Changes In Communication And Leadership.

 

Moving your team communication into cyberspace changes communication and leadership.

There. I said it.

If you can't see someone's response to what you said, you are missing out on a lot of information. If you instead have access to his entire digital footprint, you are getting perhaps too much information.

Yes. That is different. Totally.

Is leadership different in a virtual environment?

In "The Ability to Lead Remote Employees Will Become the Next 2.0 Skill" Dan Pontefract argues:

"Whether small, medium or large in size, organizations have been or are set to grapple with remote based leadership issues. (…) the bottom line is that teams are going to increasingly become virtually segregated and leaders need to act differently. (…) Leaders must shift their thinking, they must re-think their style, they must suspend past assumptions."

Regarding this different style, an answer can be found in “Can Being Virtual Benefit A Leader?” by Surinder Kahai:

 “Since virtual teams are supported by technology and technology tends to filter out vital nonverbal cues, can a leader be effective in virtual contexts? (...)  (Researchers) “found that the effect of transformational leadership on team performance was stronger in virtual than in face-to-face teams. (...) Transformational leaders motivate others by engaging their intrinsic interests (e.g., being associated with a particular cause) as opposed to engaging their extrinsic interests (e.g., salary or pay).”


Ok. Transformational leadership can also be found in the offline world. Leadership will not change for everyone. But for most it means an amazing shift in style.

If effective communication depends increasingly on reliable social cues, and the leadership style will focus more on  social context for inspirational and intellectual stimulation, well, heck yeah, things will be different.

So.

I think that we need communication platforms that support this shift in importance of social cues and context. And that we need practices that are tuned in using social cues and context effectively.

Of course it not just about "tools". But people enable what you can do in a project. If tools enhance the abilities of people, those tools become more than "just tools".

And with "tools" I am not speaking about "social media". Well actually, I am. But not exclusively.

Ah. Let me step on my speakers box again and tell you all about my beautifully crafted argument.

Social media will allow you, personally, to develop your social skills, get over fears of online expression and dealing with transparency. By developing your own personal skills, by creating your digital footprint you can effectively train your ability to lead virtual and resilient teams, and online communities.

Thank you.

Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter and blogs in general are primary concerned with social interaction, hence the “social” in media. The way they are constructed emphasizes social cues and context.

So.

They are a very good step in the right direction. It will surely beat pure email and storing an excel file on a shared server.

But as I said, it's not just about our communication platform. Practices that are in tune with the social cues and context concepts are also needed.

Would that be Social PM?

Bas de Baar is a writer who draws about people in transition. He loves to make visual maps and travel guides for the collaborators of our brave new world.