Digital Transitions
“How do you think that went?”
I would often turn and ask this to people on my team at Access Afya who were lingering in our conference room after a meeting. The conversations while taking down poster board covered in post-its after a long strategy review and the ones while making coffee following a customer satisfaction deep dive have all taught me a lot.
I developed a constant feedback loop with my former COO. We were able to agree, disagree, be excited, frustrated and constantly push each other because we both cared about our shared mission a lot more than any one conversation.
They helped me understand who was going through things at home, like staying up all night taking care of a sick child or starting a new highly restrictive diet. People might act differently in meetings because they are sleep-deprived or their blood sugar is crashing!
Things that people aren’t quite ready to say in front of others are sometimes shared in a five-minute walk between a conference room and desks. I learned who my introverts were, and who needed channels to give feedback outside of public meetings.
They gave me a well-rounded pulse of the company. As CEO, I didn’t have 1:1s with most people in our 70-person team, but I did speak with them all, face to face, informally.
In the world of virtual meetings, when one thing ends at 4 pm and the next thing starts in that same second I miss these transitions.
Going back to offices is a polarizing topic. It’s way better for our mental health and the health of our planet to commute less. “My boss shouldn't need to watch me to know I’m working,” a friend of mine said. Of course they shouldn’t. In my business, I don’t want to bring people back to the office for any other reason than to build up social capital, alignment and allow for serendipitous moments. For transitions.
Don’t get me wrong-- I want to work from Bali too! And I’m glad that the nature of work is changing.
When people encounter new technologies they tend to follow “real life” workflows blindly. This is why patients using “disruptive tools” like telemedicine still find themselves in virtual waiting rooms. I think we are still at this place today with “work” in most companies. If we rethink how to work together online, we can improve our relationships and our productivity.
So how do we build up social capital in remote-first or fully distributed organizations? What is the online equivalent of stopping by someone’s desk?
Organizational Attention: Digital Work and Community Managers could be a new role in remote-first companies. Online collaboration works best in an incredibly well-run digital environment, where meetings always start on time and no one is ever stuck in a waiting room. This person could ensure agendas are monitored and takeaways and next steps are always sent on time. They would also be responsible for maintaining trust in the community. What is and isn’t working? What new tools can we add to our collaboration toolboxes? Office hours, hangouts and both structured and spontaneous requests for feedback are all important to this person. They’ll be asking people “How do you think that went?”
Build in serendipity: Small groups can hang out and cowork with each other in “video lounges.” Long meetings and workshops can take a page from cohort-based courses and put people into “breakout rooms” to get random pairs of people reflecting and talking. End your meetings early, whatever schedule you are on. You give people time for transitions or just a much needed bio break. Find ways to let people be vulnerable in a safe space. Whether talking about a new initiative, idea or at a company book club, when one person makes a disarming statement others are likely to reciprocate.
New tools, new benefits: Zoom’s own research shows that women are more likely to prefer to take large meetings online (separate research shows women are more likely to get interrupted in meetings than men, and tools like raising virtual hands in large meetings help protect the speaker). Digital engagement can give us benefits far beyond convenience.
I would probably not want to work in an organization where I never got to meet team members, but I’d rather do an intense huddle every quarter than go to the office every other day. If we rethink how we can build trust and social capital, and increase the satisfaction of our teams, we can be just as effective in remote, blended and distributed companies. And the great news is you can start simple habits to build in virtual transitions today.