Virtual team collaboration can be challenging, especially when you want to create a safe and inclusive environment for diverse participants. As a facilitator, you have a key role in designing and leading online sessions that foster trust, respect, and engagement. Here are some tips to help you make virtual team collaboration safe and inclusive.
Before you start a virtual session, make sure you communicate the purpose, agenda, and ground rules to the participants. You can use a pre-session survey, email, or chat to gather their input, preferences, and concerns. You can also co-create the ground rules with them, such as how to use the chat, microphone, and camera, how to give feedback, and how to handle conflicts. Setting clear expectations can help you establish a common understanding and a positive tone for the session.
Establishing the context is vital; it goes beyond just defining clear expectations. It sets the stage for collaboration and agreement among participants. Ultimately, we must collectively determine proper classroom conduct to maximize learning opportunities. Setting guidelines is necessary; otherwise, participants may create their own. Following Robert Kiyosaki's approach (particularly for public events), I will also provide a link for participants to remunerate any rule infractions.
When you facilitate a virtual session, pay attention to the language and visuals you use. Avoid jargon, slang, or acronyms that might confuse or exclude some participants. Use gender-neutral, respectful, and culturally sensitive terms. For example, instead of saying "guys", you can say "everyone" or "folks". Use visuals that represent the diversity of your participants, such as different ages, races, genders, abilities, and backgrounds. You can also use captions, transcripts, or translations for your audio and video content to make it accessible for everyone.
One of the challenges of virtual team collaboration is to keep everyone engaged and involved. As a facilitator, you can use various techniques to encourage participation and interaction. For example, you can use icebreakers, polls, quizzes, breakout rooms, or games to warm up the group, check their understanding, or generate ideas. You can also use different modes of communication, such as voice, chat, or video, to suit different preferences and situations. You can also invite feedback, questions, or comments from the participants, and acknowledge their contributions.
Engagement has to be designed with the intent of unlocking maximum value from a group of individuals in a live collaborative session - just getting people "doing stuff" may even divert the focus of the primary goals. Oftentimes - it is forced participation vs. authentic engagement, where people are participating in polls, quizzes, or breakout room discussion questions just because they are asked to, vs. genuinely interested. Quiz/polls can work well to set up a knowledge deficit before a topic or ask the audience where to focus time - both giving participants a sense of control and investment for their time. However, real value from collaboration requires a series of audience activities where data connects between them to tell a story.
Virtual team collaboration can also be affected by power dynamics and biases, such as hierarchy, seniority, expertise, or culture. As a facilitator, you can address these issues by creating a safe space for everyone to express their opinions, perspectives, and experiences. You can also use inclusive decision-making methods, such as voting, consensus, or dotmocracy, to ensure that everyone has a voice and a stake in the outcome. You can also challenge or intervene when you notice any inappropriate or discriminatory behavior, such as interrupting, dominating, or stereotyping.
Finally, as a facilitator, you need to be flexible and responsive to the context and feedback of your virtual session. You need to monitor the energy, mood, and engagement of your participants, and adjust your pace, tone, and activities accordingly. You need to also check for technical issues, such as connectivity, audio, or video problems, and have a backup plan in case they occur. You need to also solicit and act on feedback from your participants, both during and after the session, and use it to improve your facilitation skills and practices.
Your agenda is like sheet music, it is thoughtful and sounds good when played, but as a facilitator, you need to be ready to improvise, play some jazz, and adapt in real time to audience signals. In virtual facilitation, it is even more important to stop screen sharing and check in with your participants often. Use technology tools that give everyone a voice in a safe way, and call back to audience names and inputs as a way to summarize regularly before moving into new agenda sections. The audience has to know you are invested in the outcome, not just trying to get through the planned activities - even as good as they are!
To make virtual collaboration safe and inclusive, there are a few key considerations. First, carefully select tools that give every participant an equal voice in the discussion, going beyond basic chats, polls and quizzes. Also, provide people with space to think - we often try to cram too much content into too little time. Give individuals a chance to internalize information and reflect before responding. Finally, use visuals intelligently, avoiding potentially distracting or divisive images of people, sports, etc. Instead, leverage color palettes to help evoke desired emotions and reactions. With thoughtful tool selection, discussion pacing and visuals, we can create an environment where all voices are heard and all members feel valued.