By Rob Duncan, Managing Director, Imagine That Performance
There are various types of meetings these days that are being conducted virtually. These include traditional public meetings, training, update/status meetings and the like that are not meant to build or foster teamwork. There are also internal department, cross functional and project team meetings. In those meetings, building a cohesive team culture will help drive performance. Moving to a virtual platform can have a drastic impact on teamwork.
With so much focus on getting the next thing done, it could be easy to forget to continually ask important questions. “How have the events of 2020 impacted our organizational culture?” “What have we done in the past month to build our team?” “What will we do in the coming months to strengthen teamwork?”
Some employees are struggling with recent changes while others seem to thrive. The resulting impact on culture is even harder to gauge, as group interactions take on a new form. Virtual Meetings can be a blessing – less travel can improve efficiency. Virtual Meetings can also generate fatigue – there is an increased quantity of meetings and every virtual meeting interaction is an event, unlike just walking down the hall to speak to someone to ask a question.
There are methods to utilize a Virtual Platform to enhance teamwork. Below are some best practices for enhancing teamwork using Virtual Meetings.
Limit the size of virtual meetings to ensure all attendees can actively speak and participate
If there are too many participants, attendees can easily become disengaged or distracted. Also, typically active participants may become less active if there are too many attendees just watching. Meetings where teamwork is essential to success, should be limited in size based on the facilitators ability to ensure active participation of all participants. For an hour-long virtual meeting hosted by a professional facilitator, anything more than 12 could be problematic. For an inexperienced facilitator, the number of participants would likely need to be less.
Have a recurring meeting with people aligned for a common purpose
Teamwork grows when there is alignment on the reason for working together and the interactions are repeatable. The common purpose must be agreed to by all participants. In Virtual Meetings, it is easier for a participant to be actively disengaged if not in agreement with the purpose. To foster teamwork, focus on having only the right people participating in the virtual meeting, don’t just include everyone that needs to know what is going on.
Commit to creating the Virtual Water Cooler
Team meetings can become very task focused. With so many Virtual Meetings being scheduled, there is also the need to make each meeting efficient in order to get to the next meeting. One simple method to improve team cohesion is to start each meeting with a “check in”. This could be a simple sharing by each participant of a positive event since last meeting and perhaps a significant challenge or decision they are facing. There are other simple sharing ideas to foster team members having a greater understanding of one another. The facilitator should know how to identify and limit any discussion that could serve to divide the group.
Track commitments and foster accountability
Teamwork will quickly evaporate if progress is not being made toward team goals. Individuals that can sense team failure will begin to focus only on self-interests that will further erode teamwork. Each Virtual Meeting should have agreed upon actions that will be reported back at the next meeting. There also needs to be a defined method of accountability.
Have clearly defined rules of engagement
There should be parameters around how discussion and disagreements will be handled. One of my personal favorites: “It’s ok to disagree with an idea, but not ok to attack a person”. Other considerations include how to handle interruptions, lateness, topics that aren’t on point (like using a “parking lot”) and how the team will hold each other accountable to commitments made. These are sometimes called group norms and can be specific to the group.
There should always be a dedicated meeting facilitator, the person that is responsible for ensuring the active participation of all team members and the adherence to the rules of engagement or group norms.
Hire a professional facilitator or train those responsible to lead meetings in proper facilitation
The focus on technical training around virtual meetings has been extensive in 2020. Knowing how to use the software is not the same thing as knowing how to facilitate a virtual meeting meant to cultivate teamwork. How much virtual meeting facilitation training has been provided to those that we expect to lead virtual meetings?
To facilitate a virtual meeting that will build teamwork takes more than just following some of the steps outlined here. The communication style of the facilitator is also important. This includes creating a safe environment for people to speak openly and honestly, proper management of those that may talk too long, engaging participants that are less inclined to share, and creating a group culture of accountability to the team. A professional facilitator could be an option to assist with a critical team/project or to be a coach for those that are facilitating meetings.
