Face-to-face conversation allows nonverbal cues to be more clearly understood and immediate constructive feedback for checking meanings. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Birdy via Pexels)
The bigger the virtual team, the more the team can get done.
Wrong! To get things done, team members have to talk to each other. So do the math! With a team of 5, it takes ten conversations for team members to connect with everyone about a critical issue – very doable. Guess what happens with 13 team members – it requires 78 conversations – not happening. It’s the number of links between people that creates the collaboration problem. A team of five members is ideal! It’s large enough to have a diversity of ideas. It’s small enough for one person to build on another’s ideas. If you go much beyond five, you have lots of people offering their views, but they come out as serial monologues, with little ability to make collective sense. If you want your team to move fast – break a large team into smaller pods. And re-design the work so that a small team can accomplish a given task. Then ensure collaboration between the pods by selecting leads for each pod that frequently meet for coordination. These leads are not bosses but coordinators – regular members of the teams who are willing to take on extra duty. Figure 3.1 The Science Behind Small Teams Graph
Virtual teams do not need to meet F2F.
Not so. It is almost impossible for team members to maintain the deep relationships required for a truly cohesive team without periodic face-to-face interaction. The research is undeniable on that topic. When people come together in person, they have the opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas, as well as convey feelings in a way that’s tough to do virtually. Having the whole team together can ensure that everyone is interpreting objectives, goals, roles, and other vital content the same way. Disagreements can be aired more easily and quickly, and mistaken assumptions can be identified and dispelled. And, very importantly, face-to-face meetings help people create the bonds that are needed for team members to collaborate virtually down the road.
It’s helpful to have the co-located team members sitting all together in the office while remote members join through Skype or Zoom.
Mixed mode causes real problems! Having some participants sitting together, maybe even in the same room as the boss, while others are online, unduly privileges those who are collocated. Those in the room can make eye contact with the person speaking and can even notice who is getting ready to talk. While those online have no eye contact and can only view the whole group. Even if the group is careful about ensuring that online team members “get in,” those who are remote remain 2nd class citizens. Build a level playing field across time and distance by having every team member be on their office computer for team meetings. Just remember – No Mixed Mode. We are all together or all apart.
Virtual teams don’t need to worry about team building.
All teams need to think about how they’re working together periodically. It’s even more critical for virtual teams because they have fewer opportunities to run into someone in the hall to repair a misunderstanding or to casually check out how others might be thinking about an issue. Team building can be accomplished virtually if spaced over time. Rather than gathering for a two-day F2F event, effective team building can occur in 2-hour virtual segments, spaced over six weeks. A virtual team-building workshop increases trust, builds appreciation for others’ strengths and weaknesses, rebuilds alignment around goals, and improves communication.
A good way to get everyone on the same page is to use virtual team meetings to show PowerPoint slides and have everyone do individual status updates.
That one is a no-brainer! According to a recent study, 82% of people admit to doing other things in a virtual meeting—anything from surfing the web to playing solitaire. They do so because the meeting, or its substantial parts, are of little interest. So follow the 80/20 rule. Make meetings 80% active and 20% passive. Don’t bore meeting participants by showing slides or reviewing documents that can be sent and read before the meeting. Use virtual meetings to solve problems, exchange ideas, offer suggestions, or seek guidance. Do that in small breakout groups of 3-4 people and invite team members to suggest items that need to be discussed in the meeting.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in social distancing. Many people around the world began attending school virtually and/or working from home using video apps to connect. (Photo courtesy of Surface via Unsplash)
Meetings conducted via Skype or other synchronous technological tools can function as efficiently as face-to-face ones, but only if the distinctive challenges of the virtual environment are taken into account. It’s harder to develop empathy with other people, and easier to engage in unhelpful multitasking when you’re not in the same physical space with them. To make it more likely that a virtual meeting will be both pleasant and productive, then, it makes sense to tell people up front what your expectations are of their behavior. If you want them to avoid reading emails or playing computer solitaire on their computers while the meeting is underway, for example, say so.
A major goal of most meetings is to reach decisions based on maximum involvement, so it pays to keep in mind that people work best with others they know and understand. With this in mind, you might choose to email a photo of each person scheduled to be in the meeting and include a quick biography for everyone to look over in advance. This communication could take place along with disseminating the meeting’s agenda and other supporting documentation.
Further Tips & Suggestions for Leading/Participating in Virtual Meetings
Get all the participants in an audio meeting to say something brief at the start of the meeting so that everyone becomes familiar with everyone else’s voice.
Remind people of the purpose of the meeting and the key outcome(s) you hope to achieve together.
Listen/watch for people who are not participating and ask them periodically if they have thoughts or suggestions to add to the discussion.
Summarize the status of the meeting from time to time.
If you are holding an audio conference, discourage people from calling in on a cell phone because of potential problems with sound quality.
Because you may not have nonverbal cues to refer to, ask other members to clarify their meanings and intentions if you are unsure their words alone convey all you need to know.
If you know you are going to have to leave a meeting before it ends, inform the organizer in advance. Sign off publicly, but quickly, when you leave rather than just hanging up on the meeting connection.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Facilitating a meeting well requires a large number of skills and talents and depends on overcoming many potential pitfalls, but following specific recommendations from authorities on the subject can make it possible.
definition
The atmosphere, physical and psychological, where you send and receive messages.
The process of understanding and sharing meaning.
A specific written plan describing the purpose and contents of a meeting.
A person’s level of importance or significance within a particular environment.
