EMQ » April–June 2019 » Volume 55 Issue 2
By Warren Janzen
This article is part of a larger book on working with scattered teams coming out spring 2019.
Have you ever faced communication frustration? Your team is scattered and so you connect via social media, chats, video calls, or internet work groups. You’re trying to manage all these media channels and still have some “real” interaction. Sometimes it feels so sterile, only focused on the task. Sometimes it feels like your teammates are distracted and not listening. Or sometimes you feel like you can’t read the room and make adjustments in the middle of a meeting. Maybe it’s the more mundane issue of s-l-o-w b-a-n-d-w-i-d-t-h. Or maybe it’s that one teammate is technologically challenged and always leaving their mic on or can’t turn their video on or #drivingmecrazy.
For the past fifteen years, I’ve been directing a dispersed leadership team. We connect regularly via video calls. We message each other and exchange countless emails. We collaborate via a team website and share documents. We’d all agree with the apostle Paul that communication is different when you are not there in person. Having heard how Jewish Christians were persuading the Galatians to be circumcised, Paul was broken-hearted and angry. Unable to visit them personally, he wrote a letter. In the midst of challenging the requirement that non-Jewish Christians must observe the Torah, he pauses to express frustration for the way in which he needed to write them: “… how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!” (Galations 4:20, NIV). Commentator Scot McKnight understands Paul to imply that his written letter “is a weak communication in comparison to his mighty presence.”[1] Communication without presence changes everything.
Like me, you’ve probably had those moments when emails, WhatsApp messages, and even video conferencing has felt like weak communication. Our aim is not simply to get things done. We also want to develop and care for our people. Our goal is not simply performance but includes the hearts and lives of all on our team. Yet where we work and how we work and with whom we work means that we often can’t be face-to-face, at least not regularly. So, let me suggest a few ways to adapt your communication to make the most of it when your team is scattered.
A Fact of Life
Virtual teams are a reality for many of us. Whether scattered within a region or across the world, we gather in virtual teams to maximize limited resources. We want to tap into the deep talent, broad experience, and diverse cultural perspective of others. Yet we cannot afford the costs in terms of time, travel, and budgets to get together regularly. So, we create virtual teams. What makes virtual meetings different from face-to-face meetings?
- You are often dealing with multiple time zones
- There are distractions, including the temptation to multi-task on your computer
- You lack the visual cues, such as crossed arms and finger tapping, by which to read how others are engaging
- The group must operate without the casual conversations before and after meetings which deepen and maintain relationships
- Misunderstandings may go unresolved because you are not pressured by seeing your teammates in the lunchroom or by the copy machine
- Technological issues may delay or even derail your meeting
- Increased diversity can also introduce hidden cultural differences which may require extra effort to surface and process
- Team members may be dealing with physical and emotional isolation
How do we get the most out of our virtual communication? Are there ways, as the apostle Paul desired, to enhance your communication so that you can “change your tone?”
Key Practices
Technology continues to advance, and our work or ministry contexts continue to change. While there is no one answer to effective virtual communication, let me suggest seven practices upon which you can pursue efficiency with your tasks and effectiveness with your team.
I am going to assume that your team is clearly defined (who is on it and who is not), that it has a clear and compelling purpose which truly matters, and that it can make decisions about important issues. Your team will want to have well-designed objectives with clear goals, strategies which move you towards those goals, and agreed upon ways of measuring progress. I am also assuming that each team member has adequate internet speed to manage and participate in your video calls and collaborative workspaces. Given these assumptions, let me suggest a few techniques for making the most of your communication when your team is scattered.
Foundation: Personal Relationships
1.Build and maintain the team through face-to-face meetings.
Over the past fifteen years, regular face-to-face meetings have built and sustained the relationships I’ve needed to work effectively with a team that is scattered in four regions of the world. I schedule at least three to four face-to-face meetings per year. Here team members can get to know each other better, build some shared (fun) experiences, and cement the foundational relationship on which the team functions. Convenience, cost, and technology shouldn’t prevent you from getting together. Email, video calls, and chats simply cannot match the emotional connection and intellectual engagement that real-time interaction provides.
2. Build understanding about your personal workspace.
A great way to bring out the human element of the team is to have each member take the group on a virtual tour of their workspace. Introduce your team to your home office, preferred coffee shop, shared workspace, or regular office from which you operate. Describe who else may be around and how you will deal with interruptions. If you are married and working from home describe the expectation which you have set up with your spouse and children. This helps people “see” you in your space and relate to your challenges. It prepares them for the distractions you may encounter. It makes you more than just a face on a screen, but a person with a context. Touring your workspace may even provide ideas for what they can do in their setting.
Frame: Establishing Predictable Patterns
3. Create a work platform.
Access to necessary information (like agendas, reports, announcements, and other documents) together with the confidence that you are looking at or working on the latest version of a given document is a must for good collaboration. An online team workspace allows you to create a shared understanding of team purpose, goals, strategies, resources, and progress. There are many good options for hosting your team project (Asana, Basecamp, Google Docs, Microsoft Teams, Podio, Zoho Projects, and others). Consider what kind of information your team needs to access and share. Consider how comfortable people are with a specific type of software or service. Collaboration software/services are only as good as the information inputted and accessed. Choose a team platform that is simple and reliable to reduce barriers, not create them.
4. Schedule regular meetings with clear agendas and agreed upon guidelines.
Teams that are scattered don’t experience the casual banter at the office and can face feelings of isolation. Regular meetings can be a lifeline for checking in and getting caught up on the greater community. Yet regularly scheduled meetings often get a bad rap. Common complaints are that meetings lack purpose and end up being a time waster. Carefully planned and well-articulated agendas create a positive pull for regular meetings. Be clear about the desired outcome for the meeting and its component parts. What items are for information? What items need a decision? What items need further input? What planning or coordination needs to take place? Vagueness on the agenda equals time wasted in the meeting. Consider identifying agenda items such as decide, develop, inform, and coordinate to set the purpose for each discussion. Scheduling across varied time zones can be a challenge. The World Clock Meeting Planner function of timeanddate.com is a great way to identify the best overlapping time opportunities for meetings.
Collect a set of guidelines for your meeting together. Post these on your team website and modify them as you learn from your experiences. For example:
- When you have a virtual meeting, arrive five minutes early so that you can ensure a good connection and catch up with other team members.
- Ban multi-tasking on team calls. Set a clear expectation that people will not be working on email while on the call (or scanning the web or reading news). Everyone should be fully present and engaged during meetings.
- Ask everyone to turn their camera on. If feedback is not an issue, keep all mics on so the group hears the garbage truck roll by or the dog bark or the baby cry, bringing real life into an otherwise sterile conversation.
- Agree on how people will be expected to participate during meetings. Virtual meetings make it difficult to get the attention of the group when you want to speak. I have found it effective to periodically ask quieter individuals if they have questions or anything to add to the discussion. This is especially helpful when you can’t see body language and will create space for those who might be more reticent to speak up.
- Determine how you will make decisions. When voting or affirming a direction, will the leader ask each person individually? Or just ask for dissent?
- Have a backup plan if your internet drops. Be able to connect to the group call by phone (and have that number available). Be able to text via an agreed upon app so that you can quickly determine what to do next.
5. Normalize communication between meetings.
Establish how you will contact people when you need them to engage with an issue right away. A helpful working style is to turn off your email notifications and create blocks of time during the day to focus on one topic or task. If your teammate is doing this and you need them to see an email right away, how will you get their attention? Agree upon a phone app or other web app by which you can direct their attention to a critical issue, and make sure they have those notifications turned on! For example, I have my email notifications turned off. I check my email twice a day. I have turned on my WhatsApp notifications as well as another app for secure communications. That way my team knows how to get me if they have a time sensitive issue.
Establish agreed upon response times to email. Determine how an email from this group will be prioritized and by when a team member can expect a response.
Craft emails wisely. Put the key focus in the subject line and indicate if a response is needed immediately. Know your audience. If your team is made up of more than one culture, understand how each person likes to be engaged. Do they want you to state the point of the email and your request right at the beginning? Do they want to see a case built first and then the point and request made? Understand how your email will be received and then craft it to fit the recipient. Perhaps your team will agree on one set format for emails. Either way, figure out how best to communicate through this often used medium.
Agree on shortcuts. If I have a very brief request, I will write it in the subject line of an email followed by EOM (end of message). That way the recipient knows they have everything in the subject line and don’t need to open the email. If I need a response by the end of the day, attach a red flag to the email and include PRT (please respond today) in the subject line. These help team members triage their email and see which ones they need to get to first.
Finish: Getting the Message Right
6. Match your medium to your message.
When the apostle Paul needed to communicate, he had basically two choices: visit them personally or write a letter. We enjoy multiple communication channels, but they are not all suited for every kind of interaction. Select the right communication channel for your message. Talk individually with your team members about their preferences. As much as possible tailor your communication for greatest impact. Be sensitive to each person’s language ability and cultural background. How do they expect to be approached? If you are the leader, is there a power/distance barrier which inhibits how they communicate with you? Reaffirm your desire to both develop them and be developed yourself as you work together on the task at hand. Consider the following situations and how you can best communicate.
- Urgent. As mentioned earlier, have an agreed upon method by which you can connect with team members and point them to an urgent email or set up a quick call. Make sure they have the notifications for that app turned on!
- Complex. For those situations where a lot of detail and explanation is needed, consider using two modes of communication. A detailed email combined with a phone or video call.
- Response needed. If you need a quick turn around with a response, consider if the recipient will have questions or need clarification to get you what you need. If this is the case, contact them via phone or video call.
- Emotional impact. If a message has the potential of landing with a thud on someone’s day, generating a strong reaction, do it via phone call or video call.
7. Beware of communication overload.
Bing! The app notification goes off and you stop what you are doing to check your screen/phone/watch. Numerous studies have shown that these kinds of distractions diminish our concentration and lower our performance. One study went on to note that even if we know we shouldn’t check that message, the feeling of “divided attention” is so uncomfortable that we check it anyway.[2] Too many notifications and we feel overwhelmed.
Virtual communication complicates this by cutting out one important step in normal office interaction—the personal act of getting your co-worker’s attention. Working at a distance means you don’t have to step into their cubicle or office. It removes the feeling of interrupting them. Thus, it becomes easier to send a barrage of email or messages. You can end up bombarding your teammate with chats and email without realizing how much you are distracting them or demanding their attention.
Conclusion
When you write that next email or send your next text, treat it as if you were stepping into your teammate’s office and interrupting them. How many times do you want to do that today? Talk it over with the team. Do they want each email to focus on only one topic? Or are they willing for a consolidated summary once or twice a day? Set the team’s expectations and then develop a template for routine status updates.
On the receiving side, test out limiting how often you check your communication channels. Other than your agreed upon emergency contact channel, try turning off all other notifications and only check your email twice a day. This will free you up to give undivided attention to your work and remove the struggle of a divided mind. “How I wish I could be with you now and change my tone.” By testing out and adopting some of these practices, even though you can’t be with them you may be able to change your tone.
Warren Janzen is the International Director of SEND, a Christian non-profit organization working in over twenty countries. He works daily with a leadership team that is scattered around the world. Warren and Dorothy’s three sons were all born in Japan, where they lived and worked for over fifteen years. They now live in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
[1] Scot McKnight, Galatians: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), 221.
[2] University of Florida study quoted in The Atlantic. Robinson Meyer, “Push Notifications Are as Distracting as Phone Calls,” The Atlantic, July 13, 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/07/push-notifications-versus-phone-calls/398081/.
References
The Virtual Manager Collection. Boston. Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press, 2016.
