Thought Corner
The development of competence in virtual collaboration emerges in small steps and involves many different areas. Read our blog posts on tools, processes, and facilitation methods.
Dealing with Distance in Virtual Collaboration
When consulting spatially or organizationally distributed business units, matrix teams or project teams, we are always confronted with the phenomenon of distance. The goal of our consulting work is to ensure and improve productivity and job satisfaction of these team constellations. Deficits experienced in this respect are often attributed at least to some extent to the perceived distance among the members of a given organizational unit.
Der Umgang mit Distanz in der virtuellen Zusammenarbeit
In der Beratung von räumlich oder organisatorisch verteilten Organisationseinheiten, Matrixteams oder Projektteams, sind wir immer mit dem Phänomen der Distanz konfrontiert. Das Ziel in der Beratungsarbeit ist dabei, Produktivität und Arbeitszufriedenheit auch in diesen Teamkonstellationen sicherzustellen bzw. zu verbessern. Die erlebten Defizite in der praktischen Zusammenarbeit werden in aller Regel zum Teil auf die empfundene Distanz zwischen den Mitgliedern der Organisationseinheit zurückgeführt.
Corona and the “New Normal”
Since COVID-19, everybody is talking about the “New Normal”. Online collaboration tools are experiencing a boom. But our journey into relatively unchartered waters is just beginning.
We must now recognize the specific rules of the game, discover specific hurdles and difficulties and new opportunities with the aim of improving our own ability to act in the new environment as well as possible.
Corona und das „New Normal“
Seit COVID-19 ist die “Neue Normalität” in aller Munde. Werkzeuge für die Online-Zusammenarbeit erleben einen Boom. Aber unsere Reise in relativ unbekanntes Terrain beginnt gerade erst.
Wir müssen jetzt die speziellen Spielregeln erkennen, besondere Hürden und Schwierigkeiten und neue Chancen entdecken mit dem Ziel, die eigene Handlungsfähigkeit in der neuen Umwelt möglichst schnell zu verbessern.
What do you prefer? Meet virtually or in-person?
First answer: For important meetings and milestones, for the management of larger team or interpersonal conflicts, in-person meetings are preferable, many challenges can be mastered more easily here. Second answer: In principle, all cooperation goals can be achieved virtually as well. This is even more true when we shift our focus from the deficits of virtual collaboration to its inherent potential, i.e. the combination of synchronous (meetings in web conference systems) and asynchronous collaboration (platforms such as SharePoint, etc.).
3 ways to use slides and captivate a virtual audience
Ever heard of Death by Powerpoint? Even if you have not, you probably have sat in on presentations where the presenter uses presentation slides more to remind himself of the things he wanted to say than to help you understand his message. To me, the worst version of...
You do not need tools, you need to connect with people
How we use tools and why we use them is more important than which tools we use In a recent post, I talked about the physical workspace of a remote worker. In this post, I want to talk about the virtual environment, the digital tools, that make up the other half of her...
Do you dread virtual meetings? Make them better
What YOU can do to make virtual meetings better for yourself Many remote workers spend much of their time in virtual meetings and conference calls. Many of these calls are not well organised nor are they properly facilitated, but what is worst, you can still have...
How to get the attention of people who are far away
What to do when your remote co-worker does not deliver Modern work requires you to work with others. Whether you are working in a company, in a small business or as a freelancer, at the very least you have to work with your client, in most cases with more people. On...
Trust in remote teams: Three tools and the larger picture
For some time, we have been observing a general tendency within society to seek simple and clear-cut solutions to complex questions. And, when you think of trust in distributed teams, there seems to be a similar approach. The work situation in those teams is usually...