{"id":3716,"date":"2021-02-20T02:37:20","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T07:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/?p=3716"},"modified":"2021-02-20T02:41:34","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T07:41:34","slug":"hand-signals-for-virtual-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2021\/02\/20\/hand-signals-for-virtual-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Hand Signals for Virtual Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One person asks a question, not even a rhetorical one, followed by an awkward silence. Did it ever happen to you? It happened to me a lot, especially now that my days are filled with online or virtual meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the facilitator of the meeting, or the person who asks the question, could formally go around the table to ask each participant to express their opinions. It is time-consuming, does not really help with the dynamic of the conversation, and in most cases, does not really help surface the potential disagreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simplest way is to assess the opinion of the room is to introduce hand signals. Here is how it works with the team I interact with. The approach is loosely inspired by the Decider (from The Core Protocols)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposer clearly states is one and only one proposal and asks the participants to show their hands. The best results are obtained when everybody votes at the same time that to avoid the temptation of following the crowd (and regretting it after \ud83d\ude42 ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"Thumbs Up<\/strong> to show their approbation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"Thumbs Down<\/strong> to show their disagreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"Flat Hand<\/strong> to show they are ready to support the decision of the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s review what is coming next when all participants have expressed their opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When everybody thumbs up, or you have a majority of thumbs up and some flat hands. Nothing to really worry about and you can move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you have a thumb down, or you don\u2019t have a majority of thumbs up, it signals the need for inquiring about the reasons of the participants. The way you formulate your question is important. \u201cWhat will it take to get you to thumbs up?\u201d is a better question than \u201cWhat do you think?\u201d as it focuses the person on finding a way to move forward, and not to express all the reasons to stop the progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can adjust the proposal and get another vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teams usually adjust very quickly to the approach and find improvements in their way of expressing their opinions. Progressively, team members will be more comfortable to express when they are \u201cabsolute NO\u201d on a proposal, which will minimize the time spent attempting to resolve things that cannot be resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The last signal we introduced in one team is: Arms Crossed<\/strong> to signify when is it time to move on to another topic. The equivalent of the ELMO facilitation technique. ELMO stands for Enough Let\u2019s Move On. You can use the real Elmo<\/a> or a picture of him, just a piece of paper, or Lisette Sutherland\u2019s Collaboration Superpowers Cards<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"\"I also worked with teams that introduced a variant of the flat hand signal. With the Palm up<\/strong>, it then means that the participant will follow the team but would prefer not to, but does not have strong objections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"A good addition to the classic: I want to speak<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One person asks a question, not even a rhetorical one, followed by an awkward silence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[762],"class_list":["post-3716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","tag-team"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/pexels-photo-6787406-1.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1253&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNjQG-XW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3888,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2021\/12\/22\/a-tale-of-a-leadership-team-workshop\/","url_meta":{"origin":3716,"position":0},"title":"A tale of a leadership team workshop","author":"Alexis","date":"December 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Day One: Coming Together For some leaders from different organizations that will merge into one in the upcoming weeks, the face-to-face meeting is the first opportunity to meet in person with each other and their new manager. Even if the three facilitators made sure to greet everyone as they entered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"group of people wearing shirts spelled team","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/pexels-photo-7551442.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/pexels-photo-7551442.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/pexels-photo-7551442.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/pexels-photo-7551442.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/pexels-photo-7551442.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2849,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2019\/04\/26\/agile-games-new-england-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":3716,"position":1},"title":"Agile Games New England 2019","author":"Alexis","date":"April 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In two previous posts, OKRs! OK What?, and The worst presentation ever, I covered sessions proposed during the Open Space on the third day of Agile Games 2019. In this post, I would like to highlight the other sessions in which I found interesting \"nuggets\", to use a term that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/2019-04-08-15.57.59-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/2019-04-08-15.57.59-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/2019-04-08-15.57.59-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/2019-04-08-15.57.59-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/2019-04-08-15.57.59-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2715,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2018\/12\/09\/discovery-one-on-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":3716,"position":2},"title":"Discovery One on One","author":"Alexis","date":"December 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I chose to end all the chapters of my book, Changing Your Team From The Inside, with a section titled \"Summary and Action\". The goal of those sections is to give you keys to act immediately on your environment. I regularly received feedback about how great it was to have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/12\/chapitre-5-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/12\/chapitre-5-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/12\/chapitre-5-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/12\/chapitre-5-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/12\/chapitre-5-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2443,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2017\/09\/15\/how-do-i-know-my-opinion-is-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":3716,"position":3},"title":"How do I know my opinion is right?","author":"Alexis","date":"September 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In a meritocracy, the best idea wins. So, how can we design an organization that will enable that?\u00a0 Ray Dalio propose to use radical transparency, radical truthfulness, and algorithmic decision-making to create the conditions where people can speak up and say what they really think. He shares an example of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Screenshot-from-2017-09-15-07-47-13.png?fit=1200%2C634&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Screenshot-from-2017-09-15-07-47-13.png?fit=1200%2C634&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Screenshot-from-2017-09-15-07-47-13.png?fit=1200%2C634&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Screenshot-from-2017-09-15-07-47-13.png?fit=1200%2C634&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Screenshot-from-2017-09-15-07-47-13.png?fit=1200%2C634&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2525,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2018\/03\/24\/kanjis-at-agile-games-france\/","url_meta":{"origin":3716,"position":4},"title":"Kanjis at Agile Games France","author":"Alexis","date":"March 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2018 edition of Agile Games France just ended a few days ago. What is extraordinary about this unconference? The non-organization principle is pushed to the extreme, and reminded from the start to the participants: \"If you want something to happen, do it\" as it's originator, Alexandre Boutin, repeats each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/03\/2018-03-17-11.08.22-e1575890615245-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C711&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/03\/2018-03-17-11.08.22-e1575890615245-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C711&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/03\/2018-03-17-11.08.22-e1575890615245-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C711&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/03\/2018-03-17-11.08.22-e1575890615245-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C711&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/03\/2018-03-17-11.08.22-e1575890615245-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C711&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3993,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2022\/07\/19\/collaboration-by-design-with-philippe-coullomb-and-charles-collingwood-boots\/","url_meta":{"origin":3716,"position":5},"title":"Collaboration by Design with Philippe Coullomb and Charles Collingwood-Boots","author":"Alexis","date":"July 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The challenges facing humanity are growing in complexity. Collaboration is offering us to tackle more complexity by getting diverse minds to work together. How to gather people and facilitate successful collaborations?","rel":"","context":"In "Le Podcast"","block_context":{"text":"Le Podcast","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/Le-Podcast-Season3-Collaboration-by-Design.png?fit=400%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3716"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3737,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3716\/revisions\/3737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}