Squiggly sprint 24: Day 9 - Collaboration

Day 9 of the SquigglySprint and today’s podcast is on Collaboration.

I’m going to go very practical and specific on this one, partially as I was talking to one of my team today about some of the topics I’ll discuss.

One of the biggest problems with remote communication and collaboration is the bias in a lot of companies to people wanting to talk as much as possible, and this becomes much worse when some people are remote and some are in person.

I have been very influenced by Kate Murphy, and her writing on the importance of silence and listening. One of the sentiments I have taken, and slightly adapted, from her is that you shouldn’t start talking as soon as someone finishes. If you do, it means one of two things. Either you haven’t been paying attention to what they have been saying, or you are giving a rote answer that you don’t need to give much thought to.

I recall in the UK election a few years ago, there was an interesting dynamic at play in some interviews. The public often says that they want their politicians to be more authentic, and not give standard answers to questions. Yet when Jeremy Corbyn was running for Prime Minister, he would often pause to consider what he was going to say, and he was criticised for that, as he didn’t seem confident and prime ministerial.

When I learned about the importance of silence, I started to put it into play, and tried not to jump in with answers. This was when I was one of the sole remote members of a primarily US team. The first time I put this into practice, I didn’t have a chance to say anything in a whole meeting, as it was always someone in the room jumping in. In fact, towards the end of the call someone commented that I was being very quiet, not on the fact that the remote attendees hadn’t been given space to talk.

What is the object lesson here? If you want to be inclusive in collaboration, be mindful of the fact that some people are going to be naturally hesitant to talk. 

If you are an attendee, take a breather, drink your coffee, and pay attention to what people are saying rather than engaging in a race to be the first to talk. If you are a facilitator, remember that it is intimidating being on the end of a phone, and you may be giving subtle signals to people in the room that they are next. Note the quiet people, even those that are present, and kindly give them the option to talk. One of the best bits of facilitation I have seen was at a talk I was very interested in and I was politely asked to allow other people to ask questions.

And please, please remember the great function to raise hands on zoom, teams, or whatever. If it is being used, respect it.