Are you planning your next online stakeholder engagement event? This blog provides expert tips on effective planning. Joining Jambo for this blog is Kim Hyshka, Principal at Dialogue Partners. Kim has been a leader in civic engagement and public participation for over a decade, and she's here to share her expert insights on planning your next online stakeholder engagement event.
In this blog, we cover:
While it's been said a hundred times before, the pandemic fundamentally changed the landscape of stakeholder engagement, and it's essential to accept that it will never return to the way it was. Over the course of this pandemic, we've created a "new normal" with "new expectations" for how people engage, when they engage, and what's available to them when they do engage.
Pre-pandemic, everyone expected one evening event and maybe one weekend event. But now we're in a space where time, time zone, and event date matter less because of our online events, which have expanded people's ability to participate. Stakeholders expect both online and in-person options. Hence, we need to learn how to adjust to these expectations.
In this blog, we share tips for planning your online events. These are for anyone new to this or looking to improve their online events.
Before we jump into the tips, it's essential to understand that we must let go of our need to control everything. If you're going to get the most out of the online engagement space, you're going to have to be ok with the fact that there will be some unknown variables.
I'm not saying this to put fear into people, but it's imperative that if you're going to do this well, you walk in knowing there are unknown variables and that it's ok.
Take comfort in the fact that working on this journey now means that many people already have online experience. You get to ride the wave of knowing most participants have already been talking to their families, friends and coworkers online. Pre-pandemic, this was brand new, but now people have some baseline skills they can work with, which will help your events.
Last summer, while numbers were low, Dialogue Partners worked with an organization that wanted to engage a Northern community. The community requested an in-person event, so the organization wanted to honour that request. This was the first time we ran an event with 25 people in the room and 25 on Zoom simultaneously.
Was it perfect the first time we did it? No, but this ensured that everyone who wanted to attend could choose the mode they felt most comfortable with. My point is that we will miss meeting community or stakeholder expectations if we expect only one type of engagement.
The reality is, you can't cover the same amount of content online as you can in person because everything moves more slowly online due to challenges that can arise when using technology with a group. To meet these challenges, reduce your planned online event times by 20%-30%.
As an example of how things can move more slowly, think about how we've all been in a meeting where someone starts talking, and they're on mute, and then everyone has to say, "You're on mute!" Then the person stops, finds the right button, apologizes, and then speaks again. That right there probably took about 45 seconds, so think about adding 45 seconds at least 10x over a three-hour-long session—that alone will cause things to slow right down.
Additionally, you need to give discussion introductions and technology introductions. For example, for an in-person event, I would have simply said, "At your tables, I want you to talk about x, y, z. Go ahead," and in an instant, people would be talking. Now, you need to take extra time to explain to people precisely what you want them to discuss, how they will discuss the topics, and what you will be using (i.e. what technology) to facilitate the discussion. These additional instructions and introductions will need to be accounted for in your time.
After 60-75 minutes, plan for people to stand and move around. We know about Zoom fatigue, so if you want to create a positive experience and get the best data from your stakeholders, they need to be in the best mindset. That means you need to get them to move around every once in a while.
However, if you're hosting a 90-minute session, you can probably go without a break, but if you're going any longer than 90 minutes, you need to plan for breaks. While the breaks don't need to be too long, plan to give people a couple of minutes to stand up and move around before rejoining the session.
Tip: Practice what you preach! If you're giving your participants a break, you should take one too. You probably won't take as long as they did, but give yourself a minute to reorient yourself and readjust; however, don't check your email! Breaks are not the time to check your email; they are a time to get centred again.
If you're running an online event, you need a dress rehearsal, just like they do before a theatre production. You need an opportunity where everyone participating in running that event is there to practice.
In the run-through, you need to have all your materials ready. You need to have all your slides prepared and all your speaking notes ready, and then everyone runs through the event as if there's a live audience.
Tip: Don't make the mistake of just assuming your participants will sit quietly in the background; prepare for comments and questions!
To prepare, gather some colleagues to serve as your stakeholders during the run-through. This is effective because your colleagues know who your stakeholders are and what they'll say, so get them to attend and pretend to be your stakeholders. I have found this especially useful when things are controversial.
Tip: Be in the space where you'll host the live event; this is especially important for whoever is leading it.
If you're running it live at home, be there for the run-through so you can practice with the same internet, laptop, microphone, etc., that you'll use for the live event. I've seen people practice at home, then, for the real event, go to their office, thinking it will be better, only to be flustered because it's not the same environment.
As I said initially, there are many unknown variables, but do not let any of them be things you could have controlled. You can control your internet connection, your headset, your laptop, and the space you'll be in. The dry run is about finding problems and reducing variables. While your participants will bring many unknowns, you should not.
There was a myth in the early days that online events didn't require many people to run; however, for an online event to go well, your backstage crew is quite significant.
To utilize your team to their full potential, everyone should have a role and a description for that role, so everyone knows exactly who is responsible for what and when. While five key roles must be filled, you might expand the number of people in each position, depending on the size of your event.
Tip: The number one role that everyone forgets about is the chat box responder. This is the person whose job and focus are creating a thoughtful, relevant interaction in the chat. This is vital because, if you want to curate a conversation, you have to give it energy, so someone needs to take on this role. There's nothing worse than a repetitive and lacklustre response like: "Thanks for that." We all know this type of response is boring and not genuine because it's not how you would speak in real life.
Tip: Make sure you have tech support who does nothing else but sit by the phone, on a local number, ready to help. So, if someone is struggling (e.g., they can't connect or their mic isn't working), there's a number they can call to talk to a human who can help with their tech issues.
Nothing derails an online session quicker than:
These types of questions destroy the session's energy when there's no quick help available. Have a designated support person ready so that you can say, "No problem, Joe! We're going to get somebody to help you. I'm typing a number in the chat right now. You're going to call Margaret, and she will look after you."
While I haven't needed this number a ton, I've been so grateful to have that role covered every time I have needed it. Joe feels like he's being looked after, the rest of the group isn't annoyed that we're spending a lot of time on Joe's problem, and then the session can move forward.
We tend to arrive online right when things are starting, but would you ever go to an open house and arrive one minute before your participants? Of course not! You would get there early to ensure the power is on, your brochures are out, and your team has had a kickoff meeting. You would never treat an in-person event that way, so your online event requires the same level of attention and care.
My team is always online 45 minutes before we go live, and I'm on an hour before to get into the headspace that I need to be a leader for my team. We check our tech, screen sharing, and microphones and make sure everyone is comfortable with their roles during this time. The best part is, if you're ready 20 minutes early, you all mute your mics, turn off your cameras, have a bit of a rest, grab a coffee, and then come back to get started.
There is a risk in treating an event like a meeting. An online event is not the same as your staff meeting; it requires a different level of attention and care to run smoothly, deliver the data you need, and create a positive experience.
Remember those unknown variables we talked about earlier? Well, you want to have a plan in place for when things go sideways. What happens when someone starts yelling in the chat box or when someone takes over the main page? You need a plan just like you would have for an in-person event.
With your team, you have taken some time to think through a variety of scenarios. It's primarily in the chat box where I've experienced things going off the rails. While it's much harder to come off mute to yell at someone, it's so easy for the chat box to explode, so keep that in mind.
We'll address this more in our next post, with tips for diffusing conflict during online stakeholder engagement, so stay tuned for some tools! But for now, just know that you need a plan and have talked with your team about how it could go wrong, where, and who will address it when it does.
Have a plan for how you and your team will communicate without it feeling awkward.
Tip: Using direct messaging in Zoom is not a good idea! I guarantee that when you are under pressure, trying to make quick decisions, or things are heated, you will type stuff into what you think is a private message on Zoom, and it's accidentally going to go to everyone. There is no taking this back when it happens, and there is no erase button for it.
So, have a plan for how your team will communicate outside of Zoom (or whatever platform you're using for your online event). This could be a group text or your organization's internal communication tool; choose whichever works best for you and your team.
Tip: Email is not a good option because it takes up a ton of resources, and, generally, when you are running a session, you want to use something conducive to the experience.
Jambo Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) software is a dedicated platform designed to help organizations efficiently manage stakeholder relationships and engagement activities. When planning online stakeholder engagement events, Jambo can offer significant value throughout the process.
Here's how:
Jambo stores comprehensive records on stakeholders, including their contact details, organizations, and past interactions. When planning an online event, you can:
Segment your audience: Identify and invite relevant stakeholders or stakeholder groups.
Personalize communications: Tailor invitations or materials based on previous engagements and stakeholder interests.
Jambo keeps a record of all past meetings, issues raised, and stakeholder feedback, enabling event planners to:
Review previous interactions to inform the event agenda and anticipate key issues or questions.
Identify follow-ups from past events to address during the upcoming session.
Jambo makes it easy to:
Build tailored stakeholder contact lists for your online engagement events.
Export these lists for use in mass communication campaigns, such as email announcements, newsletters, or mailouts, using your preferred external communication platforms.
Jambo makes it easy to:
Visualize and manage all planned event communications, campaigns, commitments, and tasks in one centralized calendar view.
Proactively coordinate event logistics and activities across your team.
Avoid scheduling conflicts and enhance effective time management.
Jambo makes it easy to:
Automatically add important emails and their attachments from Outlook (we also have an Outlook add-in to keep all information centralized) or Gmail to your project in Jambo by using project-specific email addresses.
Log each BCC'd or forwarded message as a communication record within the appropriate contact profiles.
Centralize and preserve all essential correspondence related to your online stakeholder engagement events.
During event planning:
Track any outstanding issues, concerns, or commitments that need to be discussed or updated during the online event.
Assign responsibilities for follow-up tasks after the event.
Jambo makes it easy to:
Share event information and planning documents with the internal team.
Generate reports on stakeholder engagement history, planned attendees, key topics, and more, which helps brief facilitators and leadership.
Jambo's platform allows you to:
Log meeting notes and outcomes right after the event.
Track new issues, commitments, or tasks arising from the event.
Analyze engagement effectiveness by compiling data from pre- and post-event interactions.
Discover how Jambo helps in planning your next online stakeholder engagement event →
We've been really grateful that nearly all our clients have joined us on the online engagement journey. We've done everything from hosting cross-country conferences for 300 people to facilitating community conversations with 50 people online to helping people think through how to run an online one-to-one interview.
We understand that all these events (large or small) are important and are all valuable. We also know that each online event has unique needs, and so we'd love to work with you and your organization if you're looking for any level of support!