We’ve all heard the old adage – monkey see, monkey do.  While we may have become more familiar with online meetings, it doesn’t mean they’re engaging or effective.  There’s way too much monkey see, monkey do -a.k.a. boring, non-interactive, lecture style, exhausting online meetings.

Why are online meetings so bad?

• We are suffering from O.F. (online fatigue), even the CEO of Zoom has admitted as much. And it’s no wonder, we are spending 30 billion minutes in online collaboration (which more than doubled in 2021), says John Frank, Vice President for UN Affairs at Microsoft in the UN Digital Executive Series – The Next Normal Webinar.
• Online meetings tend to be the same as standing a mere 50 cm away from our colleagues, which is like all being crammed into an elevator and not being able to look away
• We tend to make false assumptions, that everyone is in the same boat as us, which causes all sorts of misunderstandings.  For example, someone who doesn’t have a specific office space and has little ones underfoot and is therefore reluctant to turn on their camera may be seen as standoffish or uninvolved by her boss who has a large home office, lives alone, and is yearning for human interaction.
• Our comfort level with technology is still a challenge.  How many times have you said to a colleague ‘you’re muted, please unmute yourself’?
• People are working in silos.  We’re not sharing information in ways that we used to because we’re not gathering around the water cooler, or bumping into each other informally as we walk to the elevator or grab a coffee.

And yet we continue on, girding our loins and submitting to the online frustrations and overwhelm.

But we can do better.  Imagine if you will, that your next online meeting, had your staff more engaged, interacting more, contributing more, and feeling more connected.

It’s within your reach.  Seriously.

In this free workshop on March 17th with me, Lee-Anne Ragan you’ll learn:

• My secret sauce for getting your staff into the right mindset and actually looking forward to your meetings plus being more willing to engage after the meeting is long over
• How to ditch the “monkey see, monkey do” by using my simple template for pointing out your bias in holding your online meetings and how to make them more inclusive and accessible
• Several Simple (with a capital S) techniques for increasing engagement will make you look like the rockstar you are
• How to take your online meetings to the next level by using F.G.L.A.s
• To use some surprisingly easy tech tools that capture attention and get people interacting with nary a group groan (activities that are silly or embarrassing) in sight.
• Count the workshop towards your annual UN-Mandated training (If you’re a UN staff)

RSVP by March 15th. Then watch your inbox for our agenda and how to participate online.

Please note the dates and times alternate each month so as to reach more people in various time zones at their request.

• 7-9 am Vancouver
• 8-10 am Mexico
• 11 am-1 pm Rio
• 10-noon Montreal/New York
• 5-7 pm Nairobi
• 6-8 pm Abu Dhabi

Click here to convert to and confirm your timezone if it’s not listed above. Please double check your time as this time of year it’s a bit confusing with some countries shifting to daylight savings time and some not!

Take action now –>

1. Join the mailing list to receive invitations to the monthly meetings, and get access to all the meeting resources.  
2. RSVP by March 15th
3. Share this workshop information with a friend and/or colleague and participate together.  The more the merrier.