smaller, more meaningful groups. Gore Associates is a company that has used this rule of 150 to manage their company, successfully dividing up divisions into groups of 150 even when their plants are right next door to each other.

Small group meetings and sympathy groups

While large organizations of people can become more efficient by working in smaller groups of 150 or less, small group meetings can also benefit from limiting group size. Human intellectual capacity, which limits our ability to interpret raw data, is different from our emotional capacity, which limits our ability to connect with others. Gladwell cites something psychologists call the “Sympathy Group” to help explain the number of people in our lives we can truly care deeply about.

The research shows that on average, people will list 12 people who they’re most connected to. Most people are only able to care deeply about a group of 10 to 15 individuals in their lives. This is similar to the “Magic Number Seven” idea where humans begin to overload their ability to distinguish between too many channels of unique information. Each member of a collaboration meeting is a channel of unique information that others in the meeting need mental space for. For this reason, creating small collaboration groups helps improve meeting efficiency.

These ideas support the need to streamline the way organizations collaborate by creating only as many unique collaboration channels as are necessary. Managers need to limit collaboration channels to those who can truly benefit from them. Managers should actively seek feedback on the relevancy of communication channels to keep channels productive for the team members who use them.

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There’s a process in psychology called “priming” that’s helpful in meeting scheduling. Priming is a powerful tool for meeting hosts because it helps to influence the way meeting participants will associate their role in association with the proposed meeting. Research shows that priming can influence someone to walk more slowly by having them read words such as “patient,” “polite,” or “respectful.” So, prime your meeting participants to be excited for an upcoming meeting using words such as “impressive” or “tremendous.” Depending on the type of presentation you’re planning, consider priming your meeting attendees with a catchy title or an associated image attached to the meeting invitation.

The idea behind priming

Take a moment to consider the type of priming that would be helpful for your next meeting. As a meeting host, you want to develop a reputation for scheduling engaging and useful meetings. As a meeting participant, you want to participate in thoughtful engagement that provides everyone value, but you also want to defend your own time from unproductive meetings.

The meeting agenda itself is a tool that can be used to prime attendees for a positive experience. The more time you put into the meeting agenda, the more likely your meeting attendees will come prepared to engage. You can brainstorm useful words by searching on Google. Consider searching for “exciting words” or “engaging words” that you can include helping better define the purpose of your next meeting.

Group Braining Storming

Set Yourself up for Meeting Success

Once you have set the stage for your next meeting it is time to make the magic happen. You have already prepared the agenda and your meeting attendees are aware of everyone who is attending. Depending on the type of meeting that you are hosting, you may want to prep key meeting participants with additional information.

Collaboration meetings are generally the easiest to host because the outcome is essentially based on a team sharing ideas to achieve a common goal. Presentation meetings often require more coordination between key subject matter experts and meeting attendees. Meetings that involve subject matter experts sharing content with audiences of more than twenty benefit from an attentive meeting moderator.

Moderators organize questions from an audience and curate audience engagement without disrupting the presenter’s train of thought. A simple check-in phone call before the meeting is often enough to prime a key meeting attendee for success. You can also post a poll in a relevant collaboration software channel before a meeting to gauge interest from various parties in your organization. A little research can go a long way toward steering your meeting’s agenda and engaging your meeting attendees’ interests.

Engaging large audiences is sometimes easier than small group audiences. Jonah Berger, the author of Invisible Influence, explores how social influence can affect everything from the products people buy to the satisfaction they feel for their jobs. Berger’s research notes that “people don’t think they’re influenced by others… but ninety-nine-point nine percent of all decisions are shaped by others.” Large audiences can be managed carefully using meeting moderation tools to have a positive impact on meeting productivity. For example, large meetings benefit from including questions voiced directly from meeting attendees. Yet, without moderation, most online meetings can be filled with people cutting each other off trying to determine who is supposed to speak next. A good moderator can control the audience’s ability to unmute their microphones using the raise hand feature.

Large audiences can enjoy the benefit of shared online spaces for engagement such as chat rooms and break out collaboration areas where positivity can thrive when properly moderated. An active chat room, for example, can spark creative ideas and encourage passive attendees to engage with the activity.

Facilitate positive engagement

Meeting moderators foster positive audience engagement while deterring potentially negative attention as well. One way to foster positive engagement is to come to the meeting prepared with a list of thought-provoking questions. These questions can be entered into the chat room throughout your meeting to encourage engagement throughout your meeting. Consider creating a list of questions that lead up to a climactic “turning point” question. A turning point question assumes your meeting attendees are familiar with the subject matter. Use a turning point question to apply educational subject matter to a real-world situation that applies context to your specific business.

Turning point questions can also be left open-ended. Open-ended questions are a great way to exit a meeting and leave your attendees thinking. Turning point questions that are funny can have a particularly positive effect. Popular memes are a great source for turning point media that can provoke laughter. Memes add entertainment value to make educational content more memorable. A 2019 study found that 74 percent of people send memes to make people smile or laugh and 53 percent send them to react to something. Your organization should have a collaboration system that can be used for communication before and after important meetings. You can recommend that follow-up discussions occur in specific channels on your communication platform. For example, at the end of your meeting, you can say, “let’s follow this up with your ideas in the “marketing’ channel.”

The Cliffhanger Exit

One strategy that encourages productivity after a meeting is a cliffhanger exit. What will surprise us most about this topic at next week’s meeting? There is no need to over-think your meeting exit. The Invisible Influence notes that “mere exposure [to other people] increases liking.” The more you meet with your peers, the stronger your relationships will become. The longer-term your relationship-building efforts are, the less important it is to prepare an amazing exit.

Instead, see if you can develop an inside joke with your team. Great running jokes are open-ended, and they can build team relationships with a simple connection point. Studies show that the more people see something, the more they will like it and familiarity leads to liking. Therefore, simply “Showing Face” and presenting your ideas on any subject should always be considered a benefit for relationship-building. Time is money to many people but perhaps, more importantly, time is an experience that can be shared.

Joseph Pine, the author of the Experience Economy, dissects the difference between “time well saved” and “time well spent” to explore the value of shared experiences. Time well saved, is generally associated with hiring someone to perform a service that takes a specialist less time than it would the person hiring them. Time well spent, is associated with more valuable experiences such as team building, events, and vacations that are shared with others. For example, time well saved could be helping someone through a tech support issue. Time well spent, would be collaborating on new use cases for technology that can be applied to business and building a lasting relationship with a coworker in the process.

An interesting aspect of social influence is the ability meeting hosts have to encourage people to perform better as they rally behind an idea. Norman Triplett, the scientist credited with the birth of social psychology, proved this theory by studying competitive cycling.

Triplett’s study, which came out in the 1800s, proved that cyclists cycled faster when they raced against a group of other people. His phenomenon is called “social facilitation” and it explains why people perform better in the presence of others. Applying social facilitation to meeting productivity requires an understanding of social influence. It turns out that the presence of others can have a positive or negative effect on performance depending on how complex the task is.

In the 1920s, Stanford professor Bob Zajonc proved that simple tasks like riding a bike generally see improved performance in the presence of others. But, more complex tasks like trigonometry performed in the presence of others will, on average, decrease performance.

The Goldilocks Effect

It is possible to increase your influence by simply meeting with people more frequently. The Goldilocks effect may explain why repeated exposure to other people and ideas can increase our affection for them. Repeated exposure to something can help people become more familiar with it. In his book the Invisible Influence, Jonah Berger explains how the Goldilocks effect often follows an “inverted U-shape trajectory.” This explains why something new is at first foreign, and therefore people initially feel negative toward it. Then, after increased exposure, when things become more familiar, people react positively. At the end of the U-shaped curve, if you have too much exposure to one thing, you may feel bored and again feel negatively toward it. This is the normal Goldilocks-inverted, U-shaped trajectory of affection.

The popular “Death by PowerPoint” saying sums up how many people feel about standard business meetings. Meetings with fresh ideas are more likely to engage an audience. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important to keep your meeting content fresh, the longer you continue to meet with the same audience over time, or you risk losing the interest of your meeting participants.

Extending the Goldilocks Effect

Goldilocks Extension

Think about the beginning stages of the Goldilocks effect of a new boss. At first, your new boss is unfamiliar to you and your experience is mediocre at best. Over time, your boss earns your trust and becomes a leader you look up to. It’s possible for great leaders to “buck the trend” and continue to inspire others over a long and successful career. I call this the Goldilocks Extension Process.

Conclusion

Passion and creativity are tools humans can use to extend the Goldilocks effect and plateau in a productive space. Human relationships are dynamic and online communications give us the ability to easily renew our relationships and collaborate to build deeper connections that can last a lifetime. When teams can overcome challenges together, their relationships grow stronger in a positive way. Extending the goldilocks plateau is when relationships turn in career partnerships that can turn into legacies of teamwork.

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At some point in your online communications journey, someone in your organization will want to host a webinar. Webinars are online meetings that feature one or more panelists who make a presentation to a large group. Before you get talked into hosting or joining a webinar ask yourself if a regular meeting format will suffice. Webinars require much less meeting attendee participation than a regular meeting. Therefore, more focused attention on presentation quality is required for webinar hosts. Webinars are often advertised to large audiences and they promise value to the audience in the form of information.

What makes a Webinar Great?

Webinars generally feature a standard hour-long format that easily fits into the schedules of interested parties. It is important to keep in mind that people are busy and will leave a webinar that does not engage their interests within a few minutes. Almost all webinars are recorded and made available for those who registered but didn’t make it.

Our team at the StreamGeeks has hosted thousands of webinars over the years. In that time, we have generated powerful educational and entertaining videos that sculpt our online presence. We use the power of social media to distribute our webinars and increase viewership by 10 times. Like most companies, we started our journey into a video by hosting webinars with a simple platform called GoToMeeting. We then moved over to Zoom, which is our platform of choice for video communications.

Types of Great Webinars

Hosting a Webinar

In our most recent live broadcasts, you will notice that we use Zoom for communications with our live audience. Before we started using Zoom inside of our live broadcasts, our team would live stream directly to YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn using software called vMix. Some companies use webinar platforms to generate leads by gating access to the content. While this may seem advantageous, over the long-term, the lack of additional exposure that is gained via social media may wind up becoming a bottleneck for online growth.

We’ve found a middle ground in which you can use live broadcasting on social media and still offer a gated secure Zoom session for power users. It’s much more effective to offer your webinars on social media platforms when your goal is to reach a maximum number of online viewers. In our most recent broadcasts, the use of Zoom meetings as a form of two-way communications inside a larger one-way broadcast has enhanced our story-telling capabilities considerably. It has also created a collaboration space for our audience that includes the important group presence that makes learning experiences come alive.

From the viewer’s perspective, it is much easier to watch a webinar on YouTube than on platforms that require a software download. After hosting hundreds of webinars, the data shows that our specific audience prefers the YouTube experience. YouTube can simply sit inside any web browser and can even be played in the background while viewers do other work. Downloading new software for every webinar that someone wants to watch can be cumbersome and may cause friction between you and your viewers.

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While video conferencing makes remote communication more realistic, tried and true communication practices can help you get the most out of any online communication effort. One strategy for team communication is called “Equity of Voice,” in which each member of a meeting is encouraged to have an equal amount of time to speak. Barry Moline, the author of Connect, says the secret to powerful connections comes down to four basic communications strategies.

#1: Share personal stories

Sharing personal stories helps individual team members better understand their peers. Personal stories foster the relationship-building process which is foundational to team communication. Spend a few minutes at the beginning of each meeting to help team members build relationships by sharing personal stories. Also, weave personal stories and anecdotes into key points in the meeting where helpful; they can often help reinforce key messages and build retention.

#2: Equity of voice

Achieving equity of voice requires a conscious effort to give each meeting member an equal opportunity to speak during the meeting. For example, in a five-person meeting, each member of the team would speak one-fifth of the time and listen four-fifths of the time. The listening side of the equity of voice is what makes it effective.

#3: Assume positive intent

To help ensure productive meetings, learn how to assume positive intent from others. This assumption helps set the meeting up for success by focusing on what you truly have control over — yourself. Too often, the “not invented here” barrier and the “transfer barrier” prevent meeting attendees from productive collaboration. Avoid these barriers by encouraging the assumption of positive intent which builds a bridge for communication that might not come naturally.

#4: Value persistence

Anything worthwhile takes time, dedication, and persistence. Once managers identify collaboration projects with significant value to the organization, they need to keep a close eye on team progress and follow-through. Some team members may lose focus, skip important meetings, or come to meetings unprepared. Managers can help by identifying people who can serve as collaboration project leaders. In an upcoming chapter, managers will learn how to use social facilitation to increase productivity and accountability to help employees effectively collaborate on projects.

equilibrium of voice

Equilibrium of Voice

Meeting leaders may embrace a new idea I call “Equilibrium of Voice” to push collaboration projects in a positive direction. Equilibrium of voice is a communication strategy that attempts to maximize meeting performance based on goals set in a meeting agenda. A meeting with a perfect equilibrium of voice optimizes the most relevant speakers of a group based on the established agenda and the participants’ roles in the overall group. It’s almost impossible for meetings to achieve equilibrium of voice without a clear agenda.

Equity of voice can be ideal for team collaboration where an agenda is in the process of being created and individual roles have yet to be defined. During the early stages of collaboration projects, everyone needs to be heard especially during crucial team-building exercises. But once a team has established an agenda, subsequent meetings will benefit from an equilibrium of voice that offers subject matter experts additional focus based on the agreed-upon agenda.

How to get there

Teams can leverage the equilibrium of voice by assuming all team members have positive intent. For example, a thoughtful question may only take a minute to ask but reviewing potential solutions may take a specific team member the majority of a meeting to work through potential answers. Similarly, achieve equilibrium of voice in a webinar-style presentation by offering subject matter experts time to present their ideas before asking questions. Meeting participants can ask questions and receive feedback through the methods decided on the meeting agenda. Meeting hosts should decide ahead of time how to accommodate meeting participant questions and feedback. Subject matter experts are resources that teams rely on to remain informed about subjects they don’t have the time to pursue on their own. Meeting leaders need to remember that subject matter experts are an essential element of collaboration.

Create a detailed agenda

Another way to achieve equilibrium of voice is to establish team member roles and align those roles inside of a detailed meeting agenda. Meeting hosts can increase productivity by structuring an agenda that helps all parties understand the roles of team members who have been invited to the meeting. A good meeting host aims to achieve equilibrium of voice between all meeting participants so that everyone can gain the most value out of the meeting.

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Four strategies for hosting productive online meetings from Paul Richards

#1: Are you prepared for the meeting?

Are you prepared for the Meeting

The first strategy for hosting productive online meetings is simply preparation. Being prepared is perhaps the most powerful strategy for hosting productive meetings. Preparation enables you to come to the meeting confident in your ability to communicate with the online meeting tools available. As a meeting host, you can show all attendees that you’re present and paying attention simply by turning on your video camera. The concept of “presence” is used throughout online communications to bring remote teams together. Many people feel uncomfortable on camera yet overcoming this fear as a leader allows you to lead by example.

Why is the use of video so important to hosting productive online meetings? Ninety-three percent of communication is non-verbal, so naturally promoting the use of video cameras during your meetings will increase your communication effectiveness and participant engagement. As an effective meeting host, you need to be mindful of participant concerns about online meeting technology.

THE CONCEPT OF “PRESENCE”

THE CONCEPT OF “PRESENCE”

Confronting and overcoming any fears you may have using online communication tools is generally the first step you can take toward hosting a productive online meeting. As culture shifts, meeting online will become more commonplace and natural for everyday communications. In a post-COVID world, online meetings have become the norm, replacing in-person meetings by necessity.

In the meantime, meetings with friends and family members online is a great way to help increase your comfort level with technology. Learning to overcome any preconceived notions of discomfort isn’t easy for people who have never worked on a distributed team. The first step toward hosting a productive online meeting is breaking the ice and making sure everyone in the meeting is comfortable and ready to proceed in a meaningful discussion.

Test meetings are another great way for managers to encourage employees to gain familiarity and comfort with online meeting platforms. Fun video backgrounds and “Touch up my appearance” features help users become more comfortable with their on-camera appearance. A simple tip for looking more professional is to record a quick video on your preferred meeting platform and watch it to short make adjustments as needed. Lighting, customized backgrounds, and an uncluttered setting can help boost your comfort level.

#2: Create consistency around meetings

Consistency of Online Meetings

As with any meeting, online meetings are more productive if you stick to a consistent schedule. Creating a consistent meeting schedule is a second strategy for hosting more productive meetings. As regularly scheduled meetings evolve, each member of the team can adapt and find their unique role within the meeting. It’s important for meeting hosts to arrive at the meeting ahead of time. Think of an online meeting like a gathering of friends at a restaurant. If you arranged the gathering or made the reservation, it’s always a good idea to arrive early, ensure a table is ready, and check-in with friends who have arrived early as well. Use the pre-meeting time as a chance to speak with other early arrivals. Teams thrive when professionalism and punctuality are respected at the start.

If you’re scheduling a meeting with a new group of people, do your best to set a positive tone for group collaboration. Starting on a high note will help ensure the productivity of future meetings. People look to a meeting host to take responsibility for moving the meeting forward and facilitating input and active participation. It’s the host’s job to decide when the meeting should start, after a few minutes for casual conversation. If an attendee dominates the conversation, the meeting host may need to intervene to get the group back on track. One discrete way to refocus the meeting is to use a private chat message. Another tactic is to prepare transition or segue questions that can be shared during key points in the conversation.

#3: Create and circulate a meeting agenda and notes

CREATE AND CIRCULATE A MEETING AGENDA AND NOTES

Meetings with a consistent schedule benefit greatly from an established agenda and meeting notes. If someone veers off, the meeting host or co-host can refer back to the meeting agenda. It’s commonplace for groups to table or sideline conversation on an issue that goes too far from the intended meeting goal.

Productive meetings have agendas that are distributed in advance and frequently use a shared document for recording meeting notes. If a productive conversation starts to derail the original agenda, a host can make note of the information and table the conversation for review at the next meeting. It’s helpful to share meeting notes in an organized folder on a shared drive that all meeting members have access to. Also, posting the notes in a collaboration channel that all members of the meeting are a part of is a great way to keep projects moving forward.

#4: Learn to listen

Learn to Listen During Meetings

Learning how to be a good listener is another key to hosting productive meetings. Hosts who do most of the talking need to remember to take a pause, breathe, and listen. A good meeting host will stop and ask for input from other meeting attendees. Transitioning from speaking mode to listening mode is also important for all meeting attendees. Yet, a study from Psychology Today finds that only 10 percent of people actively listen during most conversations (Osten, 2016). Sometimes the most important thing you can do is listen.

Listening to and engaging with other meeting participants respectfully and thoughtfully is important. Close listening also can enable you to crowdsource new ideas because we learn from others’ experiences. Effective leaders understand the importance of good listening and they enjoy it. Even if you consider yourself the “teacher” in your group, encourage others to interpret and distill the information they’ve absorbed and shared it during a meeting.

Bonus: Try a PechaKucha Presentation

Looking for a little inspiration? Try hosting a PechaKucha presentation. PechaKucha, which means “chit-chat” in Japanese, is a way of presenting a story in just 400 seconds with 20 images. Each image receives 20 seconds during the nearly seven-minute presentation. The idea behind PechaKucha is to present critical information as quickly as possible to keep audiences engaged in a storytelling process that they can easily understand.

The PechaKucha presentation format offers a clear beginning, middle, and end to the story. Because each slide is given exactly 20 seconds, the audience knows exactly where they are in the story. This presentation style offers context on presentation length for potentially antsy audiences. PechaKucha imposes order on storytelling and gives the audience a timeline to reference.

While PechaKucha may not be the right choice for every meeting, it demonstrates the power of order in a presentation setting. Besides, an agenda can impose an agreed-upon order that will help meetings stay on track and remain productive. In the next chapter, you’ll learn about meeting etiquette and the importance of equity of voice.

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So, how can you prevent employees from spending hours in unproductive meetings? More than likely, most of these meetings should never have been scheduled in the first place. It’s practical de rigueur for teams to collaborate at every turn. Frequently, individuals realize only after the fact, that they’ve wasted valuable time in unproductive meetings with no agenda, action items, or agreed-upon deliverables. A solid agenda is one key to reducing the number of unproductive meetings employees are involved with. 

Disciplined Collaboration is Key

Morten Hanser, the author of Collaboration: How Leaders Avoid the Traps, Build Common Ground, and Reap Big Results, promotes what he calls “disciplined collaboration” and describes four types of barriers to collaboration. 

First, Hanser identifies the “not invented here” barrier which describes people who are unwilling to reach out to others. Second, the “hoarding barrier” is where people are simply unwilling to help others. Third, is what’s known as the “searching barrier” in which people are unable to find the experts or information they are searching for. Finally, the “transfer barrier” is where people are unwilling to work with those they don’t know. 

According to a recent study, employees spend almost 31 hours each month in unproductive meetings (HubSpot, 2014). 

Good managers should do research to determine when the barriers to effective collaboration are too high for the successful completion of a project. When managers suggest that small groups of subject matter experts collaborate, they should consider the three steps of disciplined collaboration Hanser writes about in Collaboration. 

The three steps are:

1. Evaluate opportunities for collaboration
2. Spot barriers to collaboration
3. Tailor collaboration solutions

Good managers help their teams identify opportunities for collaboration. Managers need to mentor their teams to help them gain a working knowledge of how to effectively use available collaboration tools to tailor custom collaboration solutions which current employee workflows and whether they can be optimized. 

 

While there are many collaboration suites and tools available today, none come with a custom execution plan that’s tailored to your specific business needs. Hanser rightly points out that “the solution is not to get people to collaborate more, but to get the right people to collaborate on the right projects.” This is a process that requires guidance and management to focus on the progress of a specific group within the company. 

Barriers to Collaboration

Most internal collaborations can benefit from management matchmaking. Managers spot opportunities for collaboration, identify barriers and facilitate introductions by using appropriate communication channels, such as Slack, Teams, or other internal platforms. The match-making process works well for large companies with managers who have P&L responsibility and are incented for collaborations that deliver actionable results. Beware, setting up too many collaboration channels can become overwhelming and counterproductive. In an upcoming chapter, you’ll learn how to optimize communications channels and head off potential issues. 

Businesses can benefit from collaboration with external partners as well. External business partnerships are an effective tool for business development, but they are generally more difficult to establish than internal collaboration projects. Some business-to-business (B2B) partnerships are beneficial. For example, one business specializes in software and the other specializes in hardware. If both businesses recognize their efforts are complementary, a mutually beneficial partnership can be formed.

Business Collaboration Benefits

When seeking a B2B partnership, it’s important to start by cultivating a personal relationship with a contact inside the prospective business you wish to work with. These contacts are usually found on the business development or marketing teams of the companies with which you wish to partner. LinkedIn and other professional networks are valuable resources for connecting with potential business development and marketing contacts. When you choose potential companies to partner with, research the company’s core values and make sure they align with your firm’s values and mission. Look for ways that you can help one another for a mutually beneficial relationship. 

Whenever two businesses decide to partner, it’s important to clearly define roles and responsibilities. During the early stages of negotiations, it’s okay to keep things informal, as you progress, look for opportunities to better define the responsibilities on both sides of the partnership. Then, draw up an agreement that clarifies roles and responsibilities in writing. In today’s quickly changing global business world, external business partnerships and alliances have become one of the most important tools to maintain a competitive edge.

Conclusion

It’s easy to overstate the benefits of collaboration. Managers should only encourage collaboration when there’s a high probability of productive value. Do give teams the freedom to manage the tools and channels that best suit their needs within reason. Managers also need to watch out for the perils of “over-collaboration” where teams underestimate the opportunity costs of collaboration. An opportunity cost is essentially the loss of potential gains that you might have derived from alternative projects. After all, online collaboration is a means to an end, and that end is increased productivity. Promoting disciplined collaboration can help leaders determine whether projects that are heavy on collaboration are effective for their organization. This vision will help leaders identify potential barriers to team collaboration and help them propose solutions to remove those barriers. 

[xyz-ihs snippet=”Online-Meetings”]

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Quick Facts about Facebook

Facebook’s social media platform has become a phenomenon that has shaped the way our world understands online communications. Facebook has over 2.5 billion active monthly users connecting with friends, family members, and business contacts throughout the world on their platform. Facebook supports sharing digital content in almost every way spanning video, image, emoji, text, live streaming, and more. Facebook’s platform is monetized through its advanced advertising solutions that reported revenue of $16.6 billion in 2019. 

Facebook Messenger

Facebook’s Messenger service has been naturally integrated into its social media platform allowing users to quickly instant message other users they are friends with. Group conversations can be used for small teams to communicate and video calling is available as well. In April of 2020, Facebook announced a new feature for Messenger called Rooms. Rooms is a feature that provides video conferencing experiences for groups up to 50 callers. Facebook’s video conferencing solutions also provide simple screen sharing, audio/video controls, and meeting layout formats. 

Facebook Live

Until April of 2020, Facebook’s main focus in the video communications space has been one-way live streaming. After a 2016 launch, Facebook’s dominance in the live content delivery market has been rivaled only by Google’s YouTube and Amazon’s Twitch platform. Facebook developed several innovative features for live and on-demand video such as watch parties and interactive live audience polling. In 2017, the company’s founder Mark Zuckerberg called video a “mega-trend” which would be on par with the move to mobile. Zuckerberg has also said Facebook would become a “video first” company in many subsequent interviews. 

For some time in between 2016 and 2020, Facebook was viewed as a walled garden when it came to video content in comparison to top competitor YouTube. While YouTube has become the best search engine for video content, Facebook has become the best social media system for video. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine. 

In April of 2020, Facebook announced people would not have to be logged into the platform to watch live and on-demand videos hosted on the platform. This move brings Facebook’s video content to viewers without a barrier to entry similar to YouTube. Facebook also announced that it would allow creators to charge viewers for access to exclusive live streams.

Facebook’s dominance in the social media space has allowed the company to spread into other areas of online communication easily because the service acts as a central for online activity. Facebook is the world’s fourth-largest website and in 2019 the average users spent almost one hour every day on the platform. The lines between consumer and business use on Facebook are also becoming less important. 

A user may use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family one moment, and then use the same service to connect with business partners over an instant message or video call. Facebook’s massive user base makes the tools more effective for communications because so many people are already connected. Facebook also benefits from the familiarity users have with the platform, allowing users to experiment with new services easily (Metev, 2019).

Negative Public View of Facebook

While Facebook remains a very attractive solution for many, it faced unprecedented negative public attention from 2017 to 2019 due to privacy concerns. The company ended up paying a record $5 billion in fees to settle privacy concerns with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). The allegations cited that Facebook had improperly obtained private information from over 87 million users. Because some of this data was used by advertisers during the 2016 United States Presidential election, the negative press has been estimated to cost Facebook $37 billion (Fortune, Kelleher).

Facebook Workplace

Facebook’s Workplace product leverages much of the technology they’ve developed for public use to give companies a business option and full admin-level controls. The best way to think about Facebook Workplace is a Facebook experience where the only users on the platform are employees of a single organization. The entire Facebook newsfeed is used for company updates, with comments, groups, live streams, instant messaging, and video calling. 

While Facebook Workplace does not offer the same type of productivity applications as the G Suite and Office365 it does offer a compelling collaboration space that over 2.5 billion people already know how to use. 

So where is Facebook headed? Some would say world domination of online communications. Let’s take a quick look at the Facebook Messenger tool to better understand how the private and group communication tool works on the platform. Because Messenger is inside of Facebook, you will need to start by creating an account or logging in with an existing account. 

Getting Started with Facebook Messenger

Create an account directly on Facebook.com by filling out the short form. Once you have created an account and gained access to Facebook, connect with other contacts that you wish to communicate with. To find friends you can use the search bar at the top of Facebook. Type in a friend’s name and click the search button . To send someone a friend request, click on their picture to view their profile page. On most profile pages users see an Add Friend button at the top of their profile page. The button can also display inside of search results. Add Friend may not display on all user accounts depending on individual user privacy settings. Next to the Add Friend button are three dots that let you send a message directly or send money. Connecting with someone via Messenger doesn’t require being friends on Facebook. 

Type in a friend’s name and click the search button . To send someone a friend request, click on their picture to view their profile page. On most profile pages users see an Add Friend button at the top of their profile page. The button can also display inside of search results. Add Friend may not display on all user accounts depending on individual user privacy settings. Next to the Add Friend button are three dots that let you send a message directly or send money. Connecting with someone via Messenger doesn’t require being friends on Facebook. 

Messenger is nested at the top of the main Facebook application. By clicking the Messenger Icon users can easily start new messages with their connected friends and with groups of up to 250 members. Messenger can also be used to host video and audio calls for up to 50 members. Click the New Group in the dropdown menu or by clicking the compose buttons from the messenger dashboard to create one. 

The Messenger dashboard is accessed at “https://www.facebook.com/messages” or by clicking See all in Messengers on the Messenger dropdown menu. The Messenger dashboard lists all of your recent conversations on the left side panel. The center panel is used to display the selected conversation. Messenger can be used to communicate with others directly or in groups with a variety of media types. The most common form of messaging is text messages sent by simply typing into the message area and pressing enter. 

Messenger also offers polls, pictures, games, sending money, voice messages, gifs, stickers, and files. Polls are a great feature for learning more about how groups of people feel about a specific question. Games are an informal way to play with friends from around the world. Facebook includes Words with Friends, Quiz Planet, Solitaire, and more. Voice messages are another great way to share media inside of a private message group. If you’re familiar with the Facebook newsfeed, Messenger includes almost all of the same options for sharing media. 

Messenger is built off of Facebook’s friend connection system, but you can also message someone without becoming their friend. Messages sent to users who are not already friends show up in an area called “Message Requests.” By responding to a message request you’re allowing that person to communicate with you, see your status, and know when you have read messages. You can also click a link in the chatbox to enable I don’t want to hear from ______ to and permanently block someone from messaging you.

Over one billion active users of Facebook use it on mobile devices. Facebook positioned access to the Messenger platform in the top right corner of its main mobile app. In a web browser, Messenger is accessed directly through Facebook. On a mobile device, access to Messenger is delivered in a separate app so users can switch between the main Facebook experience and a dedicated, direct communications experience. Having two dedicated applications gives mobile users the ability to go directly to Messenger without opening the main Facebook app. 

Facebook Rooms

Facebook’s latest video communication feature is called Rooms. Rooms are essentially group video and audio chat areas where up to 50 connected friends communicate. As of the publication of this book, Rooms are being rolled out as a feature for Facebook users. Facebook has announced that you can “Create a room right from Messenger or Facebook, and invite anyone to join the video call, even if they don’t have a Facebook account. Rooms will soon hold up to 50 people with no time limit.” Facebook has also announced functionality to “Start and share rooms on Facebook through News Feed, Groups and Events, so it’s easy for people to drop by. ” 

Creating a Facebook Room

Facebook Rooms has the opportunity to completely change the way video communications happen around the world. Facebook Rooms include the necessities for online meetings such as screen sharing, muting, chat, and two-way communications, but the features that set Rooms apart are designed for consumers. 

For example, when joining a room from a mobile device user are prompted to Tap to explore effects. While these effects would be inappropriate for a business meeting, they are highly engaging for friends and family in a casual setting. Effects range from augmented reality filters to interactive mini games. An example of this is the basketball mini game that attaches a basketball hoop to your face and drops basketballs from the top of the user’s screen. Users can move their heads to catch falling balls and the game keeps track of the score.

A quick look at Facebook’s suggested “Room Activity” options demonstrates some of the popular use cases which include hanging out, grad party, keep me company, bored at home, and happy hour. Once you create a Facebook room, Facebook gives you a link you can share to invite your friends. Facebook can also automate the meeting invitation process allowing you to simply invite all of your Facebook friends or choose specific friends. 

Conclusion

From a technical standpoint, Facebook has designed one of the easiest ways to conduct face to face video conferencing. The settings area is simplified into three options: select a camera, a microphone, and an audio output. Next to these options you quickly monitor your microphone levels and choose to play a sample audio clip to test your speakers. At the time of launch, there are six simple keyboard shortcuts. Using the Alt key and a letter key to quickly end a call, enter full-screen mode, share your screen, open the settings, toggle mode, and toggle video. 

From a security standpoint, Facebook has designed this tool with three easy to understand security measures. First, Facebook is very clear about who is being automatically invited to your Room. Invite all of your friends or choose specific individuals. Beyond these invitation options, the only way people can find out about your Room is through a secure link that you choose to share. Facebook Rooms also includes a lock room feature, to block any incoming people from joining. Finally, you can also block people from entering your room in the future. 

In 2016, Facebook put a “Go Live” button into the hands of billions, completely changing the live streaming and broadcast industry. In 2020, Facebook released a video conferencing solution that is unique in the way it blends social media with online video calling. By allowing users to share video conferencing spaces inside of social media feeds, Facebook automated the invitation process most other video communication solutions required. Similarly, Facebook Rooms can be started in a newsfeed to automatically open invitations to friends in a user’s network. Rooms can be started in public groups or events to disseminate invitations even further. 

While Messenger remains useful for private messaging and video calls, Facebook’s social sharing ability is the reason Rooms is poised to revolutionize video communications. There are few companies in the world with the user base or platform to connect friends, families, peers, and connections the way Facebook can. While Facebook Rooms may seem like a consumer tool, there are numerous business use cases for it as well. Look for updates to this book as Facebook releases enhancements and new features to Rooms.

In the next section, you will learn how to become more productive in online meetings. 

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Whether you have always aspired to be a great online educator, or have been forced into the digital world due to the pandemic, here are 10 valuable tips to help you become the best virtual teacher that you can be. 

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Be Innovative

First and foremost, don’t be afraid to try out new ideas, concepts, and incorporate fun things, such as cool backdrops, to increase engagement. You never know what is going to work better than the other if you do not try. If you find that something is not working, simply switch it up.

2. Prioritize Interaction and Engagement

Online education is a lot less forgiving with it comes to organic interactions. If you are not careful, your students will become disconnected from the class. By making interaction a priority and fostering engagement, you can support the students in keeping their interest and feel heard in the virtual class. One way you can do this is by allowing students to share their screens and present.

3. Take Your Student’s Learning Desires into Consideration 

Though being innovative is ideal, that does not mean you have to work alone. Go ahead and ask your students what they want to obtain out of their online education. Asking for the kind of experiences they want and getting their insight is extremely helpful in creating a healthy space to learn.

4. Offer One-on-One Zoom Sessions

Just like in-class lessons, some kids are not going to be as outspoken as others. If you find that someone is struggling with their grades and not speaking much, remediate that by offering one-on-one Zoom sessions for those kids to feel more comfortable asking questions.

5. Have A Good Set Up 

Though this might go without saying, make sure you have an excellent video set up. Your camera angle should be on point, your lighting should be balanced, and the space you are filming in should be distraction-free. In addition, make sure you are hypersensitive with your interpersonal skills; always look at the camera, make communicative gestures, and speak clearly. 

6. Send Out Regular Whole-Class Communications 

In between your online sessions, make sure to send out regular whole-class communications each week. For instance, once or twice a week, remind your students of what assignments are coming up, ask them if they have any specific questions during these check-ins, and let them know what they should be preparing for with future assignments. 

7. Ask Students to Lead Discussions

This ties with the engagement factor noted above. If you allow your students to drive the class every so often and generate the discussions, it can enhance their overall experience. A schedule you can think about is having one class a week be run by a student. Rotate the leading student each week, and rely on them to become an expert on a particular subject to present to the class.

8. Keep Close Connections with Parents/Guardians 

Keeping in touch with parents, both individually and as a whole is a great way to show them what their kids are doing, how they are doing, and what the future looks like in regards to your curriculum. Parents want to make sure their kids are getting the best education, and staying connected with them regularly is a way to give them peace of mind knowing that you are on top of it. 

9. Take Time to Master Your Platforms Beforehand

Kids, especially those who are in middle or high school, are probably already well aware of how to navigate technology. Even if you are fluent too, make sure to test run your software and know how to use the tools on there, so you do not have to waste time trying to figure it out in the middle of a class. This not only can be embarrassing, but it can break the professional, organized tone you should be striving to have.

10. Analyze Trends 

After trying out a curriculum and particular methods for a couple of weeks, really sit down and see what the trends are. Are your students doing better or worse? Are they more active online, or are they getting distracted? In addition, how are you feeling about it? Take time to review your processes analytically so you can pinpoint areas that can be improved.

Conclusion

As you can see, traditional style classrooms and things such as Zoom classes are similar to an extent, but they need to be addressed in very different ways by the educator to be useful for students. With that being said, try implementing the tips provided above so you can start to morph into a better teacher for your online students. By taking the time to better yourself, you are inevitably becoming the catalyst for your students to become better as well. 

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Online Communications Fundamental Ideas

Suffice to say, communications have changed dramatically in the 21st century. The smartphone has made instantaneous access to information commonplace and small internet-connected devices such as tablets have put instant messaging, voice, video, and data access into the hands of millions in a relatively short period. Communications have evolved rapidly but with so many innovations happening simultaneously, there are few clear guidelines on how individuals and teams can best use these technologies to become more productive. At the same time, we have experienced a cultural shift, the world of work is adapting to deliver flexible, user-friendly communications services.

Daniel Pink, the author of To Sell Is Human, has uncovered eye-opening research that can help us to better understand the transformations happening in the modern workplace. Pink’s research shows that on average, 40 percent of most workers’ time is spent “persuading, convincing, and influencing others.” Pink’s first-of-its-kind research shows that modern workers have been asked to develop skills that cross traditional departmental boundaries to increase productivity. Pink argues that a “broad rethinking of sales as we know it” can help explain the paradigm shift in modern communication. Pink goes on to note that while only one in nine jobs in the United States are in direct sales, the other eight in nine jobs involve what he describes as “non-sales selling” (Pink, 2019).

Culture Shifts Toward Online Communications

Collaboration between multiple business units both inside and outside of organizations is key to this modern workforce transformation. Pink notes two fast-growing industries, education, and medicine, are deeply involved in “moving people.” These industries have renamed entire sectors, i.e., “telehealth” and “distance learning” in support of this growing movement. Modern communications technology has helped facilitate and speed these changes.

Telehealth is the fastest growing area of the healthcare system, according to the American Medical Association (AMA) (AMA, 2019). In the field of education, a study by the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), published before the COVID-19 outbreak reports that distance learning had been growing every year for 16 years (OLC, 2018). After COVID-19, educators from all walks of life and generations have had to reinvent and reimagine their educational processes to adapt to some form of distance learning using online communication tools.

Telehealth and Education Transformed

Both of these industries rely heavily on effective communication. When communication between multiple business units is essential, online communications become the foundation that connects distributed teams whether they’re located across the hall or the globe. These same communications tools have allowed the education and healthcare sectors to deliver their services remotely over the internet. This dynamic, in turn, has enabled them to find new emerging segments within their industries allowing their teams to build ancillary services into their business model that did not exist previously.
For example, doctors can save patients the hassle of coming into the office with simple follow up visits that can be conducted over a video conference. These new emerging segments help make their organizations more profitable and diversified. The virtualization of healthcare and educational services has increased the number of services these organizations can offer and therefore the number of people they can serve. As a result, each of these industries is now able to generate thousands of new jobs every year.

Other industry effected

How many more industries will be transformed by online communications technology? Yet another example is how the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the trillion-dollar event planning industry to move completely online. My book The Virtual Ticket (2020) reviews the transformation of the events industry that was forced to postpone or cancel in-person events as a result of COVID-19. The entire events sector continues to rethink its role and go-to-market strategies – it must adapt in light of the pandemic.
As event managers attempt to sell virtual tickets, their events can become even more profitable and diversified online. Emerging opportunities include personalized health and wellness, as instructors, coaches, and other providers can go all-in on video communications. How about an online yoga class with a celebrity? A writing course with a leading author? Or, a cake decorating class with a pastry chef? Providers like MasterClass were already in the market with virtual offerings before the pandemic hit. What’s changing now is how it’s not just about established organizations; people everywhere are uncovering the power of video communications. Consequently, it’s becoming the norm to be searching for that “secret sauce” and unique value-add that communications technologies can help them deliver.

Enhancing Online Communications

Online tools can help enhance the way we communicate when we apply traditional communication principles to the modern meeting. Even though the way humans communicate today is drastically different from the way humans communicated even just a decade ago, demonstrating a robust mission, cultivating mutual respect, and authentic communication remain the keys to success. Online communication technologies allow you to extend the reach of your organization’s communications and strengthen your offerings. So, amid seismic and rapid technological changes, it’s worth remembering that ongoing, effective communication and relationship-building remain the linchpins of business success.

Conclusion

Taking this idea, a step further, Joseph Pine, the author of The Experience Economy argues that consumers value goods and services more when businesses design specific experiences that accompany the goods and services they’re promoting and selling. In Chapter 11, we’ll explore the process of repositioning your unique sales value through productive online meetings that enhance your customers’ experience with your product or service. There are simple steps that you can take meeting attendees through to have more meaningful conversations and thought-provoking dialogue on your subject matter. So, look to the latter part of the book for guidance on this.
Let’s get started…in the next section, you’ll learn about the most important feature sets available on Skype, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Facebook Rooms. As you learn the intricacies of each video communication solution, think about your aspirations for communications. Think about the tools and how you can apply them to the unique needs of your business.

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