Since the start of the pandemic, people’s adoption of, and affinity for technology has significantly increased.

At Colloqui, we often refer to what we call the ‘Innovation Tax’ – the idea that many businesses are eager to innovate but are held back for one reason or another (e.g. global headquarters eager to stick to legacy guidelines).

Digital and virtual communication requires a unique set of design applications to capture an audience’s attention. While there are many formal design disciplines, there are also simple ways to pique interest through visual communication. Though it can be difficult to gage audience perception through a screen, we’ve summarized 5 design tips to incorporate in your presentation to maximize engagement off the bat.

With the pandemic came a surge in remote work and geographically dispersed teams. As a result, teams adopted even more tools to communicate digitally – Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and even text messages.

An inevitable component of our post-pandemic normal is workplace flexibility, and with it, hybrid communication. You may recall from a previous article that hybrid meetings are a meeting style that incorporate both in-person and virtual attendees.

We may have a unique name, but we keep our language simple. We've created a glossary of Colloqui-isms to ensure clarity in our client's audience engagement plans.

Patterns of thinking become ingrained in our minds based on repetitive activities and social constructs. These thought processes help us by problem-solving in familiar situations, but can also hinder new, out-of-the-box ways of seeing, understanding and solving problems.

In our increasingly virtual world, forming meaningful work connections can be a challenge. Employees are geographically dispersed, watercooler chats no longer exist and digital technology can be cumbersome. One way to ensure increased engagement and productivity among colleagues is by applying interactivity to gain audience interest and ensure messages stick.

Also known as online learning or distance education, eLearning has grown in popularity over the last decade, and even more recently since the onset of COVID-19.

There are many reasons adult learners may want, or need to pursue additional learning. Perhaps they want to acquire a skill, seek higher education, or expand their knowledge in a particular field.

We rely on communication to connect with others. This basic need to form, grow and sustain relationships and to belong to a group, team or family, is universal.

In his article Building a Learning Organization, author David Garvin applies a more pragmatic definition of learning organizations, describing them as “an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights”.

By definition, peer learning is a two-way reciprocal learning activity. In this style of learning, the peers help each other to learn through sharing advice, feedback and thoughtful questions.

Hybrid meetings bring together the best of both worlds: in person interaction and the technical capabilities of virtual collaboration platforms. The conversations and content that benefit the most from nonverbal communication and eye contact can be executed in-person, and the material that benefits most from the scale, transparency, and visibility of virtual interaction can be done using collaboration platforms.

A recent Slack survey highlights the enthusiastic adoption of communication platforms over the last year. We can credit remote work for the uptick, with nearly 60% of the Canadian workforce working remotely.

Research shows that video fatigue stems from numerous factors including difficulty making eye contact, a maximum concentration span of 30 to 40 minutes, and increased stress after 2+ hours of screen time. Yet virtual meetings are here to stay, regardless of some businesses returning to physical work spaces.

A study performed by MetLife in early 2021 indicated 34 percent of respondents reported feeling burned out, up from 27 percent last April. 22 percent said they were depressed, up from 17 percent last April, and 37 percent said they felt stressed, up from 34 percent.