In part 3 of my Working Together and Apart in a Time of Crisis series, I talk about the importance of the right communications platform for our teams and some tips for handling unexpected issues with meeting from home.
Platform, Platform, Platform
Distribution doesn’t work at all if we’re missing the right tooling to keep communication seamless. If we’re not providing our teams with the right platform to support their collaboration, then all bets are off.
“Invest in enhancing the tools and providing teams with the flexibility of how and where to work”
One unexpected benefit from lockdown has been the proliferation of access to a set of tools that really helps keep smooth communication flowing when apart. Zoom and similar video conferencing and online collaboration tools have entered popular usage. I’ve used Zoom and Microsoft Teams for face-to face conversations, group meetings and lots of training sessions and facilitated collaborative working with tools like Google Jamboard and Miro, using real-time dynamic whiteboard and sticky note generation.
There are many of these tools, and picking the ones that work for you is important. With a little thought and experimentation, however, it is a pretty straightforward job to successfully replace a group dynamic of physically gathering around a kanban board without loosing the sense of real-time collaboration and urgency.
It is certainly worth noting that the wrong tools or impeded access can cause poor outcomes with team dynamic. Absence of decent collaboration tools or limits imposed through low bandwidth and internet glitches can still ruin a promising story refinement session and wreck team morale.
Our organizations may need to revisit prior tooling choices in these areas. Where collaboration and videoconference platforms have historically supplemented physical presence rather than replace it, shortcomings have very likely emerged during lockdown. Now is a great opportunity to learn lessons, invest in enhancing the tools and providing teams with the flexibility of how and where to work
Meet the Family
I’ve seen examples of team members not wanting to turn on the all-important video during conversations. This may be for a variety of reasons, ranging from embarrassment at the view of home in the background, concerns about children, assorted other family members and even pets crossing the line of sight or, most worryingly perhaps, just avoiding the need to be fully engaged in a conversation.
I’ve personally found it really novel to engage with people in their home environment. I think glimpses of a little more than just our work personas really helps cement relationships and builds a rounder trust.
I do my best to provide a level of comfort to groups I meet in video conference that whatever their circumstances, they don’t need to hold any embarrassment for their background or sudden appearances of home life.
“I would strongly recommend creation of team working agreements encouraging the use of video”
Many videoconference tools allow the set-up of virtual backgrounds. Anyone who wishes to use one of those should be encouraged if it means seeing them during the call. Actually, this can be a fun exercise, with lots of creativity on show when picking the background of the day.
As a facilitator of group meetings, I would strongly recommend creation of team working agreements encouraging use of video. So much of our communication comes through non-verbal means that missing facial expressions can really lead to ambiguity and misunderstanding. A good working agreement, signed up to by all the members of the group should take bandwidth issues into consideration when necessary but still inspire the wide adoption of cameras.
Next Time
In the final part of Working Together and Apart in a Time of Crisis, I look at how team maturity plays a role in outcomes during the COVID-19 lockdown and what lessons we can take away from our experiences.
About the Author
Richard Williams is a fan of business adaptivity in all its many forms. He is a Visiting Fellow in the Industry Faculty at Kingston University Business School and an IC Agile authorised instructor in Leadership, People Development and Adaptive Organization Design. Richard has 25 years of experience working in delivery and product roles for a variety of FinTech and Financial Services companies. He is a transformation coach and SAFe Program Consultant.
