Governing at distance: one director's experiences - Peter Crow

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus has shaken communities and commercial activity around the world, to the very core. Since late February, strict restrictions on human movement both between countries and, now, within communities have been imposed, in the hope of containing the virus and, in one case, of eradicating it. The scale of the impact on lives, social structures and economic activity has yet to be measured, but it will be large, I suspect. The scars will remain tender for some time in many cases.

Unsurprisingly, many people have been inventive in response to the situation they now find themselves in. Neighbours are meeting at a distance, and internet traffic has grown exponentially as people have taken up online entertainment options and relied heavily on social media to keep in touch with each other. All of this is to be expected; humans are social beings, after all.

The vacuum left from the pausing of economic activity has been filled by creative thinkers and opportunists offering all manner of webinars, 'best practice' check lists and other forms of guidance to help individuals, groups and businesses reconfigure their lives and businesses. The Internet is now awash with them. Some are well-informed and helpful, but most of the ones I've seen are little more than attention-seeking noise.

My own work patterns have changed too, mainly as a result of the restrictions on movement now in place. These include using electronic communications tools such as video conferencing in place of in-person board, coaching and other client meetings; and the telephone and email to keep in touch with colleagues and clients. The following points summarise my experiences as I have sought to govern at distance this past month:

Online board meetings are hard work. Zoom has become, overnight, 'the' tool of choice for teams and workgroups who need to meet together. I have used zoom many times since the lockdown, including numerous one-on-one interactions, two board meetings, a panel interview and discussions associated with a CEO recruitment. The one-on-one interactions and the panel interview were very productive. But the board meetings were more demanding: one was reasonably productive, the other was hard going. Let me explain:
- In one board meeting, the chief executive, board secretary and directors all connected in from different locations—no two people we seated together. This meant that everyone was interacting with the computer screen. Also, the participants all know each other well; they are a tight unit, underpinned by high levels of trust and confidence in each other. The meeting was three hours long (a little shorter than the normal in-person meeting). The shorter-than-usual agenda was dominated by matters associated with the crisis, and the chair stopped the meeting every hour so participants could stretch, grab a drink and use the bathroom. These things (everyone connecting remotely, a tight agenda, comfort breaks, trust and confidence) laid a foundation for a focussed discussion and some good decisions. However, looking at a computer screen for three hours was both physically and mentally demanding, especially when using headphones or earbuds. My concentration reserves were exhausted by the end of the meeting. Also, interaction between the chair and board secretary, who normally sit beside each other, required a few conscious interruptions, whereas normally such exchanges did not interrupt discussion at all.
- In the other meeting, the chair and one of the directors were located remotely from the remainder of the directors and the business manager. Some of the directors had not previously used video-conferencing in a group situation. The directors seated together looked at the computer screen when the chair was speaking, but otherwise they tended to look and interact with each other. Also, the computer screen the group was using was located in an open office space. While no one else was in the room for much of the meeting, three or four people did pop their heads in and, once, a person used the room as a thoroughfare. The two main observations from this experience were that the two directors located away from the others did not engage as fully as they normally do, and that interaction quality was compromised due to both the unfamiliar surroundings and the interruptions.
Technical challenges can get in the way. Brief sound delays or video outages break meeting flow, and people, naturally, loose concentration quickly. If distortion and background noise are to be minimised, good equipment and connections are a 'must'. I've also found that if people place their laptop or tablet (or, worse, their phone) on a table-top, the result can be disconcerting—the view up people's noses makes concentration difficult! It is far better to place the device on top of a box or pile of books to lift the camera to eye level.
Most things take (me) longer. I have led three video conference meetings in the last week or so, two of which were scheduled board meetings. Though unintended, my behaviours were a little bit different from that in in-person meetings. Differences included summarising the discussion more often; calling on people by name to draw them out (normally, a visual cue was sufficient); and adopting a more formal approach to meeting protocols, especially moving and putting resolutions. Consequently, meeting flow was impaired somewhat, relative to in-person experiences at least.
Business productivity is down, not up. Managers have told me that everyday interactions are proving more difficult as a result of people being in different locations, and that supply chains are not running smoothly because movement is restricted (despite logistics being named as an essential service). Also, operational staff are taking more care as they go about their work; observing distancing (curiously the 2m distance requirement is often closer to 3–4m in practice!) and personal hygiene protocols. Consequently, goods are not arriving when expected and business processes are taking longer than normal, with the follow-on impact on productivity.
Most boards will (probably) revert to type. The human condition is driven by social interaction—we are not created solitary creatures. Yet the COVID-19 outbreak has forced us apart—social distancing (actually, physical distancing as I noted several days ago). Various correspondents have predicted that working from home will become normal, permanently; and that videoconferencing will supplant in-person exchanges. I am not convinced of either. The human need to be together is too powerful. Also, communication effectiveness is constrained when you can't see another person's eyes or gestures, or have a brief side discussion with a colleague. Almost all of the directors and executives I have spoken with over the past ten days have said they are looking forward to returning to a level of normalcy, which, for them, specifically means in-person interactions.

One final point. These are my experiences. Some may be familiar, others less so. Regardless, if you have any questions or comments, please get in touch. If you are prepared to add your experiences, as similar or different as they may be, I'd be delighted to hear them and am sure others would be too. Please leave a reply below.