There are many scenarios where you can find yourself in charge of a group meeting. Being host, as we call it at Makeshapes, could involve facilitating the learning and development of staff, holding a Zoom meeting with your team, running a webinar, or even starting a Makeshapes learning experience. No matter the purpose, the host is there to ensure the gathering runs smoothly. 

However, this role can be daunting—even trained experts experience nervousness before hosting workshops! We often say that hosting groups and managing people is a state of VUCA, an acronym for volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. You just never know what is going to happen within the group and this can lead to stress. So to support hosts, we've gathered our top five tips to ensure you are well prepared to lean into the VUCA state and ensure your participants feel welcomed and safe. 

1. Test the website/meeting link/technology days before the session actually starts. Procrastination is normal, even expected. However, many well-intended hosts make the mistake of waiting to test their experience until just before the session starts, only to run into a problem—usually resulting in stress for you and your IT department. So, if you are new to any of the technology, do a test run before the actual session. If you are hosting from home, do a wifi test too. We’ve found anything less than ~15 Mbps download/upload can lead to lag and latency issues.

2. Create a welcoming, safe environment for your participants. Arrive early to set aside some time to design an environment that helps participants feel comfortable, welcomed,  and psychologically safe when they arrive. If in-person or hybrid, consider a round or “U-shaped” table setup, where people are facing each other, but still allowing space for a screen or in-person facilitator. If it’s a hybrid meeting, you’ll want to spend extra effort to ensure that the conference microphone and speakers are working properly so those online don’t feel left out. You may also want to set aside time in the agenda (if it doesn't exist already) for an icebreaker for participants to get to know each other. Also, don’t forget background music in the room (or online), which can help set the tone of the experience when participants arrive. 

3. Keep people's attention with drinks and snacks. Having well-placed drinks and snacks during a meeting can not only help people be more engaged but also give people a boost of energy just when they need to be at their sharpest. While we always recommended having water readily available, going the extra mile to have coffee, juice, and snacks available during the session is worth it. However, avoid food items that cause unnecessary distraction—like bags of Sun Chips. We like small bite-size snacks such as small muffins, protein balls, and berries. We’ve also seen some meetings with yoghurt parfaits. Running virtual or hybrid? Consider sending participants a small gift box to their home with snacks. 

4. Be practical about distractions and encourage breaks. Everyone is busy and your participants are no different. They may walk into the session with a hundred other things they would rather be doing. While encouraging everyone to turn their phone off or go on silent, some don’t feel comfortable doing this because of the nature of their job. Be transparent about your expectations and try to treat everyone like adults. Encourage people to reduce distraction if they can practically, but also share the break schedule and ask that if they do need to take a call, they step outside to do so.
   
   We like to encourage participants to take breaks whenever they need to, especially if there is something that triggered an uncomfortable feeling. One of the unique features of Makeshapes is that participants can take a break manually. So, if they need to leave the session for any reason, their group can continue without them. 

5. Be aware of the social dynamic. Do your best to be inclusive and support everyone having the opportunity to share in discussions. Sometimes that means encouraging those that aren’t sharing, or doing the opposite and limiting the person that is sharing too much. This is a difficult balance, and every situation is different. It helps to look out for visual cues of people looking bored or frustrated. It’s not all about others, though. You might also be avoiding awkward silences and speaking up too soon. We like Wayne Turmel’s 5-second rule, where a host waits silently for at least 5 seconds with the group before speaking up. This doesn’t sound like a long time, but it can be uncomfortable. Turmel says “If you don’t give people sufficient time to process information, form responses and offer them, you’ll create a dynamic where no one actually participates.”

Additionally, difficult social dynamics only compound when the groups get larger. If your group is over eight or 10, it may be useful to break into smaller groups. Some technology offers breakout rooms, but these are not a silver bullet to managing large groups as they can be difficult to manage when you are facilitating a conversation yourself. 

Lastly, if you are running experiences across groups with different cultures or languages, be conscious that the content shared may not be presented in the participants first language, and could take longer for them to process. If there is an option for caption services, particularly for any content that is being shared, we highly encourage using them.

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