Discussion: Virtual Communication—What Works?

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly everyone had to adjust quickly to conducting most communication virtually, both personally and professionally. Sometimes these communications worked well; other times, they went awry or were simply ineffective. For this Discussion, you will reflect on your experience with both effective and ineffective virtual communication to help determine best practices.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Think about both the personal and professional virtual communication you have had recently. Choose one or two interactions that were effective and one or two that were not. For each, consider specific factors that led to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the virtual communication in meeting its intended purpose. 

By Day 3

Post an analysis of the effectiveness of virtual communication. In your analysis, do the following:

• Briefly describe one or two effective virtual communication situations and one or two that were ineffective, providing the context and purpose of each.
• For each of your examples, analyze at least two distinct factors that contributed to its effectiveness/ineffectiveness in meeting its intended purpose.
• For each of your examples, analyze the effect of the interaction on the overall outcome and relationship (if applicable).
• Based on these experiences, propose a suggested list of 3–5 best practices for effective virtual communication. 

Refer to the Week 3 Discussion Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use this grading rubric to assess your work.

Read some of your colleagues’ postings.

By Day 5

Respond to two or more of your colleagues’ posts in one or more of the following ways:

• Compare and contrast both the success factors and difficulties encountered by your colleague with those you described.
• Describe how you can use at least one of your colleague’s recommended best practices to ensure more effective virtual communication in the future.
• Provide one or two additional best practices that might have helped in your colleague’s ineffective virtual communication situation(s).

Reply:

Kweshonte Mathews

RE: Discussion – Week 3 Templates

COLLAPSE

Briefly describe one or two effective virtual communication situations and one or two that were ineffective, providing the context and purpose of each.

Being proactive with virtual communication is vital in these times. More communication is required. A couple of things I have learned with virtually communicating is starting off a meeting by displaying empathy. It shows that you want to make a connection before conducting business, sometimes, that is what makes people comfortable in their decision-making. A way to make a connection with that person is by asking them to show they are doing, or how their family is doing.

An ineffective virtual communication I have learned is inviting distractions. Asking them to turn down their music, open and close the app, etc. Asking these things can cause a delay in the initial meeting. You may lose time, the person may lose interest, things may get miscommunicated because you feel rushed (Salter, et al., 2010). Those things should be addressed in an email before the meeting date and time.

For each of your examples, analyze at least two distinct factors that contributed to its effectiveness/ineffectiveness in meeting its intended purpose.

After analyzing my examples on virtual communication, there were two distinct factors that contributed to both the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of communicating. For ineffective communication, I noticed that inviting distractions can cause complications in communications and for effective virtual communication we want to be mindful of making that human connection before conducting business.

For each of your examples, analyze the effect of the interaction on the overall outcome and relationship (if applicable).

Sometimes with business, you want to be relatable. With face-to-face meetings, we speak beyond words (Salter, et al., 2010). We pick up on messages by observing body language and facial expressions. Virtually, that can be difficult at times considering any unforeseen issue. Showing empathy through concern and support for others makes the meeting more comfortable for both parties. Relationships are the key to healthy and successful communication.

Regardless of what meeting you are in or how long or short your meetings are, distractions are all around us. Distractions can cause miscommunications or a misunderstanding. Limiting distractions shows that your undivided attention is front and center. You care to be there, involved, and engaged.

Based on these experiences, propose a suggested list of 3–5 best practices for effective virtual communication.

1. Have a communication plan
2. Ask if there is anything they would like to cover or go over in the meeting
3. Conduct follow-ups
4. Communicate clearly
5. Be prepared and organized

References

Salter, C., Green, M., Duncan, P., Berre, A., & Torti, C. (2010). Virtual communication, transformationalleadership, and implicit leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 4(2), 6-17

15 hours ago

Nina Hatcher

RE: Discussion – Week 3

COLLAPSE

Virtual Communication- What Works?

Briefly describe one or two effective virtual communication situations and one or two that were ineffective, providing the context and purpose of each.

One of the effective ways of virtual communication that I encountered was as a network marketer we were already communicating in our business environment virtually, however when it came to the potential customers and agents the business volume increased dramatically. When we were inviting potentials to the Zoom meetings the attendance would be low due to what I feel was understanding of this channel.

One of the in-effective ways of virtual communication that I encountered was attending church remotely. Not being able to interact with the members, sing with or in the choir, and fellowship made it hard to engage.

For each of your examples, analyze at least two distinct factors that contributed to its effectiveness/ineffectiveness in meeting its intended purpose.

The factor that contributed to the effectiveness is when the pandemic hit and virtual became a reality for most of our everyday lives it was widely accepted and as a result, business increased. Even though things are moving back to what was known as normal, some organizations are deciding to continue virtual meetings. The benefit of virtual meetings is improved polling, restructured offsites, and better brainstorming (Frisch & Greene, 2020).

The factor that contributed to the ineffectiveness is early in the virtual environment of the church the poor quality was an issue when dealing with technical issues, sound quality, and not having the ability to feel that human interaction.

Based on these experiences, propose a suggested list of 3–5 best practices for effective virtual communication.

Virtual communication is fastly becoming one of the most popular channels of communication and it is important for how we conduct our day-to-day virtual tasks whether they are business or personal. Communicating virtually have its advantages as well as disadvantages, which is why it is important to have best practices in place that can help improve on how we are communicating. There are quite a few best practices that will aid in effective virtual communication, and I have listed a few below and they are as follows (Leading, 2021).

Best Practices for Effective Virtual Communication