Participant Engagement During Virtual Coaching Using Google Jamboard

[jmueller]

How can you get team members to engage and provide ideas during virtual team coaching? There are a lot of virtual tools available but one of my favorites is Google Jamboard.

For screenshots and examples, click here for a Google Doc.

Benefits:
Everyone can “talk” at the same time. You can collect a lot of data in a short amount of time.
It’s free!
Intuitive to most users (A two-minute tutorial is usually sufficient.)
Participants do not need to create an account. As the coach, you can share a link and everyone can join in.
Completed Jamboards can be downloaded and shared. Or they can stay with the team and people can add to them over time.

Limitations:

Once you get over 40 people in the board, it can slow down or not allow people to add ideas at all
Jamboard is very difficult to use on mobile devices. We encourage participants to join virtual meetings from a computer so they have a better experience.
You can only have 20 slides in one document. Depending on the length of engagement, you might need to create a second Jamboard.
Fonts and colors for text are limited.
Some organizations block the Google Suite. I always have my sponsor check that they can enter the Jamboard well before the first session so I can plan accordingly.

Additional considerations:
People can get flooded with the amount of information added to the Jamboard. Be sure to provide space for people to read/look at what has been posted and/or read some of the ideas out loud.
Some participants may not have the technology to use Jamboard. Others may not have the ability to quickly type ideas into the Jamboard. Consider this when choosing activities. One workaround is to do brainstorming in small groups and have one person be responsible for adding the group’s ideas to the Jamboard.
It’s possible to be anonymous during brainstorming and sharing which can be a double-edged sword. People can feel safe to add what they really think, but they can also drop a bomb without providing context.

Ideas for use:

Constellations
Place a statement at the middle of the board.
Have each person create a sticky note with their name on it.
Invite each person to place the sticky note close to the statement if they agree, or far away if they disagree.

Variation:
Place a variety of concepts on the board. (Perhaps a group of the TPI’s)
Ask a question and allow people to move to their answer.
Example questions:
Which is most important to you?
Which is least important to you?
Which does this team need to work on first?

Take some time after asking each question for the constellation to settle and for people to take a look. Ask what they are noticing, what they expected, any surprises, etc.
This creates both individual and systems awareness.

Capturing the essence
When people can’t find the words, they can access pictures instead. While there is a draw tool, you can also search for images. After images are generated, ask the group what is sparking for them and what theme(s) they are seeing.

Brainstorming
Add a question or prompt to the top of the screen. Invite people to add as many ideas that they have to the board. The goal here is quantity!

After the initial brainstorming, ideas can be easily sorted into themes. Participants can also add plus ones or question marks if they want to discuss further.

Idea voting
In the same way they would vote in-person, you can invite people to vote for ideas using hash marks.

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