By Rita DeCamilli
Steve Krizman is an associate professor of journalism and public relations at Metropolitan State University of Denver, MSU. He is also the chief consultant of his own firm, Connected Communications LLC., in Littleton Colorado.
Krizman explains that through organizational management studies, it was discovered that employees want to get their information from a supervisor and not from just another person on a team. “It is very important that the project description and delegation of team organization come directly from an internal supervisor.” Krizman said. Managers need to be up-front from the start. When managers feel too busy to communicate, any team will fail.
He explains that, when it comes to forming teams, management needs to set clear goals and objectives for teams to tackle project responsibility. Organizational communication starts from the very top, and needs to be clearly expressed at the onset of team formation, regardless of the group being an in-house team or a virtual team.
“Research has shown me that however a group is formed, some face to face, personal contact needs to be in place before project communications begin.” Stated Krizman. An interpersonal connection is the element of success. Meeting someone is a much better way of understanding human personality. Assuming someone is a jerk with only knowing their online presence, can certainly hinder the outcome of a project and team performance.
Steve recommends the following advice for a successful virtual team:
Krizman explains that through organizational management studies, it was discovered that employees want to get their information from a supervisor and not from just another person on a team. “It is very important that the project description and delegation of team organization come directly from an internal supervisor.” Krizman said. Managers need to be up-front from the start. When managers feel too busy to communicate, any team will fail.
He explains that, when it comes to forming teams, management needs to set clear goals and objectives for teams to tackle project responsibility. Organizational communication starts from the very top, and needs to be clearly expressed at the onset of team formation, regardless of the group being an in-house team or a virtual team.
“Research has shown me that however a group is formed, some face to face, personal contact needs to be in place before project communications begin.” Stated Krizman. An interpersonal connection is the element of success. Meeting someone is a much better way of understanding human personality. Assuming someone is a jerk with only knowing their online presence, can certainly hinder the outcome of a project and team performance.
Steve recommends the following advice for a successful virtual team:
- Do find a way to meet in person before the team starts.
- Develop a team questionnaire. Find out strengths, weaknesses, work ethic and some personal interests to obtain some common ground while communicating online. This starts to develop trust within the team.
- First order of team business is to find out the goals, objectives and purpose of the team.
- Decide who is to do what and when, and what will be the best form of virtual communicating that will be most productive for the completion of the assignment. Have the supervisor set the initial goals and expectations for a successful outcome.
- Decide on the best platform to use. Slack, Google docs, hangout or video conferencing. Test the technology while setting up to try and avoid glitches. Glitches have a way of setting team meetings and productions back. Technology is advancing as we breathe. Business communication and organization is advancing at a rapid pace. Keep up.
- Encourage and support each other. Motivate each other and boost morale, by playing online games. This builds team confidence and competition, giving members an opportunity to learn constructive conflict behavior.
- Be accountable. Be transparent. Be clear and consistent.
At Roadrunner Consulting Group, we value advice from our colleagues in the field. It helps us create a community of shared communication concepts, giving our clients the best results for their needs.
How to contact Steve Krizman:
Assistant Professor of Journalism and Public Relations at Metropolitan State University of Denver
MSU email: skrizma1@msudenver.edu
303-506-1677
@SteveKrizman
I agree with Steve. What is boils down to is having trust in your mates to avoid maddening assumptions of what is happening on the other end.
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