Hi there,
My last name starts with a W.
Which meant I was always at the end of the line in elementary school – back when lines were often decided by the first letter of your last name.
Until one teacher had us line up backwards… and I got to be first!
(A pretty big deal when you’re six.)
⚡ Supercharge of the Week
Remote Octopus recommends ensuring all project contributors have air time, as needed, when facilitating project calls. TL;DR: Line up backwards sometimes.
No project call is perfect – but we can all agree that there are a lot of avoidable things about project calls that can make them imperfect. Starting late. Skipping a conversation kickoff. Lacking a clear goal or agenda. Also… when one person talks for the entire 60 minutes.
If you are facilitating a collaborative, cross-functional conversation then be mindful of who on the project call has shared their thoughts and who has not yet. This is equally important in a 15 minute call and a 60 minute call. It’s also equally important with in-person and virtual conversations.
If you notice that someone on the call hasn’t shared their opinion, consider asking:
- Sophia, we haven’t heard from you yet. Is there anything you want to add?
- Mikel, is there anything we can clarify for your end?
- Imani, do you have everything you need?
➡ If you are facilitating a call that involves sharing out the status of key deliverables then consider asking colleagues to share in a different order each time. By rotating who is going first, you’re also rotating who might get cut – or has to rush – towards the end if the team is running out of time. (And then try to shift these updates to async so you can spend call time in strategic conversation!)
Sometimes getting a word in with a remote environment can be tricky. It can feel awkward. It can feel chaotic. As a facilitator of project conversations, you can play an important role in building psychological safety by ensuring all voices are featured – and that the same person doesn’t always get stuck at the metaphorical end of the line.
🐙 Remote Octopus Resources
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