Leading through COVID: 3 - Use 'virtual' really, really well

Welcome to this 5-minute 'deep dive' on the third of 8 recommendations for those leading through these challenging times. If you've come straight here, without seeing the summary of all eight, you'll find it here.

Depending on where you're at with your own response to COVID, you might choose to focus more on some recommendations than others. That's fine. They're all connected, but they're designed as standalone 'modules'. Huge thanks to Claire Davey at CD-Performance for her contributions and support.

We're all adapting quickly to working virtually. Different people and organisations are in different places in that regard. Some of our clients are assuming they're way behind, when they're really not. Others have been meeting virtually for years. What we're offering here is the benefit of our own learning and the best advice we've come across to date. It all clustered pretty easily under 9 headlines, running from A to I.

For clarity, when we're talking 'virtual' we're assuming the bulk of conversations will happen with webcams on. That's where we're focusing. We're not going to cover text-based communications and collaboration tools. That's a topic in its own right and would probably require a user manual. It certainly wouldn't be a 5-minute read.

If you're resisting video without a really good reason to do so, then you're less likely to find this particular blog helpful. You’re also light years behind on best practice and you’ll be getting less than half the potential value from the conversation. For those of us who have full access to vision, it's the sense we typically rely on most. If we don’t feed it, people will find other things to look at - typically things that distract them.

Being visually impaired yourself is a valid reason for not using video in the past. We wouldn't normally class that as 'resistance', just a habit or preference. One thing you might consider is this: even if you can't see others, it could be wise to switch the video on. That way, they can see you, so you'll still get many of the benefits covered below.

A) Attitude and Attire

The single biggest inhibitor to successful video-conferencing - even bigger than bandwidth - is people's attitude to it. Most scepticism comes from a lack of past experience with virtual or an abundance of bad experiences. You’ve got to sell it and really work it. There are so many ways in which virtual is more effective than being face-to-face. Learn them and leverage them. (Sorry, I'm not going to get into a list here as we've too much else to cover in the limited time I have with you.)

One thing that can trigger a lot assumptions about your attitude - and even shape your attitude - is what you’re wearing. The best advice I've heard is to dress for the nature of the work. That doesn't mean a suit and tie - seriously, who'd put those on to work from home?! However, there's solid enough research to suggest our clothing affects how we act, think and feel. Less formal can make us more creative; too informal can contribute to us seeming and being less driven and efficient.

The only hard and fast rules when it comes to choosing what to wear are these four:

1. Make conscious choices about what to wear and encourage your team to do the same
2. See yourself through the eyes of your audience and imagine the impact your clothing choices might have on the relationship between you
3. Dress in the way that makes you most effective for the work you're doing
4. If rules 2 and 3 tell you to wear different things, consider having two sets of clothes handy that day

The problem with rules, of course, is that they don't always work. I once spent 18 months working with a client in the US whom I'd never met face-to-face. Early on, we showed up (from home) in hoodies. It was a gamble for both of us, but it paid off. We were doing creative work together, during unsociable hours due to the time difference. Those factors conspired with the hoodies to helps us bond. But it definitely wouldn't have worked for every client.

B) Body language

One reason video is great is that we're primed from birth to connect with faces. If we're all joining virtually, we're all face-on, which is very rarely the case when we're in the same room. Body language tells us so much about what people are thinking feeling. So watch other people's and watch your own. The fact that your own image is also staring back at you is a gift that keeps on giving.

It's because of body language that you're best off dialling from a table or desk, or even a standing desk if you have or can build a makeshift one. Sofas and beds are a bad idea because most of us drop into a slouch. That can be okay for social conversations (even online). However, if you're almost horizontal in a work conversation people will (perhaps unconsciously) interpret that as a sign of disengagement. They'll include you less and you'll be reducing the energy in the conversation.

 C) Context brings connection

Working virtually from home creates a real opportunity to welcome people into your 'real life', to connect on a different level, to show more of your authentic self. What you wear is a part of that. So is your background, so it pays to give it some thought. Personally, I believe the blurring function is a mistake: people could consciously or unconsciously assume you've something to hide. The same can be true of some of the stock fake backgrounds on offer. They're fun as gimmicks for the first 30 seconds, but they add precious little and risk homogenising you.

The things people see around you can open up non-task conversations that build the relationship, deepen trust and help meet people's increased need for social connection when they're not getting to spend time with others at work or otherwise. I’ve seen kids' posters of dinosaurs, interesting paintings, photos of friends, people’s dogs lying in the corner, partners and children coming in to say 'Hi' or wave 'Goodbye'... - all sorts. All of these things deepen the connection between everyone (virtually) present.

It's not just visuals, though: sounds make a huge contribution to both context and connection. The perceived wisdom is to stay on 'mute' unless we're speaking. That probably makes sense with particularly large groups or when someone has a pneumatic drill in the background, but not under normal circumstances with fewer than 15 people. When we're face-to-face, we rely heavily on the subtle cues to manage the flow of conversation: laughter and soft chuckles, murmurs of assent, attempted interruptions, even the occasional cough. Ambient noises are the aural backdrop to meetings. Keep them in and you'll feel much more like you're actually in the room together.

D) Distractions

Some backdrops do more to distract than create connection. If your setting suggests your working space isn't fit to work in, then people will question whether you're being as effective working from home as you would have been in the office. They can't help it. Similarly, if your background emphasises how radically different your life is from those of the other people in the meeting, it's more likely to distract than connect. Picture the 50-year-old executive speaking from the library in the east wing of her mansion, with a view behind of the rolling hills. Now picture her audience: a collection of 20-somethings struggling with inner-city flat-sharing...

There are more obvious distractions, too, that some of us leave in place. You may or may not be able to find yourself a quiet, confidential space to work, given your circumstances, but you'll want to do as much as you can to do so. Certainly close all other windows on your computer, switch off all notifications and put your phone somewhere out of reach - and ask everyone else to do the same. 

E) Eye contact

Eye contact is another a massive contributor to human connection. If you’re not on video, you’re simply not in the game here. There are some real basics that many people get wrong here. Most important is to arrange whatever you're looking at on screen so it's as close as possible to your webcam. Far too many people are still looking away from the camera, which humans can't help but interpret as a sign of distraction. It doesn't matter if Jon is looking straight into Jacinta's eyes when she's speaking, if Jacinta's eyes are at the bottom of Jon's screen. Jacinta will still feel like Jon's focusing on something else.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it's also best to be face on and at eye level. Looking up or down into the camera affects how people respond to us, even if their response is an unconscious one. We're wired to interpret someone looking up to us as a sign that they have less authority - and to see someone looking down on us as exactly that. This can be a challenge for people using laptops, where the temptation is to look down into the camera, but the rest of us really don't want to be staring straight up your nostrils. None of us looks our best in photos or videos taken from that angle, but even if you've no vanity whatsoever, people will be consciously or unconsciously affected by you looking down at them. We're humans; we can't help ourselves.               

Finally, in the interests of maximising eye contact, connection and attention to body language, keep slides on screen for the least time possible. I saw a piece in the Harvard Business Review recently that called for 'MVP' – not the Minimal Viable Product of Agile, but Minimum Viable PowerPoint!

 F) Functionality first

Our choice of technology can make a huge difference. Personally, of the ones we've used to date we've found Zoom most effective. Some of the others were 'first movers' but are now woefully out of date in terms of functionality or usability.

As important as tech that protects your connection and confidentiality, though, is using that tech well - and ensuring everyone present does the same. The common courtesy, these days, is to start the meeting making sure everyone knows how it works. What are the various functions we'll be using (chat, voting, breakouts, screen sharing, mute, etc) and how will we use them? What should we do if someone loses connection? What if that person's the host? Will we record the meeting? Who will have access to that recording? Is it okay to save the chat? Has everyone switched to the viewing option that allows them to see everyone else?

You may have already learned first hand that it's hard to manage things like chat, breakout rooms, polls and people virtually ‘raising their hands’ while chairing a meeting and actively contributing in your own right. If you haven't, it's worth saving yourself from that 'learning' by asking someone to support you with that stuff to keep the meeting moving smoothly.

 G) Goals

This is really just good practice with any meeting:

• Be clear about the outcomes you’re looking for from these conversations (not just the inputs)
• Find out what outcomes everyone else is looking for, too
• Ideally agree this in advance, so people can come properly prepared – meaning fully-informed and with the optimal mind-set for some valuable co-creation

H) Humanity

Someone said to me recently:

“I’m trying to be work out how to be human in a digital age”.

That feels wrong to me. I’d rather we were trying to work out how to leverage digital to support a more 'human' age at work. Most organisations are making virtual more human already. They recognise that one of the things many of us get out of work is the human connection. With less time in the office and with our ability to socialise outside of work reduced, we’re going to need to top up each other’s batteries when it comes to that human connection.

How you manage this will depend on a number of factors in the second recommendation in this series, but there’s not just an opportunity to connect here, there’s a deep-seated need. It'll be a bit of dance between a focus on Humanity and focus on Goals, the balance of which will vary over time, with different people and with different cultural norms. Some people will want time to chat at the start of meetings; others will want some conversations to be purely social and free-flowing; others will find either or both deeply irritating.

 I) Interaction

Even face-to-face meetings can cause 'death by hub and spoke'. We all sit there, impatient and distracted, while each person gives the boss their latest update. None of us is really listening, except perhaps for signs that someone's doing better than we are.

In the virtual world, that's even duller and even more of a missed opportunity. We use breakout groups so 2-5 people can work on stuff together, then bring it back to the main forum. We also encourage people to respond to questions from the 'chair' then pass the baton to someone else in the team. And, in some meetings, we ask people to respond simultaneously with as many ideas as possible in the chat window, while reading everyone else's and shouting out the ones they like most. It pays to be creative and invest a few minutes in advance designing these interactions, rather than simply showing up (with or without an agenda) and hoping for the best.

In summary, then, when it comes to doing 'virtual' really, really well:

Thanks for ‘coming’. I'm conscious than in offering these recommendations, we're encouraging you to spend more time staring at a screen, but if it's helpful...

If you'd like to explore our 8 recommendations further:

You'll find links to each of the other 5-minute 'deep dives' below, and the original summary of all 8 recommendations here.

1. Be mindful and make conscious choices: five steps to keep your wits about you and steer clear of the palpable panic that's gripped many leaders and their organisations who are already making well-meaning but highly questionable decisions
2. Manage your own and others’ well-being: the best practical tips we could find, plus insight into the ways different kinds of people will experience the coming weeks - and how things will change over time
3. Use ‘virtual’ really, really well: we cover the 9 essential ingredients for getting maximum value when bringing people together on video. We're all already adapting quickly on this front, so this isn't 'Zoom for beginners'
4. Do remote working really, really well: Three Core Disciplines for leadership and team performance, expanded and applied to the world of remote working
5. Embrace and encourage creativity: four highly impactful and easy-to-apply techniques - one idea from one of these saved one organisation over ￡1m
6. Get your house in order: how best to invest for payoffs in the short, medium and longer term
7. Balance short-term and longer-term thinking: including managing those tensions with the help of a crisis management framework from Cranfield, and Three Horizon Thinking
8. Go beyond your normal ‘borders: including tips, benefits, mutually-sustainable virtual circles, and sources of inspiration