Library of facilitation techniques

Remote Workshop Activities

Activities suitable for virtual and online workshops and meetings. Get your remote meetings engaging and productive with tools and techniques that foster participation and get everyone contributing.

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57 results
Jonathan Courtney (AJ&Smart Berlin)

Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ)

It doesn’t matter where you work and what your job role is, if you work with other people together as a team, you will always encounter the same challenges:

  • Unclear goals and miscommunication that cause busy work and overtime
  • Unstructured meetings that leave attendants tired, confused and without clear outcomes.
  • Frustration builds up because internal challenges to productivity are not addressed
  • Sudden changes in priorities lead to a loss of focus and momentum
  • Muddled compromise takes the place of clear decision- making, leaving everybody to come up with their own interpretation.
  • In short, a lack of structure leads to a waste of time and effort, projects that drag on for too long and frustrated, burnt out teams.
AJ&Smart has worked with some of the most innovative, productive companies in the world. What sets their teams apart from others is not better tools, bigger talent or more beautiful offices. The secret sauce to becoming a more productive, more creative and happier team is simple:
Replace all open discussion or brainstorming with a structured process that leads to more ideas, clearer decisions and better outcomes.


When a good process provides guardrails and a clear path to follow, it becomes easier to come up with ideas, make decisions and solve problems.


This is why AJ&Smart created Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ). It’s a simple and short, but powerful group exercise that can be run either in-person, in the same room, or remotely with distributed teams.
6
Heike Roettgers

Remote Fitness Check

Worum gehts:

Du suchst nach einem Energizer für deinen virtuellen Workshop? Dieses Energizer Spiel ist wirklich zum Aufwachen, denn es wird sportlich. Das geht überraschend gut per Webcam und ich habe schon Gruppen richtig ausflippen sehen. Jede:r Teilnehmer:in kann eine Bewegung vormachen, dadurch lastet weniger Druck auf dem Moderator:in des virtuellen Workshops, das er die Teilnehmer „zwingt“ jetzt Sport zu machen. Durch die Bewegung werden Teilnehmer deutlich wacher, weil man in den meisten virtuellen Workshop lange Zeiten unbeweglich sitzt.

2
Jake Knapp

Four-Step Sketch

The four-step sketch is an exercise that helps people to create well-formed concepts through a structured process that includes:
  1. Review key information
  2. Start design work on paper, 
  3. Consider multiple variations,
  4. Create a detailed solution.

This exercise is preceded by a set of other activities allowing the group to clarify the challenge they want to solve. See how the Four Step Sketch exercise fits into a Design Sprint

Suzanne  Whitby

Sink or... sail, swim, surf and scuba!

This fun activity allows participants to follow instructions on a MURAL whiteboard to perform a variety of activities and eventually share their name and location. You can use this as a short ice-breaker or energiser (remove some of the activities) or as either pre-work or an opening activity to make sure that everyone knows how to use MURAL before an online session begins.

A MURAL template is included for you to use and modify as you wish (at the bottom of this method).

James Smart

Touch Blue

Touch Blue is a classic energiser that is quick and easy fun for remote teams too! Challenge participants to find objects on their desk that match the attributes you select and have fun doing so!