M4KS Webinar Series: Mastering Interaction and Creativity in Online Meetings

Many of us have been there recently: Online meetings that at some point become impersonal, difficult to follow, and content does not come through as planned. Designing and conducting successful online meetings requires a different set of skills and experiences compared to in-person ones. A webinar series on how to successfully conduct interactive online meetings as part of our Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum eStandards (M4KS) project allowed participants to learn more about strategies and tools aimed at making remote collaborating more efficient, and thus strengthening businesses’ resilience.

The webinar series covered meeting formats such classic webinars with presentations and Q&A sessions, more complex and interactive formats for smaller groups, and advanced interactive sessions with larger groups and more specific aims. The webinars followed a hands-on-approach, sharing practical suggestions on a wide range of topics, such as how to plan a successful meeting agenda including screen breaks and shorter sessions, housekeeping rules like avoiding multi-tasking, tips and tricks on how to maintain an interpersonal connection, and a number of different interactive features like polls, surveys, and break out rooms. During the webinar series, the participants had the opportunity to test all of these tools and gained some first-hand experiences. In addition, collaborative spaces like whiteboards or shared documents were integrated into the sessions to give participants a clearer idea on what they offer and how to best use them. Finally, advanced tools suited to support creative processes like design thinking or completing a business model canvas were demonstrated as well.

The Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum eStandards (M4KS) project supports SMEs in their efforts on digitalisation and sustainability. A key focus of the CSCP’s work as part of the competence center is to support companies in facilitating the implementation of new work formats. The webinar series was conducted in response to the challenges of remote working and virtual collaborating imposed by developments related the COVID-19 pandemic. The competence center offers similar webinars in a regular basis. For further details, please visit the Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum eStandards (M4KS) website.

For further information, please contact Rosa Strube.