Preparing for Synchronous Sessions

Practical considerations

There are many practical considerations you should take into consideration when planning synchronous online sessions. 

These include, but aren't limited to:

• Considering privacy and trust-building issues: 
• Who will be there? Does the group know each other? Does the group know you?
• What will be discussed? 
• Will there be trust in the room or does it have to be built?
• Distribution and longevity of the session: 
• Should the session be recorded? How will it be shared with others, if at all? 
• What might we need to ask or tell participants about sharing the session itself or session details with others? 
• What impact might recording the session have on the participants during the session itself - do people behave differently if they are being recorded?
• Logistics:
• Will an advertisement need to be created? How will people register for the session? How will they know how to connect to the session?
• Will you need to send them any files before, during or after the session? Do you know how you will do this?
• Testing the platform:
• Have you used the platform before? How familiar are you with it? Do you need to test it again? When? With whom? 
• Does anything need to be arranged in advance? 
• Are you using a PowerPoint? If so, have you designed it for interactivity? Do you know how to tell participants to annotate?
• Do you know how to share your screen/documents?
• Does the platform work with your computer system? Your browser?
• Do you know how to use breakout rooms?
• Do you know how to mute someone? Turn off someone's video? Remove them from the room if you need to? Use the waiting room and other security features?
• Where will you be connecting from at the time of the session and how good is the internet connection? 
• Do you have a headset/earbuds and are they working?
• Your space:
• What does your space look like where you will be sitting during your session? What can be seen on camera? Will you need to use a virtual background? Do you know how to do that?
  
• How could you eliminate interruptions from pets, children, phones, partners etc. as much as possible?
• Working with a co-facilitator or producer:
• How will you work together? What will your roles be?

Note: Regarding the "decision to record" above, please note that in this course we ask that you DO record your facilitated session for the purposes of self-reflection and gathering feedback from course peers and facilitators.