Selecting the Right Tool for Each Step

When you can't get everyone in the same place at the same time for the whole process, you can employ three simple tools to bridge the distance:

• In-person meetings (when possible)

• Video or telephone conference calls

• E-Mail

You can augment these tools with Web-based meeting tools if you want, but keep them simple. The technology needs to support the process, not distract from it.

Use the Most Personal and Direct Communication at the Start and Finish of the Process

Work through Steps #1 through #4 at an in-person meeting, if possible. You need to establish a solid foundation of mutual understanding and trust to carry forward.

If you can't meet in person, try the next best solution: a video or telephone conference call. Refer everyone to the "Quick Use Guide" located at the end of Part 1 so that they know the agenda. Also distribute any visual information or background information. Remember, too, that well-run conference calls are effective for about an hour, after which fatigue usually begins. You may need to break Steps #1 through #4 into two calls.

As you work through the process, include an opportunity for participants to meet again in person or via video or telephone conference call for Steps #9 and #10. These are important opportunities to review results and celebrate progress toward fulfillment of your shared hopes.

Use a Video or Telephone Conference Call to Evaluate Options

Step #6 requires that participants hear (if not see) one another express negatives and positives for each decision-making option under consideration. Otherwise, they won't have the assurance that each person is taking a balanced approach. In addition, the real-time exchange encourages participants' creative efforts to develop new, improved options.

Even if you are working with a large group, you can implement this step within a one-hour conference call. This time together can prevent hours of misunderstandings and delays. You can also carry out Step #8 by means of a video or telephone conference call. Send the Solution Finder chart with tabulated results to participants beforehand, and refer to the solutions mapped on it during the call.

Limit E-Mail or One-Way Web Communication to Information Exchange

Everyone has lived through some version of e-mail misunderstanding—a misguided e-mail that plagues a group or organization for weeks, months, even years. Without being able to see someone's body language or hear the person's voice, we miss the cues that provide an emotional context for a message. Was a team member's comment a criticism or just an observation? Without context, we may misread the content.

For example, a software development group struggled with a tough programming problem. A terse e-mail from its manager sent the group into a tailspin. The team members interpreted the note critically and spent hours composing and exchanging e-mail messages to defend their activities. The entire time, the manager was only a short distance down the hall. The software group finally escaped its downward spiral when members declared a cease-fire on e-mails and agreed to meet face to face to clarify the issues. The damage to productivity and relationships took weeks to repair.

Some people also fire off e-mail messages and hope that they won't have to deal with the recipients. This isn't teamwork. It's team avoidance.

E-mail isn't inherently good or bad. It's a tool, like a hammer. But it's an inappropriate tool if you keep hitting your thumb or smashing things when you need to be gluing them together.

Especially with tough issues, limit e-mails to exchanging information. Keep the messages factual and direct. In Step #5, focus on facts and perceptions without conveying any intent or appearance of advocating a particular position. For Step #7, simply submit your ballots via e-mail (or a Web tool) to someone who tabulates them.

Table 5 summarizes the suggested tools for each step, based on the specific business objectives and communication needs.

Table 5: Select the Right Tools for Virtual Teams

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES	COMMUNICATION NEEDS	SUGGESTED TOOLS
Steps #1-4: Form the team, discover your shared hopes, uncover the real issue(s), and identify all options.	Communication needs to be as direct and as immediate as possible—something that engages verbal and visual content as well as feelings.	a. In-person meeting b. Video or telephone conference call (with Web support and/or advance distribution of materials)
Step #5: Gather information about how the options relate to your shared hopes.	Information exchange can occur over time; immediate, face-to-face communication not required.	E-mail exchanges or Web-based posting of information
Step #6: Express negatives and positives of each option and create potential new options.	Participants need to hear that each person is providing balanced input and is brainstorming to find improved solutions.	Video or telephone conference call (with access to results via Web or e-mail distribution)
Step #7: Make choices.	Straw ballots need anonymity.	E-Mail or Web-based submission of ballots.
Step #8: Map solutions.	Everyone needs to discuss the tabulated results on the Solution Finder.	Video or telephone conference call (with access to Solution Finder results via Web or e-mail distribution)
Steps #9-10: Look ahead and stay charged up.	Participants need to confirm direction and results and celebrate how their actions link with their shared hopes.	a. In-person meeting b. Video or telephone conference call (with Web support and/or advance distribution of materials)