#11: What's Been Working for Team Builders Online, Part 1 (with Guest John Losey)

We've had several questions lately asking us about what's working online for team builders. In Part 1 of a three part series to address this question, we invited our good friend John Losey to help us with some answers. John has been a vital part of our online team building learning experiences and has helped dozens of other online team builders learn and grow.

John tells us about starting with a positive and realistic mindset - "The skills that make us good face-to-face team builders do not necessarily make us good online team builders." We need to accept this, recognize the skills needed for online programs and then learn and practice these skills. His method for helping online team builders - intentional guided practice. "We are in the same place we ask our participants to be on a daily basis, out of our comfort zones." With guided practice we can learn in a safe environment and receive needed feedback and coaching to gain the confidence to lead online programs.

"We've got to be willing to be bad for a while" and put ourselves out there in order to learn. It's important to also recognize the realities of an online context. Technical difficulties will be the norm. Accept this fact and learn how to problem-solve. Have someone help with the technology so you don't have to remember everything and keep it simple. Stay away from the "shiny objects" until you are comfortable with the basics. And, most importantly, start with your program outcomes in mind and find activities that will work in the online context. Avoid trying to fit an activity you already know into a context that won't support it. You'll need to do the legwork to find and/or create experiences right for the platform(s) you are using. And, it is possible to really enjoy the experience of online programming (just ask Michelle!).

In Part 2 (next week) Michelle & Chris share what has been working for them online.

Find out more about John and how to get into one of his Guided Practice workshops by visiting his website or sending him an email:
Website: https://intowisdomgroup.com/praxis
Email: john@praxistraining.com

We hope you join us!

Find the Show Notes with all the resource links HERE

Submit a comment or team building related question HERE

Michelle Cummings - Training-Wheels.com
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Dr. Chris Cavert - OnTeamBuilding.com  &  FUNdoing.com
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