How much time a day do you spend in remote meetings? Also, what percentage of this time gives you a sense of satisfaction? Have communication – effective – at distance has become a déSir of many managers! (and their éTeam ?).
Currently, almost all of my clients are experiencing this difficulty : how to have effective communication at a distance. That is, communication that is relevant, that is mobilizing and that does not take up all day! By remote communication, I mean the use of software such as Zoom, Teams or Hangout or phone.
This article presents the four criteria for effective communication at a distance as well as the pitfalls to avoid.
The four criteria for effective remote communication
1. Frequency of a remote communication
First, thefrequency of communication needed a few weeks after the onset of an attack may be different from the one you used at the beginning of the seizure!
For example, here is what an optimal frequency might look like about 3 weeks after the onset of the attack:
Monday – 1 hour or 2 hours depending on the size of the team
- From adord, taking the pulse of team members – how are they? This can be done in a group. While some people Ask To be more reassured or have special needs, talk to them one by one.
- Then, set the priorities for the week. Les p must be clear. That is, with deadlines and deliverables. So clear And each person can send a progress report at the end of the day.
- Finally, escalate the information retrieved from the various teams to senior management. The goal is for senior management to know what’s going on emotionally so that they can adjust their communication and decisions accordingly of current energy. We are still in a time of crisis and everyone is going through a phase of adaptation at their own pace. We must not forget that.
Tuesday morning – 15 minutes
- Tour of “ table “ to ask three questions : what was done yesterday, what is on the schedule today, what are the anticipated problems.
- Special cases are managedin discussion one by one.
Wednesday – 15 minutes + 1h30
- Tour of “ table Like Tuesday!
- + go for a check-in with the people on your team. How are they doing? What are they concerned about? Take the opportunity to give them feedback and recognize them. The check-in will be used to make adjustments to priorities.
Thursday – 15 minutes
- Tour of “ table Like Tuesday!
- Friday – 1pm-2pm
Friday – 1pm-2pm
- Team review of the week
- Accomplishments
- The challenges
- This must be put in place next week to facilitate thechallenges
Managers : be careful with patterns. Forexample, whenthe same problems are mentioned during meetings, without a solution applied. The next article will be about difficult conversations, both in-person and remotely. If you have not yet subscribed to the Unique coaching newsletter, do so here so you don’t miss anything!
2. Length of a remote communication
Secondly, yourencounters could be shorter and shorter. L Mostpeople have mastered the new tools. Ua routine has set in. Take advantage of this to get straight to the point in your communications.
Online, the attention span is 7 minutes.
In addition, you have to be dynamic AND focused on the agenda. So, vary. Do not exceed a total duration of 2 hours.
If necessary, use online collaborative tools such as Mural, Miro or others according to your needs. This way, you can energize the meetings during which you need to contribute!
Then, if you still have technological challenges: several tutorials exist online, free of charge. S Inon platforms as such offer support and training materials, invest 30 minutes in that, you’ll save tons more. It’s a good investment, teleworking will continue! I preach 😉
3. Content of a remote communication
A meeting must have an agenda. This agenda must be communicated in advance and its content must be addressed to all those included in the meeting.
4. Participants in a remote communication
Finally, sThe people relevant to the meeting must be part of it. Indeed, a person who has no interest can turn off his camera, Read and answer questions emails, etc. In doing so, it is as if she were giving Permission for others to do it, and wham, you’ve just lost other people’s attention.
As you can see, the sign that does not lie about the effectiveness of your communications : loss of interest. Is there a lack of interaction? Or is one person taking up too much space? It’s time to revalidate the needs of your interlocutors and the pitfalls mentioned below.
If this happens to you, it may be because you have fallen into one of these traps…
- Wanting “ Too much » optimize to save time : Puttingseveral subjects or several people who don’t need to be there for all the subjects. To optimize, you need to Follow a schedule that is aimed at a specific group. In other words, it’s better to have 3 meetings of 30 minutes than a long meeting of 1h30 with half of disinterested people .
- To be “ Too much » patient : Again, you need to optimize the attention span of others. Examples : If a person has not yet understood the technical workings, it is time to train them. If a person takes up too much space , you have to talk to him about it.
- Not having operating rules for virtual meetings. Here we want to have effective communications at a distance, and for all effective meetings we need operating rules. Remotely, technical best practices should be included. Examples of rules include:
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- Open camera
- We make a sign, or we raise our hand to intervene
- Notifications on phones, or emails are disabled, see other devices/software closed
- Listen
- Respect
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That said, I invite you to be proactive, that is to say, not to wait for the loss of interest and to validate regularly (week or two) the needs of your interlocutors. Be agile.
Agility is about adjusting as soon as your context changes.
So, keep an eye out for context and others!
Conclusion
To sum up, when we talk about the effectiveness of communications, whether they are remote or in-person, we can see similarities.
- Prepare, have an agenda
- Invite the right people
- Reserve the right time
- Manage the meeting so that situations related to specific individuals are managed in particular
- Have a clear mode of operation
In addition, take advantage of this period to implement good communication and meeting practices for your organization! To do this, two things can help you:
• The online training Communicating differently. See the presentation of the training
• The article ” The Challenges of Hosting a Meeting (and the Solutions!)”