Online Workshops with the Conceptboard - An Introduction
Collaboration between companies is subject to constant change. Not least since the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic, the format of online workshops has come to play a central role. Communication between companies and, above all, the work of IT consultancies has changed permanently. The transformation from face-to-face to purely online communication has resulted in changed requirements for the mode of collaboration and the tools and applications used for this purpose.
In general, a distinction is made between synchronous online communication, such as audio & video telephony, live chats or even shared documents and work environments, and asynchronous online communication, such as discussion forums, audio & video recordings or shared documents. Each form of communication has individual advantages and disadvantages, making them suitable for activities with different types and objectives.
When conducting workshops, the focus is primarily on the aspect of teamwork. Here, the use of digital whiteboards has become established to support collaboration. At abat, we use the Conceptboard application for this purpose. The tool offers an unlimited workspace on which all participants can work simultaneously and thus supports teams in visual collaboration.
Furthermore, the tool offers extensive moderation functions. For example, the moderator can specify that all participants follow the same viewing area or set a timer for completing tasks and exercises. The cursors of all participants are visible at all times, so it is always clear who is working on what. The large selection of templates for all kinds of project and meeting methods, as well as the role concept and project management capabilities round out the package and allow for efficient and effective collaboration.
The tool does not require any registration for participants, so that nothing stands in the way of spontaneous sessions and quick meetings.
In combination with communication platforms such as MS Teams, which allow audio and video conferencing as well as the setting up of group rooms, these tools form a complete package. Online workshops are thus in no way inferior to classic workshops.
In two further blog posts, we will provide a detailed insight into the world of online workshops and present some internal and customer-related use cases. At this point, however, here are our three most important learnings and framework conditions:
1. The mixture makes the difference!
- Lengthy lectures were yesterday. In online workshops, it's particularly important to have a mix of different activities and lots of interaction. That keeps the attention in front of the screen high.
- Several short sessions are more efficient than a few long ones. Since all materials and documents are available online anyway, individual tasks can easily be worked on asynchronously between short sessions.
2. Keep it short and simple!
- The number of tools and the type of activities also need to be carefully considered. There are many different tools available for online workshops, which allow you to focus on very different areas. Nevertheless, it can often make sense to keep the number of tools as low as possible and to keep exercises simple - this enables a quick start and a smooth process.
3. It’s better together!
- In an online workshop, the moderator must not only lead the session in terms of content and expertise, but also technically. This additional task also needs to be prepared, and it works best if the moderation's content-related and technical tasks are divided among different people.