Running remote UX workshops
Product stakeholders spread around the globe? That’s fine.
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It’s easier than you think.
When your product or company grows at a rapid pace it can sometimes be difficult to keep control of the direction it is taking. Another difficulty is to have your team aligned and making sure everyone is on the same page. These problems can disappear with the help of a workshop where everyone can meet and jointly work solutions out. You can read why getting stakeholders together could be a great idea in my previous article.
However, these days many projects are realised by team members dispersed all over the world and it’s not always possible to gather everyone in the same room at the same time for a whole day or even just a few hours. Fortunately, today it is easier than ever to collaborate over long distances. Although video conferencing tools have been making our distance communication easier for quite a long time now, it is thanks to the emergence of more advanced collaboration tools, such as online text editors or shared digital whiteboards, that the remote co-action can be done with much greater efficiency.
What are the challenges?
Carrying out a workshop can be a difficult job even when all participants are gathered in one place. However, it gets even harder when trying to keep your meeting on track when multiple members are contributing from behind their screens, connected by the internet. I have listed some of the most important challenges below, to think about when making a decision about a remote workshop:
Communication quality
One of the biggest drawbacks of running remote meetings is the lack of face to face communication. Speaking to a microphone can make you doubtful about how well you are heard and understood by other participants (especially when you can’t see their facial expressions and body posture). If the sound is unclear and foggy it may further disrupt the flow of the conversation. Another threat related to communication is that remote workshop members are more likely to lose their focus of the topic and start doing or thinking about something unrelated to the workshop. This is less likely to happen when they are present in the…
