Session #7
Leading Teams and Digital Interaction
1. Read the following HBR article, Did You Get My Slack/Email/Text?, here that discusses our transition from remote to hybrid work and recommendations for how to establish commonplace practices around digital communication with teams. The author provides a suggested model for norms around various digital communication tools and expectations, shown here, that may be useful in thinking about and setting your own team norms:
2. Thinking about the various digital communication options that you have available and use, answer the following questions:
a) What’s been the most collaborative experience you’ve had in each of these channels?
i. IM (Microsoft Teams, Slack, Skype, etc.)
ii. Email
iii. Video calls
iv. Texting (if applicable)
b) Based on these positive experiences, what are the norms that you want to set up for each channel? (Think about message length, complexity, and response time.)
i. How long is too long for an IM message?
ii. Do you want to put a limit on the number of people to include in a group IM?
iii. When (if ever) is it appropriate to text someone?
iv. What is the expected response time for emails?
3. Here are some suggestions for how to navigate communication scenarios across various tools:
a) When should a text or IM conversation switch to a different medium?
i. Don't text or IM someone "hey, do you have a minute" and then go on to explain an entire task in a follow-up paragraph. In that case, just call them.
ii. If it's enough of an emergency to warrant a text outside of reasonable work hours (7am-7pm), it probably warrants a phone call. If it doesn't, it can wait.
iii. If you need a record of the conversation, switch to email.
b) When should a video call switch to a different medium?
i. Just like in-person meetings, ask yourself the 5 P's and cut out any digital meetings that don't have a clear purpose or are missing a key factor for success.
Purpose: Does the meeting have a clearly defined purpose?
Participants: Are all of the relevant parties (and only the relevant parties) invited and able to attend?
Probable Issues: What are the concerns that could likely arise?
Product: What do we want to have produced when we are done?
Process: What steps should we take during the meeting to achieve the purpose, given the product desired and potential issues we may face?
c) Review and consider the following “Digital Body Language Checklist” when preparing for communications:
Estimated time to complete assignment: 45 minutes