{"id":1172,"date":"2020-03-29T13:44:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T20:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/?p=1172"},"modified":"2020-03-29T13:46:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T20:46:50","slug":"presence-comms-for-virtual-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/?p=1172","title":{"rendered":"Presence & comms for virtual work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re forced to go fully virtual during the COVID-19 global pandemic, questions arise about how to virtualize those we take for granted as routine & normal when we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the office. For instance, what does it mean to be present<\/em>? How do we organize our attention<\/em>? What level of fidelity of communications<\/em> is good? Do we really need to have the camera on all the time for all meetings? And so on\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s start with the matter of knowing others’ (and relaying your own) presence. In a real-life office context, we have a pretty good sense for the presence of others around us, through a nearly subconscious noting of subtle cues \u00e2\u20ac\u201d others\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 physical motions & postures, facial expressions, sounds of chatter, laughing, talking (including tonal shifts, suddenly going sharp or soft). And general movements as well, including shadows and scents as people pass by. Even objects like headphones, empty coffee cups. Pushed aside chairs, with amorphous figures clustered in a conference room, with lights dimmed, watching a demo. You have a feel for what’s going on, and who’s around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detection of such audio-visual clues offer some reasonably accurate inferences, and grounding you in the present moment, affecting your reactions and decisions whether to interrupt someone or defer until later, whether to send an email or quick Slack message. All it takes are some sly glances, peering around the corner, gentle nod of your head, lifting your eyes, to notice this range of cues \u00e2\u20ac\u201d which become cues for others to notice you!\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how do you do that when everyone is isolated at home in their own zones, where it seems the only way to check if someone is available is glancing at their online status icon \u00e2\u20ac\u201d which itself is quite variable and inaccurate. Such icons are often an indication of interaction with the online messaging app itself, not that users are inattentive or busy, necessarily.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MS Teams (by connecting with MS Outlook) shows your status via known calendar events\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but often (and I do this too) a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153busy indicator\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be just me blocking out time for work as a defense against meeting invites from others, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still interruptible (for the right person or request ;-) It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit tricky, resulting in the inevitable \u00e2\u20ac\u0153yt?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d quickly typed in, and awaiting a reply, which might not come. And then you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re away logging into your next Zoom meeting, as that person messages back to you, and you’re sharing your screen, prompting some mild embarrassment, etc, etc\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, modes of presence is something for us to consider as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all distributed & virtualized, and how to convey that presence to others. Maybe this is an area for re-thinking now that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening en masse all at once<\/em>. Seems we need more nuanced, verbose status indicators, that’s more like emoji with facial\/gestural cues. I’m thinking of those new Animoji in the latest iPhones which can have headphones, and other signals… Adding richness of hinting to others. Or do we actually type out “Stuck in a boring meeting, please ping me” or “In a very tense discussion, don’t bother me.” Maybe some combination…? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now let’s consider the range of fidelity of communications. One of the first guiding points from HR was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153turn on your camera\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, to enable an in-person style of comms & engagement. This is certainly true for workshop events that are heavily facilitated and depend upon high fidelity, real-time discussion and reactions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re running into a couple of issues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n