During summer I participated in an online conference as a virtual meeting facilitator. There was not much facilitation to do as the technical details worked out quite well. However, people appreciated having us around and mentioned it.
As we have grown used to virtual meetings people also have gotten used to handling all the technical details themselves. It leads to a default behavior where people expect themselves to be able to handle as many technical details in the larger group as they do in a one-on-one setting. In doing so, they are slowly overloading themselves with little tasks distracting them from the task they set out to do.
While we’ve come to be used to clicking on the “beam me into the virtual room” button, there are numerous little details that differ from in presence conversations. Details we are not always conscious of, but details that leave us with a different experience. We have to pay attention to these details. There will be a growing need to integrate them into a new set of soft skills needed in the virtual world.
Virtual rooms for example constantly recreate a bit of the old classroom feeling. There is only one person who can talk at the same time. And that person is immediately in the presenter’s spot when he speaks. It’s a spot that makes it quite difficult to see if a person is becoming upset with the information shared. If they want to react to it, they have to speak up more forcefully than they would in a normal meeting. This also means that if they don’t there are no easy opportunities to repair this with the other. They have to reach out to do so. In an in presence setting, it would be natural to have a private word with the other while walking out of the meeting. It happens en passant as part of our habits.
Looking at our facilitation, it might be, that people were grateful for our presence because they didn’t expect it. Maybe also because it helped them feel welcome in a setting everyone is still getting used to.
And yet, it made me wonder how many people I forget to see when participating in live events. There are so many helpers I’m used to seeing do their job that I will not always think of thanking them. Probably telling myself, that it isn’t my responsibility.
What made it more natural for people to thank us when they discovered our role? Does it imply that gratitude will fade away when people get used to receiving such support?
