The 5 Ws of Virtual Communication

You're running a virtual team, and you probably already have a well-stocked arsenal of tools to help you do it. You have the project management tool. The collaboration tool. The communication tool. (Maybe all in one?) But now you're stuck: Now that I have all these tools, what's the best way to actually TALK to my team?

Philosophers and researchers have been watching their fellow human beings and releasing volumes of communication tips since before you or I were born. But as our workforce becomes increasingly virtual, there is a need to focus on virtual communication tips.

We're breaking down the 5 Ws of virtual communication so you can make sure your message is crystal clear when you're talking through a screen.

Consider WHO you're talking to.

With virtual communication, it's likely that at some point you will send a message to someone that speaks a different first language from yourself. In that case, you need to modify your language to accommodate a potentially less advanced vocabulary. Yes, they could Google the words you use. Yes, they could probably figure out what you're saying even if they didn't understand it naturally. But why make their life more difficult when you could easily simplify your communication? It's polite behavior, and a little politeness goes a long way.

Watch WHAT you're saying.

How do you read this: "Okay..." versus "Okay!" I'll bet the first voice has a little hesitation, and the second is excited. In person, you'd have the benefit of body language to convey the correct message. Online, not so lucky. You need to choose your words and your punctuation wisely, because they'll alter your message. Since your reader will have the opportunity to dissect every letter, make sure you say exactly what you mean without leaving room for interpretation. Use exclamation points. Add a smiley face to the end of a sentence. Let them know if you're joking. And if you're confused or less-than-pleased with something, fine, use the ellipsis at the end of your sentence...

Choose WHERE to say it.

Does your office have a Communication Guidebook yet? If you communicate with your team over multiple tools, make the different use cases consistent. Use your instant messenger tool for informal chatting. Use your project management tool for all task- and project-related conversations. Use email only to communicate with people who don't have access to your project management tool. Use your online meeting tools, for, well, online meetings. By segmenting your conversation locations, you'll always know where to find information if you need to reference a conversation.

Think about WHEN you deliver your message.

Don't message someone at 2:00 PM to let them know you need a task done by 5:00 PM. Don't tell someone on Monday that you won't hit your Tuesday deadline. Not only is this bad communication in general, but with virtual communication you run the additional risk of the recipient not seeing your message in time. Bad planning can have an even more extreme effect with virtual communication.

Also consider timing. Don't send urgent messages when you know your recipient is sound asleep, and it's probably not a great idea to leave bad news in someone's inbox to be the first thing they read after they wake up. Also, try not to hold onto anger for weeks until you boil over; since your colleagues won't have the opportunity to pick up on the nonverbal cues that would typically tell them you're upset, you need to be upfront with your feelings. Timing can be everything when delivering a message, so take it just as seriously when you're online.

Decide WHY you're saying it.

Does it need to be said? As they say, once it's on the internet, it's forever. Before you leave a message in a burst of anger or sarcastic frustration, make sure you'd be comfortable with someone reading your words a week, a month, or a year from now. If there is a kinder way of phrasing your words, that's probably the best route.

Take your time.

Next time you're talking online, consider your WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and WHY before hitting 'Enter.' Since you don't have the face-to-face pressure of providing an instant response, take the time to revise and edit your messages so you don't stick your foot in your mouth.

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Many-to-Many Structure Flexibility vs. Stiff One-to-Many Hierarchies

Dave Prior and Bob Tarne have recently blogged about the so-called post-modern project management with a reference to Dr. Davidson Frame. Their idea is that there are lots of methodologies available, and that in real life, there can’t be just “one true way” for managing a project. Each project is unique, and each time we need to find a new way of managing and completing it, very often mixing several methods and techniques. This is the creative part of the project manager’s job. The project manager needs to be flexible and try to view his or her project from different angles to understand which methodology he or she should apply and how to use different methods together harmoniously. Here, the right tools will be a great help. Project management software should support a manager’s flexibility, giving him or her options to look at the same project from different perspectives. It’s hardly possible to have different project perspectives with traditional project management software. The reason is that this software utilizes rigid, one-to-many hierarchies of tasks that are usually designed by project managers at the very beginning of a project. Unlike traditional software, project management 2.0 tools employ many-to-many hierarchies. These tools let a project plan emerge from pieces, effectively enabling collaborative planning. They allow you to utilize a decentralized, pull-based model in planning. Many-to-many hierarchies in project management 2.0 tools also allow project managers to pick any reasonable sub-set of tasks, create a view with these tasks and share the view with someone who needs it. It is not like the all-or-nothing sharing of a file. At the end of the day, more people can collaborate and contribute to the project work. As the new tools allow team members to make changes to the initial structure simultaneously, more people can organize and reorganize their views, and more structures emerge. With project management 2.0 tools, you can start with one task, add fifteen more, organize them, add more tasks, reorganize them and repeat the process on a daily basis. When all team members walk through this process, you start to bring the power of many to work in your planning process. Many-to-many structures emerge with the help of team members’ collaboration. When seven employees share their daily to-do lists with a team leader, the team leader gets a bigger picture. When five team leaders share their teams' plans with a project manager, the picture gets even bigger. When it goes through directors and vice presidents to the CEO, the whole structure evolves from what was one task into a big ecosystem that perfectly suits the organization. This agility helps to bring iterative and incremental improvements into the project plan without giving away the control. Project managers get an opportunity to find the best way to organize their teams’ work. The project manager’s job becomes more about coordination, guidance and leadership than routine manual updates. Project management 2.0 tools with many-to-many hierarchies help to truly unleash collective intelligence in the project planning. The team (and then the whole company) becomes highly responsive to dynamic external environments. As productivity increases and red-tape drops, employees become more motivated. These positive effects come from the synergy effect of two phenomena -- emergence and collective intelligence, empowered by the project management 2.0 software and practices. In my next post, I plan to speculate about the way human brain organizes information and how this is connected with many-to-many hierarchies. This will give another angle on the subject. Until next time.

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Everything You Need to Successfully Manage a Virtual Team (Checklist)

If you've ever managed a virtual team member or an entire remote team before, you know how difficult it can be to keep everyone aligned. If you're about to manage a virtual team for the first time, there are a few major challenges you need to carefully consider before work begins: How to get your team organized without seeing them in person. How to encourage the company vision without holding a face-to-face conversation. How to ensure team members work diligently without sitting in the same office. How to keep a good project pace without constant communication. We've created a remote work policy checklist of the processes, tools, and mindsets you'll need to create solutions for those challenges and keep your virtual team on point. Check out the infographic below to get a visual on the checklist, and download and print our handy accompaniment: the Virtual Team Management Guide PDF. Go through it with your boss and colleagues at work. If you'd like to put this infographic on your own site, feel free to use this embed code for easy sharing: Infographic brought to you by Wrike Find this infographic a useful resource for your team? You can also download this easy-to-follow guide to make sure all of your pieces are in place. Download the Virtual Team Management Guide now. Virtual teamwork is hard work! Running a virtual team often takes more work than running a co-located team, but it isn't impossible. If you can check off every item on this list, your virtual team is well on its way to success. Share this infographic and PDF with your peers to turn your entire company into a hive of productive virtual workers.

Leadership 10 min read

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We live in the era historians call "The Information Age." With technology rapidly advancing, how does your organization keep up with absorbing and retaining knowledge? Read on to find discover the biggest threats to knowledge decay and how organizations should manage it and keep learning.

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The 5 Ws of Virtual Communication

Ashley Coolman

The 5 Ws of Virtual Communication

Ashley Coolman

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Many-to-Many Structure Flexibility vs. Stiff One-to-Many Hierarchies

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