Introduction

How often have you been in a virtual meeting and felt as though it was all about one-way communication? Have you found yourself wondering why the person running the meeting couldn't have just sent you an email or a screen recording? Do you find yourself reaching for your phone or checking your emails so you can 'multitask'? Do you make affirmative noises just so it looks as though you're listening? Do you wonder how engaged the other participants are? Our research shows that 60% of participants do other work-related tasks and 47% even have tried to go to the toilet during a virtual meeting!

If you can relate to this scenario you're certainly not alone. We've all been there - and not only in virtual meetings, although virtual meetings have now gained a new level of importance. The Covid-19 pandemic definitely accelerated the use of virtual technology within business. However, the trend towards virtual working had already emerged prior to 2020. In fact, its popularity has been rising for several years.

Firstly, the climate crisis has encouraged, and in some cases even forced, companies to evaluate their carbon footprint and explore more environmentally friendly and sustainable ways of doing business. It's clear that changing global business practices will be vital in helping fight the climate crisis. Turning to virtual sessions that require less travel and therefore generate less pollution, as well as bringing teams from around the world together, will be essential if we are to have a positive impact on the planet for future generations.

Secondly, we live in an increasingly globalised world. Collaborating across physical boundaries has never been more relevant. Businesses can have employees based all over the world, or work with partner organisations around the globe. Communicating and collaborating in a virtual environment has become more important than ever.

Thirdly, there are cost benefits to virtual working. Businesses can reduce the amount they spend on travel.

Finally, virtual working allows organisations to tap into expertise that may not otherwise be easily accessible to them.

Virtual working is all about speeding up processes and bringing the right people together at the right time. In this book we will zoom in on virtual facilitation as an important part of virtual work.

What is virtual facilitation?

In its purest form, facilitation is about helping a group perform better, whether that's helping them reach an outcome more quickly, more efficiently or even going further than they thought possible. We take this concept of facilitation, of improving the process, and bring it to the virtual world.

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to working in a virtual space. There's also pressure for businesses to be more efficient, which is adding to the need to work in virtual environments. But what we've noticed is that, while many businesses are embracing these virtual opportunities, many also lack the skills, knowledge or insight to get the most out of them. The sudden need to adapt working practices to virtual environments means that there has been a steep learning curve, and many are finding it difficult to realise the full potential of their virtual meetings.

We have heard people saying that they feel as though they're losing momentum in their business, that they're seeing employee engagement fall, and that there is a lack of energy within the company. Businesses are aware that there are problems, but they don't know how to address them effectively in this new, predominantly virtual world. On the other hand, we have also seen very effective meetings, high productivity while working from home and employees that value the flexibility of virtual meetings.

Throughout this book we will share our extensive knowledge on virtual facilitation, based on a wealth of practical experience that provides you with the tools we use ourselves: to ensure high-quality sessions, ideas and inspiration on how to get more out of your virtual meetings, workshops and training.

When you facilitate a meeting effectively, you'll see a number of benefits. Attendees will be actively engaged and contributing to the meeting or workshop, rather than just being 'present'. People will be more motivated, they'll take ownership of the decisions made in the meeting and there will be a more positive energy, both in the meeting and beyond. All of these elements will have a positive impact in terms of what happens after the meeting.

For employers, this is an opportunity to create a real buzz in your organisation and to make employees feel valued. We all know that people leave jobs because they feel undervalued by their manager. If you're increasingly working in a virtual environment, you need to make sure that your employees know they're valued and are able to contribute in that virtual space.

This is about future-proofing your organisation. Businesses don't just need their employees to put the hours in. Efficiency isn't enough any longer. The winning formula that you need for future success will involve being efficient, but it will also require you to tap into the creativity, engagement and motivation of your employees.

The advantages of virtual facilitation

There are many advantages to virtual facilitation, which we'll explore in greater detail as we move through the book. They include:

• The ability to bring the right people together.
• The opportunity to introduce experts.
• Making training more accessible.
• Providing more frequent touchpoints.
• Enabling more effective sessions.
• Better data access during sessions.
• Easier documentation of the process and outcomes.
• More equal contributions from all participants.

Putting the human back into the digital world

We're not advocating for entirely digital workplaces. We understand that, for many people, going to work is as much about the social interaction with colleagues and clients as it is about doing a specific job. But there is no need to choose between the physical or the virtual. You can have both.

Our aim is to help people to have more meaningful interactions. We want to help businesses understand how virtual spaces can also be social, without making a meeting less efficient or productive. There are many benefits to operating in a virtual world, but there is still a place for physical meetings and events. Based on your knowledge of physical and virtual sessions you should decide when the situation calls for a physical or a virtual meeting. Our approach is about making sure that when we are together, we're together in a more meaningful way

Humans are social creatures who need to connect and build relationships on a personal level. In the following pages, we'll not only cover the positive business impact of a good virtual meeting, but also the positive people impact of a good virtual meeting.

Our aim is to share our knowledge and expertise to help you create a productive and engaging meeting culture at your organisation, where you take full advantage of the virtual space in your ongoing collaborations. We want to put a human element into the digital world.

Sharing the 'How'

We want to use our knowledge, skills and understanding of virtual facilitation to help businesses of all sizes, and across all industries, to raise the quality of their virtual sessions. Our purpose is to help you and your teams to spend your time more wisely and create an even greater impact.

Through this book, we want to help you make sense of the virtual world. We're not just going to talk about the technical aspects of virtual facilitation - we're bringing our years of experience in human behaviour to combine humans with the technical possibilities that lie before us.

This book is a practical guide to facilitating effective and engaging virtual sessions - from practitioners to practitioners. From January to May 2020 in our company, Implement Consulting Group, we hosted 33,731 Teams sessions with internal or external participants, been part of 4,152 Zoom sessions either as facilitators or participants and hosted 161 Zoom Webinars with a total number of 62,634 people attending these Zoom meetings.

Based on our extensive experience facilitating small and large virtual events for companies across the globe, hosting webinars and training of more people in virtual facilitation this book reveals what really works. We'll share small and easy steps that you can take at every stage, helping you to change the world, one session at a time. Most of the solutions we present in this book are scalable. They work for sessions involving 5 people, 50 people and even 500 people.

With our practical tools you can have a positive impact on virtual sessions immediately, whether you're responsible for facilitating large or small virtual sessions. These are some of the questions you'll find answers to:

• How do I plan virtual sessions with impact and engagement?
• How do I engage people in a virtual session?
• How can I get my message across and connect with many people in different places?
• How can I use virtual facilitation to drive change at my organisation?

We want to open your eyes to what is possible with today's virtual technology and to show you where opportunities lie for your business. As we have said before, this book isn't just about...