Unit 6  What you’ve learned and farewell

Hello, I am Antonia Heil from the German project team. What I found particularly exciting about our research findings was that the quality of a video conference is closely linked to the approach taken by the moderator. In this role, women are challenged and questioned much more than men. Female chairs of videoconferences are under much greater pressure to perform because they are expected to display typically male leadership traits. I would like to see greater awareness of this issue and more solidarity with female colleagues.

Hi, my name is Annadís Gréta Rúdólfsdóttir, and I lead the Icelandic part of the project. Thank you for participating, and I hope you have gained a new perspective on communication in online meetings. What we in the Icelandic team found most notable is how humour is a subtle and agile tool of power. And how important it is to use it correctly. Let's also remember that he who laughs last, laughs best.

Thank you very much for participating in this course. Throughout the different sessions, we have explored together a range of tools, strategies, and reflections aimed at improving our professional practices and contributing to more just, collaborative, and efficient work environments. From the initial introduction, where we outlined the objectives and overall framework, to the practical activities and evidence-based discussions, you have had the opportunity not only to learn key concepts but also to apply them through interactive exercises and moments of reflection.

We encourage you to continue exploring these contents and, above all, to put them into practice in your daily work. Every action, no matter how small, can have a meaningful impact on the quality of collaboration and the well-being of everyone involved. We hope this course has provided you with useful knowledge, new perspectives, and inspiration to keep improving your professional practice.

Thank you for your attention, participation, and commitment throughout the entire process. It has been a pleasure to accompany you. See you soon!

So, those are the farewell messages from our international team of researchers to which we, the UK team which led the project, would like to add our own. Firstly, like our colleagues we’d like to thank you for engaging with the course and we would like to thank our colleagues for their contributions. We hope you found it useful, informative and even entertaining at times. Online meetings have become such an important part of our work lives over the last few years that making them productive and pleasant was a real priority for us. Most importantly, though, we wanted to show how equitable and fair meetings that include everyone can really make meetings matter. We also want to remind you that this is a badged course and, once you’ve completed the final assessment, you will be awarded your digital badge for ‘Best practice in online meetings’. Finally, on the last screen, along with the credits of everyone who contributed, you will find some further resources you can draw on to finesse your meeting skills. And, for the future, we’ve included links where you can find support as well as a few for your amusement.

Throughout the course, we have looked at the different ways gender influences our online interactions. What stayed with us from our findings is how often small gestures or comments in online meetings can reproduce inequality even when it isn't intentional, but they can shape who feels listened to and who doesn’t. The value of this work lies in slowing down and paying attention to those details and to recognize what’s happening and how we can respond with more awareness and care.

Thank you from the Spanish team from University of Rovira an Virgili for accompanying us through this course. I hope it helps us keep questioning how gender plays out in our daily interactions, and how we can make space for different voices to be heard in both everyday face to face interactions and online interactions.