Hope you’re all safe, whether it’s from home or remaining healthy if you are essential and absolutely must go to work.
The ideas below are taken from my book titled “Group Dynamics and Team Interventions.” This are tips you may find useful, whether you’re teaching online, working in a virtual group at school, or working on a team project!
The first piece of advice is to match your online task to the technology. Remember, most of us have many different modalities available to us now. First, consider whether you would like a synchronous or an asynchronous tool. Then, determine which tool you have best suits that task.
The second piece of advice is don’t forget about your users. Some may be technologically adept, some may not. Make sure to consider the team member, the technology, and the tool when making the determinations about how to work.
Finally, remain flexible! Many of us are learning these tools on the fly. Have a backup plan and recognize that things will go wrong!
Dr. Franz is a Professor of Industrial and Organizational Psychologist at St. John Fisher College. In addition to his academic work, he also works as an organizational consultant through his independent consulting organization, Franz Consulting.
His topical areas of expertise include team leadership, individual and team decision making, improving team performance, and using teams to drive organizational change. Many of his ideas about improving teams are published in his book, titled Group Dynamics and Team Interventions. He is also an experienced applied researcher, specializing in conducting focus groups and individual interviews, designing custom surveys, analyzing employee and workplace data, and evaluating the effectiveness of training programs.
Prior to becoming a college professor, Dr. Franz worked for the Wyatt Company (now Towers-Watson), Buck Consultants and Custom Solutions, A London House Consulting Group.
Dr. Franz is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Erie Canal Applied Psychology Network. His scientific research has been published in premier journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his M.A. from the University at Buffalo.
View all posts by Timothy Franz
Finally, remain flexible! Many of us are learning these tools on the fly. Have a backup plan and recognize that things will go wrong!
teambuildingprocess.com 