I came across an article published in the MIT Sloan Management Review that would be helpful for most people, including students and working professionals. The article is titled “Five Ways to Improve Communications in Virtual Teams.” Reading the article brought to light many challenges we face while working with team members in different locations. With the pandemic, working virtually has become a part of our work. Even for non-virtual work, we communicate with people through email and messengers.

I want to go through and comment on the points made.

Here are the 5 points:

1. Match the technology to the task.
2. Make intentions clear.
3. Stay in sync.
4. Be responsive and supportive.
5. Be open and inclusive.

Match the technology to the task.

“Communication tools differ along a number of dimensions, including information richness (or the capacity to transfer nonverbal and other cues that help people interpret meaning) and the level of real-time interaction that is possible… A team’s communication tasks likewise vary in complexity, depending on the need to reconcile different viewpoints, give and receive feedback, or avoid the potential for misunderstanding. The purpose of the communication should determine the delivery mechanism…”

The point made here is that people use tools that are most familiar to them. However, the selected tool should reflect the task’s complexity and requirements, such as reconciling viewpoints. For instance, chat programs may be helpful for brief conversations and updates. Still, for working on complex problems or situations, a chatting tool would not be suitable. Without verbal communication hints such as tone, people may interpret words differently. They would communicate more clearly using conferencing programs such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom. The key takeaway is that the more complex the task is, the closer you should be to in-person communication. I’m unsure if in-person communication is necessary, but they state this: “sometimes meeting face-to-face (if possible) is the best option.”

Make intentions clear

Although most of our communication is text-based, many have experienced misunderstandings and interpretation issues. These miscommunications can cause unhealthy conflict. Why is that the case? 

They mention three reasons why words get misinterpreted. First, People tend to be less guarded and more negative in writing. This is why you see people insult and criticize people so openly via comments on platforms such as YouTube and Reddit. People become emboldened and more unafraid of saying negative things when communicating through text. Second,  Negativity goes both ways. They state that “People who receive written messages tend to interpret the writing more negatively than intended by the sender.” Why? Emotions are usually mostly conveyed through non-verbal cues. Research suggests that when a sender intends to convey positive emotions in an email, the receiver will view that message as emotionally “neutral.” If the sender has a slightly negative tone in the message, recipients of that message usually interpret the message more intensely negatively than intended by the sender. The emotions conveyed in a message will likely be interpreted as a step down in positivity. I believe it is best to be as positive as possible in text-based communication because recipients will interpret the message more negatively anyway. Third, People read with different lenses. Even if we emphasize critical points in our text-based messages, we could overestimate the clarity of those key points. The reader may not clearly see a message’s priorities or key points. Why? People read in different ways. Thus, critical information could get overlooked. The key takeaway here is to be overly clear in your messages. Use methods such as highlighting or formatting to emphasize your points to ensure your readers understand what is important.

Stay in sync

We all know working and communicating virtually is a challenge. Keeping in touch is fairly easy if we are physically near each other. The potential problems that teams could face include not knowing if messages were read, mistakenly excluding a member from an important email, and other communication obstacles. A fairly common occurrence in team projects (especially for school) is team members going “silent.” A non-communicating team member will leave the other members guessing. As mentioned previously, people tend to interpret communication more negatively than intended. If there is no communication by a person on a team, then team members will guess the worst. The key takeaway is to focus on maintaining consistent communication with team members. As a team member, it is critical to be proactive in your communication. For example, if you received an important message from a member, you could acknowledge that you received the message. Being proactive also includes checking in with team members if there is no response.

Be responsive and supportive

 Traditionally, physically being closer makes the trust-building process a lot easier. Because team members are physically next to each other, it is more difficult to build trust between members, but working virtually requires even more trust between members than in a traditional working environment. I’m sure most people have experienced a sense of uneasiness when working with new people in a virtual environment. The key takeaway here is to communicate again proactively. The emphasis is on communicating to increase your “trustworthiness” with team members. For example, you should promptly respond to team members’ requests even if you cannot complete the task immediately. Another example is maintaining a “positive and supportive” tone in communications. These points apply to in-person work but are even more critical in a remote setting.  

Be open and inclusive

Usually, the strength of working remotely with team members is that members are located worldwide. Diversity in views and perspectives leads to better ideas and solutions to the team’s problems or challenges. However, virtual communication sometimes discourages people from speaking, which defeats the purpose of having a diverse point of view. Sometimes virtual communication doesn’t allow people to see reactions to comments or ideas, which can sometimes demotivate people from contributing further. The key takeaway here is to communicate proactively again but inclusively and openly. Proactively ask for different perspectives and ideas from all team members. Involve the entire team in important discussions and decisions. Be aware that people farther away from most team members may need to feel more included. 

The recurring theme throughout all the points stated above is “positive, proactive communication.” We must understand that messages in text-based communications tend to be interpreted more negatively. So the emphasis is on being overly clear and positive in text-based communication. In a team setting, positively and proactively communicating means being responsive, inclusive, and open. Hopefully, these points will help all of us be better in the way we communicate in our professional work and academic endeavors as well.

Here is a link to the article: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/five-ways-to-improve-communication-in-virtual-teams/