We are still reliant on virtual project work for the simple reason that we are not yet able to travel. But projects don’t stand still, so we realize that some customers who can’t physically see their international project teams are reaching their limits. We have some practical tips for them:
The cornerstone of any virtual collaboration is to create the rules of cooperation together
- Follow agile principles: Regularity reduces complexity!
- Have shorter meetings more often – e.g. one meeting for a small topic rather than one long meeting for several topics. Virtual meetings are more intensive and tiring than “live” meetings.
- Salami technique: Write 1 email per topic. Not one long email with 1o topics
- Never write when you can call – better to phone than write. A letter can always be misinterpreted. You can clarify things more quickly in a conversation by asking and answering questions
- Communication of urgency: TMT – phone, email, phone. Of course, this requires the right prioritization, because if everything is important, nothing is important and you only lose time.
- Consider culturally appropriate communication. In many cultures, personal contact is of great importance. You should therefore hold video conferences as often as possible instead of sending emails back and forth.
- Clarify responsibilities: If several people are working on the same project at different locations, responsibilities must be clearly clarified in advance. An example: When it comes to a file / document in MS Teams, it must be determined in advance, e.g. by the project manager or by consensus, who is responsible for its updates. Because – many cooks spoil the broth.
- Be as clear and specific as possible. Here are some good and bad examples of how a supervisor can define a task by e-mail
A bad example:
“Please fill in this table with information XY up to the end of work today. Add columns FG to the table and fill it with info ABC.”
What is wrong here?
- What is closing time? For one person it’s 5 p.m., for another 10 p.m. – “home office closing time”
- Who should do the columns? With a high “workload”, people tend to shift tasks to others. (Team = Great, someone else does it)
- How detailed should the ABC information be?
A good example:
“Goal: We need the table so that xxx has all the information tomorrow.
Dealine: Today, May 27 at 4 p.m.
The Info ABC should contain a maximum of 50 words and include the following points: Point 1, Point 2, etc..
Employee 1, can you please insert the columns XY.
Employee 2, can you please check at 4.30 p.m. whether all the information is there. If not, please call everyone and remind them of the urgency.”
- Set realistic deadlines and plan additional time for correction loops.
- If you work internationally, consider the feedback rules in different countries
- Was the message understood? – Clear communication and presentation of intentions
- Ask open-ended comprehension questions, not “yes/no” questions
- Follow up more often. In many cultures, feedback is a matter for the boss, not the employee. Unless you have been working together well and trustingly for a long time, you should check the status of things more often before “the child has fallen into the well”
A good example of this is the telephone conversation between one of our customers and one of his directors at a factory in Kazakhstan. After a few sentences about the weather, the general situation and the family, the conversation turns to business. They discuss some important customers and then comes the big bang!
Director: “Yes, we’ll be able to deliver again tomorrow.”
Customer: “Why from tomorrow? What’s going on with you?”
Director: “We had technical problems, the factory has been at a standstill since last week.”
Customer. “Whaaaat? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Director: “You didn’t ask me.”
No joke – this story is true, even if it is completely incomprehensible to many Germans.
- If you are given a task – repeat it in your own words – “Did I understand you correctly that…”
- Visualize. There are good tools for this in MS Teams and other conference software
- Before the meeting, you should draw up a guideline and send it to everyone involved so that everyone knows what it is about
- Adjust your expectations to the virtual situation. Many things are more complicated virtually and require more time.
- Remember – technology is not everything! People often get the impression that with the right technology everything works as before. Technology provides tools (e.g. MS Teams, Zoom etc.). If the communication process is not set up correctly, nothing will work anyway. It’s like flying: If you have a great airplane but can’t fly, even the best airplane is useless.
We wish all our customers every success with their virtual collaboration and hope that our tips are useful and help them to keep the ball rolling even in virtual times!
