Working at Eye Level: What Remote Work Reveals About Fairness in Agile Collaboration
Meeting someone at eye level, in a proverbial sense, is a sign of respect and fairness. However, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been working at eye level in a literal sense for some time now, since that’s where we see our colleagues on the screen. Regardless of how tall you are, or whether you are standing or sitting, everyone looks at the camera and meets at eye level. As soon as the cameras are on, physical size no longer has any meaning. Emotional eye level becomes more important. Our colleague Anna Roizman, Agile Coach & Cultural Ambassador at Porsche, shares her thoughts on what remote work reveals about fairness in agile collaboration.
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The basis for agile working is shared values. Respect is one of the most important ones. Our way of working over the last year and a half has given us a completely new perspective on what it means to meet at eye level. In agile teams, agile values are part of everyday life and meeting at eye level is a matter of course. Everyone works towards a common goal and everyone takes responsibility. All tasks in an agile team are of equal value, and all team members have equal rights.
Hybrid collaboration changes the dynamics of a team
As an agile coach, I bring teams together and help them find a common working mode. This often involves group dynamics or power relations. This can be expressed in very different ways, but in discussions, an impressive, loud voice sometimes plays a more important role than the better argument.
The physical presence of a colleague can influence group dynamics. When I work with colleagues whose physical size is particularly dominant, the conversation is more comfortable for both of us if we are both seated. In the virtual world, it is not necessary to make an effort to compensate for physical differences.
Many gestures lose their meaning in the virtual space. Leaving the room unexpectedly or suddenly jumping up, loudly closing the laptop or pushing the chair away. It also happens much less often that people intentionally interrupt each other. The dynamics of a group change when some factors or power gestures no longer play a role. In a virtual workshop, the seating order no longer plays a role; no one can mark their territory with a jacket. No matter when you join the meeting, everyone has a good view of the documents and can speak to everyone. Virtual collaboration also creates a new closeness. Our colleagues seem closer because we see them in their private rooms, we hear their children in the background or their cat sneaks into the picture.
I believe that these experiences also positively change the dynamics of collaboration when these teams get back together in one room. On the other hand, I’m convinced that, in the future, we will work together much more often in hybrid constellations. One person sits in the study at home, another prefers to work in the office, and yet another works on the go. This also requires us to develop a kind of digital etiquette in many small ways. Rules of the game that create fairness in collaborative work.
What new ideas will there be for digital collaboration at eye level?
I have also noticed that it is more difficult for me virtually to perceive the mood in a group. In a room, I can see, as an agile coach, when conversations are taking place away from the group. But in a virtual space, people can be chatting on the side and you don’t even notice that you are losing their full attention. Anyone who leaves a meeting to answer their cell phone stands out. However, if you mute your microphone and turn off your camera, you can talk on the phone unnoticed.
That’s why I’m sure that eye contact is very important in order to work together at eye level. For example, I think it’s important to establish ‘rules of the game’ as a team. From my experience, these already include five important tips that make hybrid collaboration fair:
· Mute your own microphone when you’re not talking.
· Turn the camera on. Sure, there are good reasons not to do so, and that’s perfectly okay. But by default, the camera should actually be on.
· Indicate with a hand signal that you’d like to give feedback or ask a question.
· Sign off briefly in the chat if you have to leave a meeting.
· Start the virtual meeting with a check-in and end it with a check-out. In face-to-face meetings, small talk is easier before and after the meeting, but it’s also important virtually.
New hybrid forms of collaboration give us the chance to develop and formulate new ‘rules of the game’ based on agile values. Agile collaboration is an ongoing process in which everyone is continuously learning. I have a feeling that, in the coming months and years, it will be important to establish rules for digital collaboration as a group. Moreover, I’m really excited to see what great ideas are developed in the process. New formats that allow us to work together at eye level.
Anna Roizman is Agile Coach at Porsche AG.
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