So, the adobe meeting was interesting. Felt really slow at times – a bit inhibiting – you don’t want to interrupt and take up the whole talking space. Maybe that is what we are all thinking – ending up in a lot of silence. The feedback is difficult to get (others’ reactions) so you have no idea if you are doing too little or too much, would it be wrong to take the initiative or is it a waste of members’ precious time not to.
I am wondering if the atmosphere would be very different having met just for one time in a physical room. The difficult part seems to be to break the ice, would be nice to hear someone’s experiences about the first digital meeting, when does the group start feeling more relaxed and communication starts happening. How much time? What facilitates the transition into a good working climate?
ONL (b)log 
Hi Malin. In the beginning is always like this. Nobody wants to interrupt, talk too much…after a while when we get to know each other, we already feel more comfortable to participate, share, join, disagree 🙂 it is quite similar in a physical setting, at first, everybody (or at least most of us) are still trying to understand what is expected, how much can we share and discuss..:)
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The first time in any new meeting room in any new group tends to be a bit like this, doesn’t it? I mean, people hold back and it takes a while to get to know each other before the conversation starts to flow more freely. On top of this, some technical difficulties… One difference in online meetings is that there is no fika (coffee break) where people can talk informally – which I think is good for building a sense of community. I also strongly believe in humour as a means to break the ice. In this course though, one other peculiarity is that quite often meetings are held in off-duty hours and group members participate from their home, which creates situations that make the contact more personal (dogs barking, kids interrupting…). All in all there’s not so much difference – I think – at least not if you consider that this is quite a short course. I was surprised at first to see that I actually got to know people well even though we never met physically! You just wait and see ;o)!
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Thanks Lotta for your reassuring words 😉 I do think as the topics becomes clearer and there is actually things to collaborate around – the roles will be more defined and people will become more relaxed. I think I sensed it already! The idea of a digital coffee break is humorous in itself – and great if it could be a part of the first meeting, the moderator leaving for 15 minutes and the others having coffee with headsets on 🙂
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