Did you face connection & coordination challenges because of Covid-19?
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Alexandra Buccianti.
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Did you face connection & coordination challenges because of Covid-19? Did you find it hard to connect, both personally and in your work, with colleagues due to lockdowns and isolation? Did you find it hard to coordinate with partners digitally rather than meeting in person? How did you respond to these challenges?
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Hi Jack
I had some difficulty connecting with partners online during the lockdown as most of them were new to some of these online meeting platforms such as ZOOM and Google meet. This caused some form of delay and extended meeting time. One way to overcome this obstacle was to hold a test meeting session a day before and on the day of the meeting start 15 to 30 minutes before time to give room to address technical issues or difficulty that may arise
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That’s a great point! I recently attended a large, multi-day online meeting with 100+ participants, and it reminded me once again of the importance of preparing well and in advance for these sessions, including for all presenters, facilitators, translators, etc. Tech issues can really impact the quality of a meeting, and level of participation and focus of attendees, including myself!
To go back to the question, I would definitely say yes and echo the challenges shared, but I do think it has also been an opportunity to make some of the coordination or partnership meetings that would otherwise have been in person more inclusive and open – that being said, with an increase in number and diversity of participants come the challenge of making sure that with every online meeting, a clear goal, agenda, format, etc. are set well in advance to optimize the opportunity for all! I have really enjoyed fora where facilitation rotates among all participants, and is designed with a clear intention – this has helped participants stay engaged and active.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s conversation! I would be especially curious to hear what have been other strategies to connect and coordinate besides (fairly large) online meetings on Zoom, etc.
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Hi Jack,
Having started my position with Search during the pandemic, I would say it was a bit strange at first to work with colleagues I did not have the opportunity to meet in real life. It takes some adaptation to settle in a new job with a new team while working remotely and collaborating only online, especially as I have always valued personal interactions at work.
I concur with the point made by Anais regarding opportunities to make meetings and events more inclusive and participatory. The use of digital tools has allowed us to reach a wider audience, beyond Brussels-based partners, and has facilitated the participation from colleagues and partners based abroad/in the field which was not always possible when having the meetings in-person. However, we have to keep in mind the digital divide and think of creative ways to make sure local voices are represented and included in these conversations.
I look forward to the discussion this afternoon!
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Thanks Mathilde, I can really relate to what you’re saying!</p>
Moving online has helped attract a broader audience to events that would have taken place in a conference room. It has however also come with challenges – for example people’s attention spans have become lower or working from home has been a very different experience depending on your living/family situation, gender etc… This has pushed me to think a lot more of ice breakers and new ways to connect – like games or interactive feedback tools while on calls. Sometimes this has worked, sometimes it has been awkward!From a peacebuilding perspective, the pandemic has brought additional strains on our field offices and the local communities we work with. Capturing the very local aspect of our work while conducting activities remotely has sometimes been challenging. Working with media teams, we have tried to mitigate this by using other means to reach communities like old school phones or interactive radio.
We’ve also had to think of privacy and security – Over the past months, there were instances where the internet was shut down for days in some countries due to political turmoil. I found this very worrying when you have partners and colleagues you are trying to check on. There are also instances where people might not feel safe openly discussing issues online or being recorded. In other instances the connection is either prohibitively expensive or very unstable.
These challenges have pushed me and all of us in the sector to find some creative solutions but it will take months of reflection and research to draw conclusions on these new ways of working. I am glad this conversation is happening here 🙂
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