This is a great initiative to increase verbal communication. It’s especially useful when some attendees are unable to turn on their cameras since it provides a way to engage them.
Attendees will develop skills of asking questions to test assumptions of other attendees, which will lead to fewer production and process mistakes in the future.
Time: 30–60 minutes
Participants: Teams of 2; use breakout rooms for more attendees
Technology: Audio, video, breakouts
Category: Communication
Setup: Divide your attendees into teams of two; label one attendee A and the other B.
Send all the A’s a link to a completed tangram.
There are two options for B’s:
Analog—Before the meeting starts, send them a link to a Tangram Model. Tell the attendees to print it out and cut out the pieces before the meeting.
Digital—Send them a Tangram Model using Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides.
Download a copy and upload a copy for every team to your own server. Chat the B’s a link to the document.
Start your virtual meeting.
Set up the breakouts with the pairs you assigned.
Instructions to the Audience: Today you are going to learn about the assumptions each attendee has over a virtual meeting. You have been divided into teams of 2. A’s have a Tangram model and will give instructions on how to build that model. B’s have the pieces of a Tangram and will attempt to build A’s model.
After you’re done, make sure you turn off all cameras.
Send attendees to their breakouts; suggested timing is 10 minutes.
When they return, ask them to turn on their cameras and see who solved the puzzle.
A great visual is for A’s to show their models, then have B’s show what they built.
You can lead a debrief to get the key lessons.
Tips: If you want to increase difficulty and the depth of the lesson of making assumptions, you can send a color version of this tangram to A. You can send a color version of the tangram with different colors to B. This will be
an additional challenge as A’s may ask about an orange triangle and B’s will not know that it is a different-sized orange triangle.
Debrief: You can ask questions before and after the pictures are revealed.
What was easy in working with your other attendee?
What was challenging?
What assumptions did you discover?
How did you discover them?
On a scale of 1–10, how confident are you that you built the correct model?
What did you learn from this?
What will you do differently in the future in working with a virtual team?
This exercise can be paired with instructions on how to ask better questions.
Variations: You can give attendees unlimited time if you want to give them higher odds of success.
You can change the different models to be easier or more complex.
You can change the different models to fit a theme of your meeting
Want to learn more?
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http://engagingvirtualmeetings.com/conference
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