Healthy Teams in a Digital Space
‘FaceTime or Skype is just awkward.’
The team was sat together for the final time on Monday and, like everyone else, voiced the challenges, opportunities and the reality of life from now on in light of COVID-19. Becky was working out how we might now run a Young Adults day online when she named the challenge most people would be facing in the next few weeks as we all rush online to share, attempt to connect, lead teams and build communities.
It’s just awkward!
Stew, my husband, runs a communication business coaching people how to present, and has now turned all his efforts online to help people excel in this 'new normal' that we are all facing.
Scrolling down Facebook and Instagram this morning I was struck by how many shots there were of teams now working and meeting online.
But how do we actually do this well?
Onelife is built on authentic relationship – it’s the heartbeat of everything we do. Most significantly, it’s an overflow from our team. So what does that look like for us now? How do you step into that awkward space and thrive as a team? How do you still lead from vulnerability and relationship when you are speaking through a screen?
As I jotted down some thoughts I realised this was new territory for me. A lot of what I was writing I was not yet used to implementing. It doesn’t come naturally and at times seems overwhelming. As I steer the Onelife team, I’m going to need them to call me out if they don’t see these principles evident in my communication and work over the next few weeks. I feel like I’m learning every second of every day and I swing from being exhausted to being excited at what new things are going to be born in this season.
But overall, what I am seeing is resilience. Resilience from my team and from every other slightly awkward Facebook Live video or conference call!
So, here’s what we’re reaching for at Onelife as we continue to explore what it means to lead ourselves well. Like everyone else we will see what we learn about ourselves, about our team and about our work in this uncharted territory.
Workspace: Consider it tailor-made
Think about the space where you are going to work. It might not be possible for this to be a separate room in your home and it’s more likely going to be a corner of a table somewhere. Whatever your space, be intentional about creating it as a different space for the time you are working.
The first morning, I sat at my dining room table with washing, cereal and the kids’ drawings next me. The next day I purposefully changed the space by taking off the table cloth, putting a vase of flowers in front of me and pouring myself a coffee in my favourite mug. The washing was out of my sight lines, the cereal was away and my favourite tunes were on. My working ‘day’ had began and I was now in my ‘office’.
It sounds crazy but the difference was huge and I felt it when I stopped too. Think about how you start and stop your working time to create a sense of boundaries and routine. Write up your objectives of the day and tick them off the list at the end of the day too. When you finish make the effort to clear away your laptop and tidy away things that remind you of work so they are not left out to interrupt your down time.
Headspace: Set healthy boundaries
Things like a journey into work or walk to a coffee shop are no longer part of my routine. What’s your new routine? Try to get some fresh air before you start work, even if it’s a only a short walk around your block, and think about breaking up your day with a 15–20-minute walk. You won’t be able to be as effective just sitting in front of your computer. Even just stepping into my garden to break between tasks has helped to change gear.
Book lunch into your calendar and be deliberate about not eating where you work, even if it’s about sitting in the chair next to where you work!
Lifespace: Bring your all to your team
Communicating through a screen becomes very task-driven because the relationship bit is harder. We don't get to have the office laughs so we need to make time for what used to happen by accident. A classic Onelife thing is to jump out on each other as we come into the office (yes, we actually are that childish!) but it’s part of having fun, not taking ourselves too seriously and just bringing a bit of ‘us’ into the room. It makes our team our team! How do we do that now?
Becky has brought ‘Organised Fun’ to Onelife – we experienced it at our conference and it’s become part of our team life – so it needs to be part of our online team life. Our plan is for her to lead us in a five-minute game or challenge to make space to just have fun!
During the day, think about sharing the music you are listening to, food you are eating, what you did last night – everything that makes you...you! Find good ways of doing this (see below) as a part of bringing all of you to the team, in the same way that you would if you were in an office together.
Leading an online team
Practical communication: Who needs to know what?
Think about your working hours and any time that’s off-limits. Share this in team meetings and if they are different to usual then add it to your calendar.
Set regular times to gather and share daily objectives, along with what you have achieved and what the results were.
Consider – who do I need to involve in a longer conversation? Book in phone calls regularly with people to keep tracking together on projects. Even if they are quick ten-minute updates, make the time to sound people out as you would if you were across a desk from them. Do this by calling when possible so there is still that tone of voice and connection time.
Emotional communication: Know yourself
It’s much easier to step back from each other online than it is to step towards one another. Onelife has always valued leading with vulnerability and authenticity. In the fluidity and lack of face-to-face time it is so easy to become disconnected as a team and feel alone, as well as misread our fellow team members. Our plan at Onelife is to set both weekly (longer meetings and reading the Bible and praying together) and daily rhythms of catching up and connecting.
In each team meeting we will be sharing, ‘Where am I winning and where am I losing? What am I worrying about? What am I sensing God show me?’ It’s not about a checklist of always answering all three (although it would be good to get a rough headline from the first two!) but it’s about approaching the team catch up meeting with these questions in mind so we are intentionally connecting rather than stepping back from each other without realising. Something like sharing how you are has been pretty easy for us in the past but now it’s time to intentionally choose to share in this space for the sake of ourselves and for the team. Vulnerability breaks the walls of isolation and fear and whispers – it says, ‘I'm in it with you.’ There has never been a more relevant time for leaders to be living this out.
Empathy communication: Know how you are coming across
What’s it like to be on the other side of me? The soft skills conversation has now gone to a whole new level as we now have to think about that through a screen!
Think about your body language on screen. Try to look at the camera or the face of the person as often as possible so others see you looking at them rather than down on the screen. If you sit back with your arms crossed you will appear disconnected, disinterested and cold. If you sit up, with your arms down, and look at the camera and smile, you will seem engaged, encouraging and keen to hear ideas.
We lose a lot of our connection and message simply by not being in the same room, so intentionally show you are listening by smiling and nodding more than you would normally (within reason!).
Relational Communication: How do we engage with each other?
‘Water cooler moments’
By working remotely we miss the corridor chats and the moments in between meetings. In the same way we need to bring our real lives to our communication online, we need to be creating spaces for those kind of chats to take place within a team.
At Onelife, we are using Microsoft Teams ‘Chats’ for these comments, jokes, emojis and gifs. There needs to be clear time for this to not be used to we can focus and do more creative work but also times when we can still be interrupted as we would be if we were in a space together. For those (slightly older) in the team who are not used to working this way you could try blocking out a couple of hours where you are ‘Busy’ in Teams where you can focus and then have a couple of hours where you are ‘Available’ and can proactively input in this space to the rest of the team.
Group dynamics and one-to-ones
We miss visual cues when meeting online so we need to be ready to create space for everyone to input and share their views. When bringing something to the team meeting, regularly pause to ask for people’s thoughts or questions. When you are the one doing the listening and asked for feedback, if you have no questions try to use playback where possible rather than one word answers!
For example: ‘So you are saying...I think that’s great because...’ rather than, ‘Great, good, great...okay...[awkward silence].’ We just had a team meeting one team member needed to share some personal reflections with three others in the team. He was bold and vulnerable and at the end asked for the others’ reflections and invited their questions. The other two team members then ‘played back’ what they had heard, sensitively, with empathy, and then asked some questions. This could have been painful, awkward and divisive but instead was unifying, powerful and created potential for growth.
Some of these things might sound a bit much or feel a bit weird to implement through a screen, but after the adrenalin and panic of these first two weeks are over we have to accept this as the new normal. Creating space for the seemingly little things brings out our humanity and our God-designed uniqueness. In a digital backdrop we must give that the greatest platform.
Fight for it now, and I believe we will see strength and resilience in the future rather than burnout and isolation.
What’s next?
Follow us on Instagram as we explore Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline over the next 12 weeks.