April 9, 2008	Volume 8, Issue 15
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Remote Facilitation in Synchronous Contexts: Part III

by Rick Brenner

Facilitators of synchronous distributed meetings (meetings that occur in real time, via telephone or video) can make life much easier for everyone by taking steps before the meeting starts. Here's Part III of a little catalog of suggestions for remote facilitators.

e cannot anticipate every problem facilitators might encounter in synchronous distributed meetings, but some are fairly predictable. And we can manage some of these problems more easily either by limiting their incidence, or by establishing protocols for them in advance. Here are three examples.

Identifying the speaker

The Samuel Morse Telegraph Receiver that was used to receive the message, "What hath God wrought," during the demonstration to Congress in 1844. Over the remainder of the nineteenth century, the equipment improved dramatically, but the demand for bandwidth grew even more dramatically. To limit costs, senders of telegrams turned to a vast array of so-called telegraph codebooks, which contained code words that stood for often-used phrases or sentences. Prior to sending messages, people would agree to use a specific code, and thereby save money and time in message transmission. For instance, "The Nautical Telegraph Code Book and Postal Guide," edited by Capt. D.H. Bernard (London, 1908), defines the code word Seclusion, to mean, "Sorry to say ship caught fire last night — serious damage."

Fifty years from now, people will write about our use of telephony for distributed meetings. They'll describe the artifices we use to resolve speaker identity, recognize speakers, and manage interruptions. And these devices will seem as quaint to people in the future, as the telegraph codebooks seem to us now. Photo courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

In face-to-face (F2F) meetings, identifying the speaker is usually easy. We can either see the speaker, or we can recognize the voice, or tell which direction it's coming from, even if the facilitator recognizes the speaker by inaudible means such as a slight gesture.

In the distributed context, especially audio-only, identification can be problematic. To address the difficulty, the facilitator can recognize the speaker by name, and the speaker can begin by stating his or her name. And before the meeting starts, we can make available a podcast with attendees introducing themselves in their own voices.

Managing complex technologies

To support their telemeetings, some groups use complex technologies that go beyond telephone or videoconferencing. Tools for sharing drawing spaces, displaying slide presentations, and even manipulating physical objects all require special skills.

Although these technologies are at the frontier of remote facilitation, some useful practices have emerged. First, ensure in advance that all sites have operative installations. Pushing ahead when it's known that some sites don't have functioning installations risks corrupting meeting deliverables. Second, ensure that any participants who must use the technology have had adequate training. Third, have technical support staff standing by during the meeting for advice or repair if necessary. Finally, be prepared to halt the meeting and reschedule it if essential technology doesn't function correctly.

Dealing with interrupters In F2F meetings, participants
who interrupt others create
problems, but facilitators
can handle them

In F2F meetings, participants who interrupt others create problems, but facilitators can handle them fairly easily. And when interruptions do occur, everyone can usually sort out what was said. In distributed meetings, especially over the telephone, we can't always identify the interrupter and we often can't sort out what was said.

"Zero tolerance" for interruptions is probably an impossible goal, but you can adopt practices that reduce their incidence. In advance of the meeting, establish a norm that prohibits routine interruptions, and establish a protocol for emergency interruptions. Circulate news flashes before the meeting or as a first agenda item to reduce the need for people to inject news during discussions. Interruptions that come about during heated debate are another matter; deal with repeat offenders privately.

Often, meeting size itself is a difficult challenge, because we don't want to risk offending people by excluding them. Making available a podcast of the meeting, and offering "podcast attendance" as an option for some people in advance, might tempt a few to attend by podcast. Unfortunately, as the facilitator, podcast attendance is not an option for you. First in this series   Top    Next Issue

For an examination of some issues that arise in synchronous distributed meetings, see "Remote Facilitation in Synchronous Contexts: Part I," Point Lookout for March 26, 2008. For suggestions for facilitating highly charged distributed meetings, see "Remote Facilitation in Synchronous Contexts: Part II," Point Lookout for April 2, 2008.

Is your organization a participant in one or more global teams? Are you the owner/sponsor of a global team? Are you managing a global team? Is everything going well, or at least as well as any project goes? Probably not. Many of the troubles people encounter are traceable to the obstacles global teams face when building working professional relationships from afar. Read 303 Tips for Virtual and Global Teams to learn how to make your global and distributed teams sing. Order Now!

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Keep a Not-To-Do List

Unless you execute all your action items immediately, they probably end up on your To-Do list. Since they're a source of stress, you'll feel better if you can find a way to avoid acquiring them. Having a Not-To-Do list reminds you that some things are really not your problem.

When Meetings Boil Over

At any time, without warning, you can find yourself in a meeting that boils over. Sometimes tempers rise, then voices rise, and then people yell and scream. What can a team do when meetings threaten to boil over — and when they do?

Mastering Meeting Madness

If you lead an organization, and people are mired in meeting madness, you can end it. Here are a few tips that can free everyone to finally get some work done.

The True Costs of Cubicles

Although cubicles do provide facility cost savings compared with walled offices, they do so at the price of product development delays and increased product development costs. Decisions of facilities planners can have dramatic project schedule impact.

Give It Your All

If you have the time and resources to read this, you probably have a pretty good situation, or you have what it takes to be looking for one. In many ways, you're one of the fortunate few. Are you making the most of the wonderful things you have? Are you giving it your all?

See also Personal, Team and Organizational Effectiveness, Effective Meetings, Project Management and Virtual and Global Teams for more related articles.

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The Race to the South Pole: Ten Lessons for Project Managers

On 14 December 1911, four men led by Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole. Thirty-five days later, Robert F. Scott and four others followed. Amundsen had won the race to the pole. Amundsen's party returned to base on 26 January 1912. Scott's party perished. As historical drama, why this happened is interesting enough, but to project managers, the story is fascinating. Lessons abound. Read more about this program. Here are some upcoming dates for this program:

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  your calendarAppleton, Wisconsin: September 13, Monthly Meeting, Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of the Project Management Institute.
   
• Download to
  your calendarWeston, Wisconsin: September 14, Monthly Meeting, Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of the Project Management Institute.
   
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  your calendarCrowne Plaza Hotel, Cromwell, CT: September 15, Monthly Meeting, Southern New England Chapter of the Project Management Institute. Register now.
   
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  your calendarFort Wayne, IN: September 22, Monthly Meeting, Northeast Indiana Chapter of the Project Management Institute. Register now.
   
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  your calendarOverland Park Convention Center, 6000 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66211: October 4, Professional Development Day, Kansas City Chapter of the Project Management Institute. Register now.
   
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  your calendarMITRE, in Bedford, MA: February 15, 2011, Monthly Meeting, Boston SPIN.
   

Organizational Politics for People Who Hate Politics

Have you ever felt powerless to implement an important new idea? Have you ever been "blind-sided" at a meeting? Have you ever lost two good employees because you could find no way to keep them from attacking each other? These are some of the issues of organizational politics. Many of us have become enmeshed in them from time to time, but we've also known some people who seem to be able to engage and prosper. How is that done? We'll inventory the challenges of organizational politics, and provide tools for anticipating and addressing them. The focus of this program is practical — attendees learn concrete techniques for dealing with the problems that arise in workplace politics, while keeping their integrity intact. Read more about this program. Here's an upcoming date for this program:

• Download to
  your calendarOverland Park Convention Center, 6000 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66211: October 5, Professional Development Day, Kansas City Chapter of the Project Management Institute. Register now.
   

Managing Virtual Teams for Real Results

Managing global or dispersed teams is challenging — miscommunications, misunderstandings, and interpersonal conflict all thrive in the typical environment of the distributed team. And they're even more common in global teams, because of time-zone offsets and language and cultural differences. We'll inventory the challenges distributed and global teams face, and provide tools for anticipating and addressing them. The focus of this program is practical — attendees will learn concrete techniques for preventing and dealing with the problems that accompany global and distributed teams. Read more about this program. Here's an upcoming date for this program:

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  your calendarPortland World Trade Center: October 18, Conference, Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference.
   

Person-to-Person Communications: Models and Applications

When we talk, listen, send or read emails, read or write memos, or when we leave or listen to voice mail messages, we're communicating person-to-person. And whenever we communicate person-to-person, we risk being misunderstood, offending others, feeling hurt, and being confused. There are so many ways for things to go wrong that we could never learn how to fix all the problems. A more effective approach avoids problems altogether, or at least minimizes their occurrence. In this very interactive program we'll explain — and show you how to use — a model of inter-personal communications that can help you stay out of the ditch. We'll place particular emphasis on a very tricky situation — saying no to power. In those moments of intense involvement, when we're most likely to slip, you'll have a new tool to use to keep things constructive. Read more about this program. Here's an upcoming date for this program:

• Download to
  your calendarPortland World Trade Center: October 19, Conference, Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference.
   

Person-to-Person Communication for Project Managers

When we talk, listen, send or read emails, read or write memos, or when we leave or listen to voice mail messages, we're communicating person-to-person. And whenever we communicate person-to-person, we risk being misunderstood, offending others, feeling hurt, and being confused. There are so many ways for things to go wrong that we could never learn how to fix all the problems. A more effective approach avoids problems altogether, or at least minimizes their occurrence. In this very interactive program you'll learn a model of inter-personal communications that can help you stay out of the ditch. In those moments of intense involvement, when we're most likely to slip, you'll have a new tool to use to keep things constructive. Read more about this program. Here's an upcoming date for this program:

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  your calendarMarist College, 3399 North Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601: October 22, Professional Development Day, Hudson Valley Chapter of the Project Management Institute.
   

The Race to the South Pole: Lessons in Risk Management for Leaders

On 14 December 1911, four men led by Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole. Thirty-five days later, Robert F. Scott and four others followed. Amundsen had won the race to the pole. Amundsen's party returned to base on 26 January 1912. Scott's party perished. As historical drama, why this happened is interesting enough. But to organizational leaders and project managers, the story is fascinating. We'll use the history of this event to explore lessons in risk management and its application to organizational efforts. A fascinating and refreshing look at risk management from the vantage point of history. Read more about this program. Here's an upcoming date for this program:

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  your calendarWherever you are: it's a teleseminar: February 2, 2011, Teleseminar, Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI).
   

The Organizational Politics of Risk Management

Organizational politics presents a risk not often accounted for by risk models. It creates one of the many components of risk management risk — the risk that the risk management process itself is inadequate. Political considerations can lead to risk products that seem acceptable but which are fatally flawed; or worse, the risk products are plainly unserviceable, but everyone chooses not to acknowledge the problem. In this program we'll examine how organizational politics influences risk management, and discuss several measures for mitigating its effects. Read more about this program. Here's an upcoming date for this program:

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  your calendarWherever you are: it's a teleseminar: September 1, 2011, Teleseminar, Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI).