10 Rules Of Great Virtual Collaboration

The purpose of virtual collaboration is to connect with people, share ideas, strengthen skills, and win results. To achieve this:

1.        Focus On Your Audience

What do they need? What do they want? What would you like them to think, say and do as a result of meeting online?

2.        Be Authentic

Be yourself and speak with passion. Whether participants see you or not,  you show up even more than in face-to-f settings.

3.        Show Up As Human

In a virtual event, technology is prominent. Don’t let technology dominate.

Be certain that you are providing human touch and connection. Smile, share examples and be conversational to bridge the virtual gap.

4.        Model What You Want People To Do

Develop a habit of ‘showing’ first. Model the behavior you want others to do. For example, share your own story before asking participants to tell theirs.

5.        Embed Participation

Use a storyboard to plan participation. Work in bite-size chunks to balance audience participation with facilitator-led activities.

6.        Guide Discussion

Use facilitative techniques to keep the discussion lively. There must be a balance between technology-driven interactions and group dialogue.

7.        Connect To Themes

Think about the key themes for your virtual collaboration. These may be driven by learning objectives, project initiatives or a specific focal point.

8.        Reinforce Ideas Shared

Find opportunities to reinforce ideas between co-presenters and peers. Reinforce and strengthen key ideas by highlighting themes throughout the session.

9.        Focus On Action

Use examples of action. Tell stories of action. Recognize and reward action suggestions. It’s all about action.

10.      Be Available

Guarantee that the conversation can continue. Be available after the virtual session for informal connection. Provide attendees with email, voicemail and in-person times to meet to continue collaborating.

…and, keep bringing a human touch to virtual collaboration!