Every good meeting starts with the people who are part of it and thus help shaping it. At the beginning, participants should be invited to get to know each other and to tell each other where they stand mentally or emotionally. This is the only way to develop a sense of the group and to lay a foundation for direct conversation, openly developing ideas and working out joint results. In Impromptu Networking, participants are thrown into randomised small groups to check in with each other in a trusting way.
For this format, you create a video room (e.g. an event in a workshop room) in which several people can switch on their videos, as the situation requires. The format is therefore only feasible for a group size of up to 40 participants - for even larger groups, the group would have to be divided up beforehand and sent into several simultaneous get-to-know-you rounds. When the group returns from the spontaneous exchange to the main room, this format can be repeated as desired and further exchange rounds can be added.
In Impromptu Networking, participants may be brought together several times in a row in different group rooms to engage in spontaneous exchange. Participants can stay in the small groups for about 5 minutes - preferably in pairs. If the number of groups does not add up, three people can be brought together or someone from the organising team can join the format as a "joker".
Please note: BigBlueButton only allows you to create 8 group rooms in parallel. If you have a certain group size, you will have to adapt the format. Instead of breakout sessions, it would be feasible to use café rooms (and creating as many of them as you like).
Ideally, participants should be given a guiding question to facilitate the start of the conversation. Here are some examples:
"Who are you and what has brought you here?" or
"Who are you and what are you most looking forward to today?" or
"Who are you and what can you/would you like to contribute today?"
The questions should always be easy and spontaneous to answer because it is more about getting into a good conversation than making progress on the content. If the group members already know each other and you want to use the format more for content-related networking, you can of course also formulate other questions such as: "What question would you hope to find an answer to today?" or "What central challenge do you want to address/solve today?"
The discussion can be timed, in order to ensure that speaking time is equally distributed within the small group: You could start by giving person 1 two minutes to speak first, followed by person 2 with two minutes followed by one minute of talking together. Before starting the breakout rooms, it is important to explain to the participants that they will be thrown into a small room without moderation and that it is their responsibility to engage in a joint conversation. Participants also have to organise the change of conversation themselves. Preferably, one person in the group sets a mobile phone timer on loud. You can always provide participants with the option to return to the main room, if there is a problem. However, this should only be done in case of emergency, everyone should participate in this format!
Especially in the digital space, it is important that we as humans keep reminding ourselves that we are human - and not little tiles on a screen. A short mindfulness exercise that ends with a group moment can do wonders for the energy level in the room and the feeling of connectedness even across physical boundaries. The embodiment exercise can be guided to start the day or break the ice in the course of the meeting - calm and gentle moderation is essential for the success of this exercise.
This format is best suited for a group that can switch on the videos - i.e., for a maximum of 40 participants. Everyone is in a workshop room with a video event. The mics should be turned off during the exercise, they can be turned on at the end for sharing in the group.
Before starting the exercise, it is very important to extend a kind invitation to the participants. As the exercise is meditative in nature, it is important to explicitly address any inner resistance that may arise and to take the participants along into an exploration: using the word "small experiment" can arouse curiosity. It is also important to emphasise that this exercise does not require any previous experience. The participants should be reassured that the moderator will safely guide them through the exercise - even if there is a moment of silence in between. Those who feel uncomfortable can turn off their cameras. The participants can now focus completely on themselves and (let) themselves be surprised!
The exercise can be instructed as follows, individual adaptations are always possible. "Instructions" should be given in a calm voice and there should always be a few seconds of silence between the steps.
1. Please sit comfortably.
2. Breathe in and out deeply. (twice)
3. Feel how gravity is drawing your body, feet, pelvis, etc. towards the floor.
4. Now, turn your attention to your head. What are the thoughts that come up? (wait at least 15 seconds)
5. What are you feeling in your belly? Is there excitement, calm, tension, sadness, hope? (wait at least 15 seconds)
6. Breathe in and out deeply again and feel your whole body. (twice)
7. Bring your attention back into the room in silence and open your eyes.
8. Now become aware of where you are. What do you particularly like about your surroundings? What might distract you? (wait a few seconds)
9. Now direct your gaze at the screen and the videos of the others (turn the camera on again, if necessary). Look at them, at where the others are. Where would you like to be?
10. Stand up and stand in front of the camera. Extend your hands to the left and right. You will meet the hands of the others.
11. First squeeze the right hand, then the left. Now everyone is holding both sides. (You can pause here for a moment, or you can introduce a wave-like movement).
12. To conclude, everyone squeezes both sides again at the same time and is happy that we are spending the day together in this group (if you have permission to take a photo, you can take a screenshot to share later).
13. Everyone takes a seat again. Then ask participants to briefly share in plenary how they felt about the exercise. This can be done in a relaxed popcorn format: whoever feels an urge shares it with the group. If no one wants to share anything, that's fine too. Finally: Thank everyone for engaging in the journey!
Getting to know each other, informal exchange
The only way to make human gatherings truly successful is to get to know each other. A trusting relationship is the basis of good cooperation, group spirit can move a great deal, even beyond an event. Before you get into the content at a meeting, you should give yourself some time for an informal yet structured getting to know each other. In the course of the meeting, ice breaking formats should remind you that the whole thing is also about having fun harnessing the energy of interpersonal interaction.