Cats on Webcam: Virtual Consulting in the Zoom Era
Apart from missing the coffee and water-cooler discussions, virtual meetings have been surprisingly effective.
By Neil Lloyd, Head of US Defined Contribution and Financial Wellness Research, Mercer
I have for a number of years managed a virtual team that researches defined contribution (DC) and financial wellness issues for Mercer. I live in Vancouver, Preet is in Chicago, Sara in Minneapolis, Yi in Charlotte and Spencer in Boston. Well before COVID-19 hit and upended our office lives, we already had been using Zoom to communicate. In fact, I have never actually met Sara in person (I tried once, but a snowstorm got in the way). So, as a team we were better prepared for what a world of Zoom video calls was going to bring — for example, we already knew how to unmute.
Deb Clarke, who heads up investment research at Mercer, recently wrote an article about the challenges of conducting manager research via Zoom, and I would encourage you to read it. My team, too, experienced the new wonders of virtual conferences, and while I do miss the coffee and water-cooler discussions, the virtual conferences have been surprisingly effective.
Katie Hockenmaier is Mercer’s DC Leader in the Western United States and spends the bulk of her time with clients (albeit these days virtually). I recently caught up with her to see how she is adjusting to consulting virtually with clients in the Zoom era.
Neil Lloyd: Katie, how have you found the experience of working with clients virtually?
Katie Hockenmaier: While I absolutely miss seeing my clients in person, the move to virtual has gone surprisingly well! There were some technology hiccups the first few weeks, but they were quite easy to sort through. For example, one of the bigger hurdles was working with clients to make sure we were up and running on their preferred video conferencing/virtual meeting software. Due to heightened security concerns, some clients are required to only use certain providers. Because nearly everyone — clients, consultants, recordkeepers and investment firms — are all working remotely, I’ve found everyone to be very engaged and communications seem to be going smoothly. There seems to be a sense of camaraderie about being in the same boat.
As consultants, I think our travel schedules prepared us for remote working, as well as ensuring that we continue to keep communication lines open.
NL: With the benefit of hindsight, do you have any specific ideas on what works well, or what doesn’t?
KH: I actually find scheduling meetings and calls to be much easier. With many people working more flexible hours and eliminating time on planes, schedules seem to be easier to align. I have had multiple clients comment about how quickly they’re getting responses from our teams — often in minutes versus hours. It’s also wonderful to be able to share my screen and more effectively answer questions by being able to walk someone through performance or attribution in a more interactive way. There’s no risk of someone getting lost and asking, “What page are you on?”
On the flip side, it has been more difficult to establish new relationships. I think the virtual environment works well when you’ve already established a strong relationship in person and a sense of trust that comes from actually shaking someone’s hand or sharing a meal. I’ve seen some creative ways of trying to combat this, like virtual coffee chats and lunches, but this is one area where I feel like it’s hard to replicate the value that being face-to-face brings.
NL: You must have some funny stories or anecdotes to share with us.
KH: There are so many to choose from! I have to say, it’s been great meeting so many colleagues’ families through video conferences. I think everyone was a bit cautious about having kids or significant others or pets interrupt meetings or pass through their background the first couple of weeks of working remotely, but over time people realize that we’re all human and have really embraced taking a second to introduce their kids, as one example.
Over the last few months, I’ve traded decorating tips and paint colors with clients and colleagues. I also joined a meeting a couple minutes early to find that someone’s cat was very interested in the webcam, while their owner stepped away for a minute. It really makes for a great ice breaker!
NL: So let’s assume we resolve COVID-19 (i.e., there is a vaccine or something similar), do you think we will go back to in-person meetings? Will virtual meetings become the exception and not the rule?
KH: I go back and forth on this quite a bit, but I do think virtual meetings will be more prevalent in the future. I think we’ve all experienced that meeting virtually works and, in some cases, it’s even more efficient and effective. I think we will have in-person meetings again, but they’ll likely be less frequent and not necessarily the expectation.
NL: Thanks, Katie.
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