When you start strong everything else flows better…
At QS, we’ve realised that the warm-up/ way you start Zoom research is different from face to face…
… here’s our warm-up approach and check-list
- thank everyone for coming and re-name them so that a) they are not revealing their surname and b) their name fits with who you think they are (not ipad2 :))
- explain about recording, gain their consent and remember to start recording
- then it’s worth getting participants tuned in to what we need from them
- “…don’t treat this like work – so if you are in a small group it’s better to keep your mike open – don’t mute”
- “…give us your full attention – please get rid of distractions like phones/ email and other people”
- “…try to place yourself in a good position: in good light, centred on the screen”
- “…don’t censure or hold back (to be polite), we want to know how _YOU_think, feel, behave…”
Some other pointers:
- it’s great to have a hostess to manage the arrivals process (you can give them co-host permissions) the team at Beam are great at doing this
- less is more: fewer participants and shorter sessions (4-5 people and blocks of around 1 and a quarter hours… you can take breaks and come back)
- have a back-up support moderator if you can
- make the most of the benefits Zoom affords you: screen-sharing; the chat function for questions/ asides
- be playful, get people to draw and hold their pics up on the screen, go into break-out rooms together, use their PCs…
- invite clients to participate, encourage them to say hi at the beginning and the end and then ‘go dark’
PS other software is available :)
