By: Ursula Gibson 

(2019 OSA President)

Over the last 12 months, most, if not all of us have been drawn into the virtual world – connecting with images of family, friends and colleagues, rather than three-dimensional people. We find ourselves socializing and working on Zoom or Microsoft Teams, or Skype, or a mix and match combination of platforms for more hours a day than seems reasonable.

In some regards, the move to video mirrors the transition from telephone calls and physical letters to email; a plunge into a new paradigm, with sociological norms far behind the technology. However, the video transition has been faster and more pervasive, and the short time frame involved has driven remarkable change, both positive and negative. While participation by larger numbers of people is possible, the quality of participation is hugely varied. It is not enough to accept this and anticipate a return to the 'old normal' – some elements of the video world are here to stay, and it is essential that we learn to utilize them in the best possible ways.

Here are a few anecdotal thoughts based on my experience, though I am certain everyone has their own thoughts. Perhaps a key element of the learning curve is to jot down notes when something works well.

1) small is better – one on one video chats, particularly if the participants know each other or have worked together, can be very effective.

2) interactive sessions are preferable – the speaker/meeting leader has an audience that is sitting in front of the most distracting device they own. Breakout sessions are valuable, but need to be carefully structured; it is easy for the group to move sideways, even when there is an on-screen agenda and a moderator. It is useful to have notes/changes/responses appear on the screen as they are introduced verbally, but often, no time is set aside time to summarize effectively.

Setting up on-screen polls, so that the manager/moderator can see visually which direction sentiment is moving, with the chat open for specific comments, can be used to focus the discussion time on the points where there are different opinions.

3) a parallel communication channel can build workgroup bonds that used to grow at coffee breaks. This is valuable, but can also be a distraction. Setting aside time for, and encouraging unrecorded one-on-one chat or WhatsApp conversations allows clarification without embarrassment, as well as the introduction of ideas that might be seen as too disparate from the discussion. Participants can be asked at the end of the meeting or set-aside time if there was anything special that came up.

4) Talking heads are not always favored by the audience. Humans respond to familiar cues, and if we've always watched someone talking at an easel before, it may be more comfortable to participate that way. I have seen good interactive sessions where notes were written on the easel, based on a facilitator reading notes from the chat.

5) Multiple monitors help – being able to see the assembled audience on one monitor while there is screen sharing is preferable to a string of a small number of visible participants.

What lessons, if any, can come from these observations, in terms of binding a diverse group together when we don't have coffee breaks? Possibly the most important feature is the need for a baseline connection – possibly body language is of greater import than we recognize – should we have cameras that are further away than our laptop screen, at least some of the time? Baseline connections can be built through video, but probably only in one-on-one conversations with some time set aside for purely social interaction. After establishing connections, small group activities where there are rotating presentation duties also work well, whether social or business related. "Cohorts" of employees, but where the cross-connections are built by rotating visitors in and out to build interdepartmental connections could be valuable. Again, each organization will want to customize its virtual meeting patterns.

I have acquaintances who have been sent wine, to be shared online at virtual get-togethers, and these have been successful, but are difficult across time zones. Perhaps we can agree to ignore the sun and have one time zone for the globe, but I doubt it. Though at some times of year in Norway, it is either mostly light or mostly dark, so perhaps I can try this paradigm.