Are we the weakest link when it comes to leading virtually?

When online meetings fail and it’s hard to get people engaged, it’s tempting to blame the technology. But is there also room for some self-reflection? Perhaps the responsibility doesn’t lie with the technology alone, but also with you and me, and how we choose to prepare to lead, collaborate and present with the tools we now have at hand.

We recently gave a talk on virtual leadership, a subject close to our hearts, given Jesper’s seven years leading virtual sales teams at Microsoft that worked well. But we all know the feeling: something always goes wrong when you meet virtually. Poor sound quality, not enough bandwidth, people who can’t log on to the conferencing system, or the limits of the platform in general. It’s incredibly frustrating when the technology doesn’t work, and to be honest, few things annoy us more than IT that gets in the way of people. And remember: eight years ago, when Jesper started leading virtual teams, the platform was called Microsoft Lync. The office bandwidth could barely keep up, to put it mildly, as we communicated more and more. And our Jabra conference phones sounded like cheap knock-offs built to torture anyone stuck in the meeting.

The responsibility was ours too

So we had actually planned to spend a good part of the talk on IT as the limiting factor. On how the technology got in the way of hearing each other properly in meetings. Or how it was almost impossible to run an effective online workshop with the tools we had. We were all set to blame the technology and the IT department, when it suddenly dawned on us that we might share the responsibility for the problems that sometimes came up. Was it only the technology’s fault when things went wrong, or had we not spent the time needed to get to grips with the tools? Was it just the audience spending too much time on email during the meeting, or could we have prepared activities to keep 50 online participants engaged along the way?

During and after the talk, we had a good conversation with the business leaders about their experiences with virtual leadership. And it was clear that even though several of them had put measures in place to support virtual collaboration and wellbeing, most of them still faced big challenges overall. Fortunately, the tools have come a long way just in the past year, and more good features are on the way. But tools alone don’t make a good online meeting or an engaging workshop. Leaders and employees still need training in taking part in meetings effectively, communicating well and collaborating online.

Have you asked yourself these questions?

So here are some of the questions we think you can ask yourself as a leader, or as someone with responsibility for how people work together, in a company where virtual collaboration is part of everyday work:

• Have you put together a strong virtual onboarding plan that also makes room for the informal sense of belonging new colleagues need?
• Do you invest in good-quality headsets for all employees? Sitting through long meetings with poor sound is simply exhausting.
• Are there clear expectations about what it means to meet virtually? We’re big believers in freedom and flexibility, but we think it’s fair to expect that when you join an online meeting, you’re always ready to turn your camera on. What ‘ready’ means is up to you.
• Do you always make a point of getting to know the platform you’ll be presenting on before the meeting? There’s a big difference between Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and the rest, and it’s painful to watch someone fumble around trying to find screen sharing.
• Have you invested in training leaders and employees in virtual meeting culture and effective online collaboration? Do you train your key people in giving effective online presentations? Lighting, gestures, voice and the design of presentations are just some of the things that can make a big difference to how the audience experiences a presentation.
• Do you spend enough time preparing your virtual meetings, and do you build in moments that get people involved during the meeting?
• Do you talk about the importance of a good working posture, regular breaks, informal conversation between employees and wellbeing in general?

Even though many of us are impatiently waiting to get back to a more normal working day, studies show that the vast majority of larger Danish companies expect a more hybrid workforce in future, with more opportunity to work from home. That’s why we believe there’s a real opportunity in using this time to shape how we’ll work in the future. Part of that, of course, is investing in the right tools and putting processes in place that fully support a hybrid workforce. But our own lesson is that just as much of the responsibility lies with ourselves, and with how we as leaders make sure our teams have the best possible conditions to work together and develop with the tools we now have at hand.

Do you have examples of how you’ve made meetings, collaboration or virtual onboarding work better? Then we’d love to hear from you in the comments below.