Organizational Tools: How’s Your Virtual Workplace Doing?
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By now you are settling into whatever your particular virtual workplace needs to be for the next several months. You have some organizational shifts in place, the tech up and running to meet virtually and for your people to work from home (WFH), and made pivots to keep your operations and processes running smoothly.
It must feel really different not to be in the physical workplace — not sitting across from each other in a meeting, popping over to the next cubicle for a quick creative confab, or having the casual contact that builds relationships. You might even be (secretly) happy that the usual “water cooler” gossip, interpersonal tiffs, and snarky obstructionist pushbacks you deal with in the office won’t happen anymore.
Hold on….Don’t go there. Conflict still happens.. Your leadership skills are now being called up to keep your virtual team(s) intact, productive, motivated, and conflict competent.
The Tools: Conflict competence in the remote workspace
1. Do not assume a virtual workplace is conflict-free. Here are some top warning signs of conflict to look for so you can head off negative conflict before it escalates (from our most-visited blog article, 9 Early Warning Signs of Workplace Conflict):
Dysfunctional meetings that seem to turn into gripe sessions, or are dominated by the same people. Keep control of your meetings and ensure equal participation (the mute option on Zoom can be your friend..).
Anger or any over-reaction is rarely the response for a first-time upset — something surely has been festering and brewing. So, address it immediately, in the group if appropriate or contact the individual personally to hear them out and get to the root of their reaction.
Inappropriate communications, either in a meeting or written communications that are rude or use inappropriate language. Make sure everyone is taking the respectful high road; if someone is not, put out that fire immediately.
2. Be aware that your people may be reacting negatively to the lack of face-to-face supervision. They may feel out of touch and left with the feeling of not being heard or supported — a definite conflict hook.
Create new team agreements around structured check-ins and communications using this team agreement tool. The core questions (in step #3) that you’ll be asking your team will be something like:
For this team to be successful in tackling this project, what do you need to count on from each other?
In order for this team to excel, what do you want for the team?
(Building on the previous two) What agreements can we come to that will make success possible?
3. Your words and tone have more power than ever — the video screen and email inbox are like a fishbowl! A few behavioral tweaks can help inspire inclusivity and cooperation, as well as lift team spirits in these wearying times:
Start a meeting with clear intent and expressing a desire for success for all, i.e., “We’re here to discuss [ ] today; I’d like to see all of us walk out of here happy and jazzed to get started.”
Convey that you have been listening attentively (as well as moving a discussion forward efficiently) by mirroring back, i.e., “It sounds like your biggest concern is [ ]. Is that right?”
Acknowledge the other person’s perceptions when appropriate, i.e., "I haven't considered this matter from that perspective before, but I think I can see how it looked to you." Or, “You are absolutely right about that.”
Avoid assumptions (which are easier to make when you don’t have the benefit of face-to-face body language), i.e, “I hear you saying [ ]; could you explain more so everyone understands?”
A lot to chew on and practice — I hope you find these tools helpful! No matter the workplace location or situation, each of these tools is fundamental to building a strong, conflict-competent, highly-productive and cohesive team.
When we join a company, partnership or team, our expectation is that everyone involved will exhibit professional behavior toward us and each other. Instead, it’s highly possible that we may become one of the more than 60 million adults in the United States who are affected in some way by bullying behavior at work.
What kind of behaviors are we talking about? Our definition is any interpersonal behavior that causes emotional distress in others sufficient enough to impede their productivity or disrupt organizational functioning. It isn’t just a personality conflict — it’s a chronic pattern of disrespectful behavior.