For many knowledge workers, this is a brave new world. Despite the fact that we usually sit in front of computers most of the day, and always have, we're not used to doing everything in front of computers every day.
We can email and Slack and talk on the phone just fine, just like before. But we can't get together—we can't brainstorm at a whiteboard and we can't talk or physically collaborate in active groups like we used to.
We are now virtual workers, doing everything through a screen and on a wire. Many are out of a job during this pandemic, but our work can get done.
But there are two sides to the world of virtual work. Confoundingly, it is: 1. Incredibly advanced, and 2. Incredibly primitive.
We have live video calls... that glitch out.
We have onscreen drawing tools... that feel like decades-old technology.
We have rich collaborative workspaces... that people simply get lost in.
But! Our work can get done! The tactics and tools exist. What most people need is guidance and experience. So here's a little bit of what we've learned doing virtual collaboration.
These five things are must-haves:
Just getting everyone on a big call is a recipe for chaos and frustration. The solution: a skilled facilitator can design a sequence of guided exercises to surface the important info and insights you need. And these exercises can be customized to specific online tools or technological limitations. Best of all, the group activities can be visible to all participants and the workspace can live on (and be shared) as an artifact.
Zoom is great for virtual meetings, especially for screen sharing our live sketching. And now it even lets you create “breakout” rooms so smaller groups of people can go off work on their own in the same call, then get back together with the large group. Miro is an entire world of virtual collaboration, enabling group activities that involve drawing, sketching, digital sticky notes, discussion, voting, and more. But be careful about overloading the team with too many different tools.
It's frustrating for everyone when audio drops, video freezes, the onscreen activities aren't refreshing, or your internet connection dies entirely. And while the hack of dialing in on your phone means you won't lose the thread of conversation, it's still frustrating to play catch up onscreen. So when your kids are streaming Netflix or your roommates are playing video games and your meeting is going to glitch hell, don't feel bad about asking everyone to please turn off their video feed. Of course, you may need to boost your internet plan.
From our perspective—and the client's—if a Tremendousness facilitator or sketch artist has to stop the call to help troubleshoot someone's microphone problems, or teach people how to edit a digital sticky note (for the fifth time), everyone loses. So make sure an expert can help attendees one-on-one through a backchannel so the collaboration can continue for everyone else.
You may not have a team member comfortable doing this, but we've got lots. Not only does it increase the productivity of the group, it also improves the general vibe of the virtual meeting. Something is happening. Things are being created. Words are coming to life.
Work is getting done, even in these strange and trying times.
This is part of a series about virtual collaboration in the age of COVID. Illustrations by Christina Wang & Ted May / Tremendousness.