Optimizing Remote Communications

Efficient, effective and timely human-to-human communications, particularly when the participants are geographically dispersed (remote) has always been one of the most challenging issues for any society to overcome.

Introduction

In order to improve communication we need to identify information needs and explore the many formats and possibilities available to us in order to facilitate the best way to share information among geographically dispersed individuals. Some common elements to consider include:

Common Formats

Adopting a common data interchange format will contribute greatly to ensuring consistent accessibility and “on call” availability of information for one and all. Using a universally common format and processes also helps to ensure the greatest compatibility between systems.

Consistency

Formalize the communication tools and mechanisms to be used under various specific criteria and circumstances. It is important to ensure that this is done prior to any trigger events requiring specialty plans. When an emergency situation or any other extraordinary event occurs it is time to put a prepared, tested and refined plan immediately into action. This is most definitely not the time to be thinking of what to do next.

User Participation

Although it probably goes without saying that involving all concerned as early as possible in any communications initiatives will greatly assist in establishing communications channels and aide in overcoming problems and inconsistencies before the rapid exchange of information becomes mission critical.

Habit

Remember that we humans are creatures of habit and suspect communications methods must be removed before any team members become entrenched in undesirable and/or incompatible habits in this area.

Face-to-Face Communications

We humans are generally more comfortable with face-to-face communications and so it is that this format is usually the most productive. With this in mind when we are dealing in situations where individual members are geographically separated the possibilities and feasibility of live conferencing (video if possible) should be explored as they do offer some degree of the face-to-face communications processes that we humans feel best at ease with.

Responsibility

All involved should take on a larger share of responsibility for participating in the various communications forums, bulletin boards, online meeting places etc as well as for being heard and understood. No mumbling or speaking with something in your mouth. This is especially important when we are trying to communicate over a distance without the benefit of face-to-face interactivity.

Formal Agreements

It is essential that all future parties to the communications make some sort of formal commitment to how, when, and in what format any given set of communications will take place. Once again this takes on an even greater import when individual parties to the conversation are situated over geographically widely dispersed locations.

Time Zones

Time zones must be carefully considered as they will have no small impact on decisions concerning the scheduling and commitment to when communications are to take place. It is unfair for the same individuals to be getting up at 3:00 AM so that we can all have a 9:00 AM (our time) on-line video conference. We must all share the inconvenience when our colleagues and peers are separated by great distance.

Isolation

With geographically dispersed teams this becomes ever more important as the option to tell so-and-so when I get to the office on Monday just won’t be possible because so-and-so may live in another country and you will therefore not be meeting with them in person. It is also important to ensure that nobody feels “left out of it”.

Scheduling

Scheduling is always important but when remote end parties (members of a dispersed team) are involved it takes on even more importance. Scheduling must include a plan detailing the format and any other additional details of specific requirements; such as completion of a document or manual, critical to a forth-coming conference or meeting.
If participants to the scheduled conference or meeting need to be conversant with the contents of the documentation/manual prior to commencement of conference/meeting then the appropriate distribution mechanisms will need to be initiated to distribute the documentation to those involved in advance.

Coordination

Coordinated scheduling of meetings and other communications channels and systems becomes even more important when geographically separated teams are concerned. The need to avoid appointment clashes is definitely a priority to implement in order to attain maximum efficiency and effectiveness of scheduled events.

Flexibility

When designing, planning and implementing communications plans the capacity to allow for unforeseen events such as a cyclone preventing some team members from participating in a given scheduled meeting need careful consideration and contingency plans entailing rescheduling need to be prepared for a worst case scenario in order to be ready for deployment should the need arise.

Communications Contingency Plans

Worst case scenarios will require special plans should they eventuate and so the need for these contingency plans to be prepared during the analysis, planning and design phases of your communications contingency planning becomes a mandatory essential rather than an additional luxury. In this way; should a natural disaster or an act of God scenario eventuate, you will be well placed and prepared to deal with it spontaneously and appropriately.

Plasticity

Team members both individually and collectively along with the communications and contingency plans will need to be more adaptable when geographically dispersed entities are involved.

Distance Inhibits Communication

Research conducted by Allen in 1977 and cited by Ginger Levin showed that people sitting 40 meters apart had o¬nly a 5% probability of communicating at least o¬nce a week and that this percentage did not increase until the distance between the parties decreased to eight meters at which point team members were found to be more likely to communicate and collaborate.

With geographically separated teams this needs to be overcome and the best ways to do this are through planning, scheduling, mutual cooperation, video-conferencing if possible, contiguous communication processes. This later point is probably the one that is most effective as we humans tend to chose “the devil we know” rather than the unknown.

Nonverbal Communication

The impact of nonverbal communication clues is something else that needs to be addressed when virtual teams are in effect. Because of reduced personal access and our natural tendency to rely o¬n nonverbal communication clues, which are not readily available in the virtual environment, any communications inadequacies in the virtual team scenario are far more deleterious than one would otherwise expect (Guss, 1977).

Video Conferencing

Meharabian’s 1968 study found that words o¬nly comprise 7% of the total impact of a message, while vocal tones represented 38% and facial expressions comprised a massive 55%. These findings clearly illustrate the need for video conferencing to be taken into consideration as a viable option for all communications planning and management.

Regional Idiosyncrasies

Differences in cultural and local language variations between virtual team members will need to be addressed. Here the adoption of a standard of practice would be of great assistance and benefit.

For instance we could all agree upon a primary format such as using the international English vocabulary dictionary; which contains approximately 4,000 words, as the authoritative arbitrator in areas of dispute.

Because a word or phrase might have a colloquial meaning in a given locale and yet another all together when taken in the context of a different local inference (colloquially) the need to eliminate the potential for unintended misunderstanding or misinterpretations becomes apparent.

To overcome this in as impartial manner as possible everyone agrees to use or refer to the same agreed version of the same agreed authoritative source. In this way the idiomatic idiosyncratic nature of localized language variation can be readily clarified and what’s more this can be done at a distance.

Feedback

One of the most important facets of human communications is the reinforcing adaptive intuitiveness that the communicating party(s) gain via feedback, much of which under ‘normal` circumstances is nonverbal in nature. It is quite possible that some degree of formal regimentation may be beneficial. For example communications will need to be formally acknowledged in terms of being received.

Feedback can be formally requested using a predefined Reply By plan as this will place a time frame upon the communications to ensure that the flow of traffic is not entirely one way and permanently overdue (at least from some quarters).

Remote Communications Options

Some of the options available for remote communications over large distances include mobile phones, PDAs, text messages, SMS, email, IM, on-line chat, informal bulletin boards, discussion forums, blogs and other social media.

Magnolia groups; for example, work very well as a centralized point by which individuals can independently and/or collectively access and update from this shared on-line service. A point of warning though; if you do not want the rest of the world to be privy to this information then make sure that the group you create is private and not publically accessible (publically accessible is the default option).

VoIP is another cost effective solution worthy of serious consideration.