In a recent article, I explored whether improving the social ties between virtual team members can help to overcome the Allen Curve, which suggests that we’re far more likely to collaborate with those physically close to us. It’s a notion that has been born out since the pandemic, with collaboration being one of the things that has suffered as people moved to virtual working at scale.
How can we build those social ties in a virtual environment? Academics from Wharton propose the concept of “fast friends”, which they believe can help us to fast track the bonding process, even when the exercises are done over virtual platforms, like Zoom or Teams.
Full disclosure
The aim of the exercise is to encourage self-disclosure as a means of helping us to get to know those around us, thus building the kind of trust that helps to foster collaboration. The first step is to create a list of questions to ask one another. The researchers have provided 36 questions to help you on your way, but they remind us that it’s perfectly okay to create our own as well. The questions aim to move beyond small talk and encourage deep answers to be given. Indeed, the questions are designed to become progressively deeper as the session progresses.
The next step is to outline the purpose of the exercise to the participants. Explain to them that the goal is to help them develop meaningful relationships with their colleagues, and also outline how beneficial this can be not only to the effectiveness of the team but also to their health. Explain to them that the questions come in three groups, with each group taking around 15 minutes to answer. While it’s not necessary to answer all of the questions in each set, it is important that the questions are attempted sequentially, starting with question 1, then question 2, and so on.
It’s vital that participants understand that this is a voluntary process. Indeed, research from the University of East Anglia highlights how forcing processes on people can backfire. The study found that mandating participation in team-building activities often has the opposite effect, and worsens cohesion across the team. The Wharton researchers emphasize that participants should know they can stop at any time or skip questions they feel uncomfortable answering.
Randomly pair people
A decade or so ago, the concept of “lunch roulette” was formed to help people make new connections at work. The notion was built on networking guru Keith Ferrazzi’s concept of never eating alone, and randomly assigned participants with a colleague to share lunch with. The concept has become popular in the virtual working world, with Slack even having an app to facilitate lunch dates.
The randomness of the pairing is important but the Wharton researchers highlight how hierarchical and power differences can stifle discussions. They suggest pairing participants at the same organizational level to ensure there is a degree of comfort between them. Considerations may also be given to age and gender when pairing up participants.
The researchers advocate using Zoom’s breakout room feature, or a similar platform, to split the group into pairs or trios. You should then share the questions by email, using a cloud storage link like Google Drive or Dropbox, or using the chat function. They suggest using the timer function to signal when it’s time to move on to the next set of questions.
Tracking changes
To add a scientific element, ask participants to rate their level of trust or connection with their partners at the start and end of the session on a scale from 1 to 7. There’s no obligation for these ratings to be shared with either the organization or each other, but obviously there are benefits to doing so. After the session, managers should check in with participants via email to see how the exercise affected things like team cohesion, well-being, trust, and work outcomes.
After the exercise, the researchers advocate that managers bring everyone back to the main room, where they are encouraged to share their thoughts with one another in a collective debrief session.
The study shows that when we engage in acts of self-disclosure, we activate parts of the brain that are associated with reward processing. The very act of opening up can also help to produce oxytocin and even help to synchronize the brain activity of participants, all of which can help to boost trust and encourage cooperation. In an age where collaboration among virtual teams is so challenging, these sessions may be something to consider to help ensure these challenges can be overcome.
