If you have ever attended an International Budget Partnership (IBP) in-person training, chances are you scribbled some thoughts on tiny sticky notes and stuck them on flip charts around the room. We at IBP love our flip charts, color markers and sticky notes. We haul them with us on long flights to all locations far […]
Over the past months of virtual meetings – and there have been plenty of them – there has been much testing and experimentation with technology. One such technique has been the Chat feature; all virtual platforms have it and most of us use it. For me, the Chat feature has helped to enliven and enrich […]
I could never have imagined I would start a meeting with personal images of joy… But, I did! You have to understand, I was planning a tough meeting. It was a meeting to discuss common challenges and issues that have come up over the first year of one of our projects. I had no illusions: […]
One of my teams started using Miro as a digital whiteboard, and I was really excited to be able to use the “sticky notes” (term used by Miro) function to brainstorm and sort ideas like we’ve done with Post-it notes in-person. Once we tried it out, it became clear there were some adjustments to using […]
The number one desire in online learning is to engage each individual present. Quizzes and polls are two quick and easy features that can help boost the energy, add some fun, and help learners connect to the content and each other. When to Use As a warm-up to learn something relevant about the people who are there. Example: What […]
Many people are afraid of sitting in silence with a group in a Zoom room. Don’t be afraid. Silence can be extremely helpful and needed if timed well. Here are reasons to design for silence: to give people time to think to make space for off-screen work before coming to the large group to consider content, ideas, […]
The Chat box is highly underrated. All meeting spaces have this feature, but it is not often used. And even more rarely, explored. Here are some great reasons to use the Chat box: to invite in all voices Rarely does everyone have a voice in a session (in-person or virtual). Since meaning-making is personal, every […]
Much has changed since pre-COVID. And in my view, our monthly all-staff meetings are better now that everyone is on a separate screen. It used to be that everyone in the International Budget Partnership Washington DC office would be in one room and on one screen while the rest of our staff in country offices […]
This recent demand that we all become online participants and facilitators has many rewards and challenges. There is a different intention to our interaction and our time together. Our learning environment has become more isolated and independent, regardless of a virtual screen. And though the boundary may be virtual, it should not replace checking our […]
So … you’ve scheduled your webinar, sent out the invitations and marked your calendar with a reminder to log onto your selected platform 15-20 minutes early to make sure everything is ready to go. You’ll be ready to start on time – which will please your online crowd. Ending on time will also please them […]