Rituals for Virtual Meetings

"I didn't realize how much I needed this book until I read it."—Bob Sutton Praise for RITUALS for VIRTUAL MEETINGS "Whether you are an old hand at remote work or are among the millions of us who are newcomers to it all, Rituals for Virtual Meetings is packed with proven tools that make boring gatherings fun, help nervous people feel safe, enable old teams to work in new ways, and so much more. I am so grateful to Özenç and Fajardo for making my new online life more human and productive." –ROBERT I. SUTTON, a Stanford Professor and author of the national bestsellers The No Asshole Rule and Scaling Up Excellence "Özenç and Fajardo have gifted us a timely, accessible guide on how to use simple rituals to connect in this new virtual gathering world." –PRIYA PARKER, author of The Art of Gathering, Host of The New York Times podcast, Together Apart "Rituals for Virtual Meetings not only offers a complete recipe book of rituals to incorporate into your online meetings, it also talks about why rituals bring meaning and serenity to our remote work and virtual meetings." –BETH KANTER, author of The Happy Healthy Nonprofit "Focused, deep, and timely—this book provides much needed guidance on making human connections as remote work becomes the new normal. With just the right amount of background theory, the authors provide a wealth of practical techniques you can use right away. Easy to follow and well-organized, this volume is the go-to resource for engaging distributed teams in meaningful ways." –JIM KALBACH, author of The Jobs To Be Done Playbook, Head of Customer Experience, MURAL "If you are craving more warmth, connection, and order in your remote work, I have good news. You just found the blueprint. Fajardo and Özenç's work is science-based, accessible, and spectacularly useful. It needs to be read by every group trying to build and sustain their culture during this time and beyond." –DANIEL COYLE, author of The Talent Code and The Culture Code

KÜR-AT ÖZENÇ is a designer, educator, and author. He is a design director at SAP Labs Palo Alto. He teaches design at the Stanford d.school and leads the Ritual Design Lab, where he runs experiments with students and partner organizations on personal, team and human-robot rituals. His work on rituals has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Fast Company, 99U, and Canadian Public Radio. He published his first book Rituals For Work in 2019. He holds a PhD in Design from Carnegie Mellon University. GLENN FAJARDO is a Lecturer at the Stanford d.school and was the d.school's Distributed Learning Teaching Fellow in 2020. He has been a student of virtual collaboration since 2008, working with people and organizations across six continents engaged in social impact work. Glenn was formerly the Director of the Co-Design Practice at TechSoup, a global nonprofit, and is trained in nuclear engineering sciences and public policy.

PART ONE How Rituals Make Virtual Meetings More Engaging, Productive, and Meaningful 1 The Power of Rituals in Transforming Virtual Meetings 1 2 Meetings as Moments to Be Elevated and Nurtured 17 3 The Secret Science of Virtual Meetings 40 PART TWO Rituals for Virtual Meetings 4 Rituals for Beginning, and Ending a Meeting with Engagement 57 5 Rituals for Focus, Engagement, and Flow 88 6 Rituals for Resilience and Rejuvenation 120 7 Rituals for Creating Connection and Building Relationships 150 8 Rituals for 1-1 Meetings 184 9 Rituals for Transitions and Shifting Culture 212 PART THREE Beyond the "Office" 10 Rituals for Teaching and Training Online 245 11 Rituals for Social Gatherings 276 References 307 Acknowledgments 313 Authors 315 Index 317