I want my learners (supervisors of remote teams) to work together to come up with best practices based on their experience and research. I’m planning on putting them into breakout groups, but how can I really get them to engage with each other without a facilitator or moderator in each breakout?
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This may depend on the format in which these sessions are being held. In-person? Zoom meeting with breakout rooms? Social online learning like the NovoEd platform?
I’m a big fan of asynchronous brainstorming because it lets everyone be heard, even people who don’t think quickly or who don’t like to speak up in groups. So I like to let people know in advance what the brainstorming topic is going to be. You could also give people a minute or two to think and write down ideas on their own, have each person read what they wrote, see what ideas this immediately inspires, and then maybe do another round of this whole process.
You could also give them some questions to help them get started. One question I’ve found to work like magic is to not ask people what they want or recommend. Instead, ask them what their ideal ______ would look like.
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This is great insight, @learning.lane. We really like your recommendation for how to engage introverts and/or people who like to take their time in responding — as well as asking opinions rather than for recommendations. Great insights.
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This is always a challenge. I may write it into my leader’s guide that I want facilitators to walk around the room and monitor, but that doesn’t always happen. Or, virtual break out rooms that go unmonitored can miss the mark of the intended learning. I like having the facilitator provide a demo of what’s supposed to happen before they break out and discuss. The ideal is to get a think-pair-share going so they know they will be held accountable to share what they came up with after the break out
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