How to improve engagement on remote video calls
Marlin De May, Research Manager at Algolia, shares a fun and engaging game to help your remote team built trust.
From the XFNConf 2020 keynote: "Creating Cross-Functionality Through Play Across the Globe"
www.xfnconference.com
"Here's an example I use often on Monday morning when people are sleepy, or with design thinking sessions. It takes 5 minutes. If you have an hour-long call, this isn't much time out of it. What we do is have everyone take a pen and a sticky note, and everyone's asked to draw someone else on the video call. Trust me, this gets really fun but also a little weird! You have two minutes to draw the best picture you can of this person. It seems short, but feels long. Then you have three minutes to share the picture. It's pretty entertaining, but also gets people out of their head and focused. The results are laughter and ease, and a sense of togetherness. It also draws people into the room. We've noticed in Zoom calls that people are texting, writing, checking email, petting their dog, and not focused on the screen. By doing ice breakers, people are drawn into the conversation. And it's a reset. People are human. Sometimes people draw a stick figure or a smily face. It's entertaining, fun, and easy. The first time you might do this people may try to do the best possible version. The more we started to do it, people have whipped out crayons and gotten fancy. One of my colleagues drew everyone as a pokemon character. It brings out people's personalities."