• Unfamiliarity of working in virtual space – no one to talk to, no immediate feedback, need to self-motivate, no experience to refer to
• No specific call to action
• Resistance to doing something in a new way; unable to visualize what will happen
• Need to have the process well-thought-out beforehand

Benefits of working online:

• 24 hour availability – of data, of opportunity to participate
• Constantly updated information in one place
• Transparency – ability for others to see what has occurred, how decisions were made, who is responsible, the current status of individual action steps
• Chance to leverage the collective intelligence of the entire group through shared thinking
• Faster progress (no delays in communication, ability to gather data without having meetings, opportunity to see the shape of group opinion, peer pressure to conclude work steps)
• Ability to iterate: adds innovation, improves the group’s output.

What steps will facilitate a new, effective way of working?

• Need a champion to initiate a method
• Specific set of tasks, with clear objectives
• Organized and simple work area
• Regular communication to the group
• Clear steps of what to do
• Periodic review meetings to check on the online work
• Involve a wider group of stakeholders (survey some customers or sponsors or suppliers)
• Conduct a very simple pilot, with facilitator support (to create a base of successful experience)

Types of projects that work well for online support:

• Alignment meetings (Provide information and gather comments and questions)
• Surveying and analyzing a customer group (Gather specific opinion, theme and contrast the results. Refine the themes, test with a smaller focus group. Develop a summary and actions recommended)
• Problem definition and resolution (Brainstorm issues, theme and prioritize. For each theme, brainstorm solutions. Discuss and prioritize. Run scenarios or rate against multi-criteria. Assign teams to each objective, develop action steps and owners. Maintain current version of team documents, discussions for issues. Provide progress updates on list items.)
• Publish key information to a larger group i.e., new standards, marketing materials, policies. (Provide news, downloadable materials. Space for discussion, tables showing steps in roll-out, updates to progress.)

Please see our list of engagement specifics.