Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Hi Lenka!
So far the communication and channels have far exceeded any expectations I and the teams had. Everyone is very engaged and actively doing their best to interact as if co-located; video, engaged, humor, compassion, etc.
So, no, there has not been an increase in miscommunication now that all communication is online.
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1 reply by Lenka Pincot
Jun 15, 2020 8:04 AM
Lenka Pincot
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That's great to hear Andrew. I hear often that people are tired or online meetings and miss coffee-chat with their coworkers.
I miss informal communciation and overall ambience that tells a lot of what is the state of mind of the team as such.
Saving Changes...
Lenka PincotChief of Staff to the CEO| Project Management InstituteParis, France
Jun 15, 2020 8:01 AM
Replying to Drew Craig
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Hi Lenka!
So far the communication and channels have far exceeded any expectations I and the teams had. Everyone is very engaged and actively doing their best to interact as if co-located; video, engaged, humor, compassion, etc.
So, no, there has not been an increase in miscommunication now that all communication is online.
That's great to hear Andrew. I hear often that people are tired or online meetings and miss coffee-chat with their coworkers.
I miss informal communciation and overall ambience that tells a lot of what is the state of mind of the team as such.
...
1 reply by Drew Craig
Jun 15, 2020 3:05 PM
Drew Craig
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Oh, yes. For sure, online fatigue is real. We all should be aware of how many meetings, who needs to be involved, and how long they need to be, e.g. not every meeting should default to 60-min. Give folks time to stand up and stretch, refresh themselves, etc. We no longer have the luxury of walking from room to room.
I very much miss the hallway conversations and interactions. Many meetings have opportunity in the first several minutes to just chat. We should try to mimic that old real-life as much as possible. Remember the days when we would just chat in the room while others were funneling in? Why not do that now?
And for those questioning or struggling with engagement, turn the video on. If I was in back-to-back-to-back meetings all day every day, I'd check out too and/or multi-task. If on video, at least a bit more cognizant of participation and effects of a disengaged audience.
There is a greater potential for noise as there is less ability to incorporate awareness of body language, tone, and other context into the interpretation of a message. We may also be more distracted when communicating online rather than face-to-face which increases the risk.
This is why a greater attention to active listening and helping the team set some ground rules which cover communication expectations would help.
Kiron
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1 reply by Lenka Pincot
Jun 15, 2020 8:12 AM
Lenka Pincot
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You're absolutely right Kiron, body language is missing and people may struggle to stay focused the whole time. It requires facilitation skills to keep engagement high.
Saving Changes...
Lenka PincotChief of Staff to the CEO| Project Management InstituteParis, France
Jun 15, 2020 8:06 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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There is a greater potential for noise as there is less ability to incorporate awareness of body language, tone, and other context into the interpretation of a message. We may also be more distracted when communicating online rather than face-to-face which increases the risk.
This is why a greater attention to active listening and helping the team set some ground rules which cover communication expectations would help.
Kiron
You're absolutely right Kiron, body language is missing and people may struggle to stay focused the whole time. It requires facilitation skills to keep engagement high. Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
The only thing we feel is really missing is the real feel of a team so we are working now through establishing at least once in a week meeting in a open space face to face.
I would say keeping the attention and engagement of the attendees was more challenging in the absence of body language and the face to face (as in some cases not everybody would like to show his camera).
In some cases, I've seen some stakeholders attentive only to their parts, so they would use selective listening, so our role is to engage them and make them see the added values of their input and how can we link what others are communicating to their needs as well.
building an ambiance of trust helped, I noticed more colleagues started showing their cameras after having a one to one chat. Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Jun 15, 2020 8:04 AM
Replying to Lenka Pincot
...
That's great to hear Andrew. I hear often that people are tired or online meetings and miss coffee-chat with their coworkers.
I miss informal communciation and overall ambience that tells a lot of what is the state of mind of the team as such.
Oh, yes. For sure, online fatigue is real. We all should be aware of how many meetings, who needs to be involved, and how long they need to be, e.g. not every meeting should default to 60-min. Give folks time to stand up and stretch, refresh themselves, etc. We no longer have the luxury of walking from room to room.
I very much miss the hallway conversations and interactions. Many meetings have opportunity in the first several minutes to just chat. We should try to mimic that old real-life as much as possible. Remember the days when we would just chat in the room while others were funneling in? Why not do that now?
And for those questioning or struggling with engagement, turn the video on. If I was in back-to-back-to-back meetings all day every day, I'd check out too and/or multi-task. If on video, at least a bit more cognizant of participation and effects of a disengaged audience. Saving Changes...
juan sunProject Manager| Aura International ConsultingChina, Mainland
Well?it is a risk,but we can hold it by making some on-line communication rules.Such as you should prepare a clear communication themes and content, everyone should think about it in advance, and announce these participants in advance. It is best to have a visual display when sharing at the meeting. When speaking, specify the speaking time, make a timely summary of the meeting, which is reached by consensus, which It will be discussed later. Share the results of the meeting in a timely manner. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
There is no difference when you take into account what communication mean and the components that are part of the communication environment, basically emisor, receiver and a mean. The mean is what varies but in my case I am working with remote teams from long time ago so nothing new below the sun for me. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Interesting that most miss emotional items, like body language, team feelings, occasional chats. I would add the relationship beak of the 4 beaks of communication is not as expressed as in face2face communication. A sign for this might be that I seldom see emotions in Virtual meetings.
What works, is the rational part, and even better than before. Saving Changes...
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