Ways to Collaborate in a Virtual Environment
Despite the negative effects that COVID-19 is having on the world, there are plenty of positives. One of the positives is people were forced to become creative, think outside the box and make a way to collaborate in a virtual environment. This virtual environment could be through FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Video, TikTok, YouTube, Clubhouse, Microsoft Teams, Zoom etc. People are making stronger connections, voicing their opinions, and exchanging value without having to be in the customary “in-person” tradition. Also, it has removed a lot of barriers and excuses as to why things can’t be done from the comfort of home.
This is the greatest opportunity to get to know anyone from a device regardless of your location! Very few people are going to take advantage of this window before things go back to normal and YOU need to be one of them!
Here are some ways you can get to know people and build strong collaborations virtually:
- Know what each person brings to the table. Spend quality time to get to know that person and find out their intention. While we can’t always figure things out 100% of the time, at least you will find out if you do or don’t want to work with that person in a collaborative relationship. Now, if you are working in a job and don’t have a choice (you may want to switch to another person on the team, switch departments or find a new job).
- Use active listening and establish an open line of communication. It’s okay to disagree which is a part of the creative process but make sure that both parties can come to a consensus to move the vision forward.
- Solidify the terms and set expectations upfront before starting any project. This applies to paid and non-paid collaborations. It’s always best to have terms documented in an email or contract unless you want to risk the results of the potential outcome of the collaboration to not align with your goals.
- Have fun and enjoy the work together. This is so key, no one wants to work with someone that doesn’t want to have fun while getting the work accomplished. Also, you want to promote transparency and avoid micromanaging so it won’t cause other team members to lose interest in the collaboration.
- Hold each other accountable for deadlines and responsibilities in order to have the desired outcome. Become each other’s accountability partner and conduct frequent check-ins not only to check the goal progress but the well-being of the other person.
- Figure out which method of communication works for the both of you and/or all parties involved. Use video calls as the main way for communication unless the other person has another competing priority at the same time. More than 80% of people use video conference calls for 1 on 1 meetings and 45% of team members use video conference calls daily or weekly.
- Be mindful of background noise and distractions. If you are around a lot of noise, put yourself on mute or go to a quieter place where the other person can hear you.
- Keep your team members to a small size. Research has shown that if your team has more than 20 team members, then the collaboration will most likely decrease. This makes sense because now you have more opinions, personalities, and intentions involved which can make decision making and planning more complex. Also, if you have too many people on the team it can cause members to feel like they can hide behind someone to avoid accountability.
- Reflect on progress and keep an open mind for change. There is always a better and more efficient way to achieve the goal. Listen to what the other person brings to the table and if you need time to reflect on the idea then let the other person know. Sometimes, the best opportunity comes from people or places that we did not originally plan on using.
All of these tools and tips will help you build long-lasting collaboration in the virtual environment.