A forum is a place where people meet to learn, develop and challenge themselves and allows a break from our daily, demanding lives. It is place where you can receive support, different perspectives and even a wakeup call. An ongoing forum is a powerful tool when you want to advance learning and support inside organizations or between professionals across different organizations. A few years ago I published an article in Hebrew that described my experiences and conclusions from facilitation and participation in professional forums.
What empowers a forum?
Confidentiality – Not a word of what is said in the forum may leave the meeting, even between forum members in private conversations.
The Framework – Ongoing successful forums develop and stick to a fixed framework.
Strong Norms – Over time and with experience, norms are created that build the forum. Those who do not practice these norms find themselves outside the forum.
Value – The issues that arise – personal and professional – must be based on what really interests the participants.
And then Covid-19 arrived. How has the professional forum changed in the age of physical distancing? After months of cumulative experience in online forum spaces, here are several learnings, conclusions and surprises.
Commitment – Inter organizational forums often suffer from attendance fluctuations and changes in the makeup of the group. Since we moved to the online medium, members that committed to fixed times, for example the first Monday of the month throughout the year, show up without exception. In spite of the distance and the alienation that technology can create, commitment is maintained and strengthened, partially due to the lack of effort needed to physically travel to the meeting venue and partially due to the overwhelming desire to meet.
Lessening the Loneliness – Israel is considered a country with happy people due to the strong interpersonal and family connections people have. The pandemic changed everything. Suddenly everyone is dealing with different levels of loneliness. When everyone is home and the meetings in the coffee room, the corridor or the water cooler have ceased, there is a shortage of supportive human connection apart from the routine organizational business communication that is carried out from afar. A peer forum can provide an island of quality communication with less emphasis on the transactional.
Punctuality – Participants come on time to online forum meetings. They really do!
Focus – In face to face forums, much time and energy is spent on getting to the place, traffic jams, room and refreshment organization. Online forums simply commence. It has become common for people log in 15 minutes early for informal chatting.
Higher Frequency Shorter Meetings – The optimum online peer forum lasts an hour and half. Due to the lower effort needed to get to a face to face meeting, meeting frequency can be raised which in turn raises the importance and significance of the meetings in the lives of the participants.
Peer Consulting – The deep dive into one of the participant’s issues is the anchor of all peer learning and consulting groups. The online medium contributes to an orderly and safe framework. The screen allows us to get a close look at the face of the counselee and the other participants. The ability in online meetings to create group intimacy and safety surprised me. My intermediate conclusion is that peer consulting online works!
Confidentiality – The participants must make sure that the place where they connect to the meeting will not expose the content of the meeting or even the identity of the other members. Electronically recording the meetings is out of bounds.
Physical distancing over time can be detrimental to energies, relationships and even psychological health. There is no replacement for physical closeness, the coffee break, the side discussions, idea bouncing and body language. Handshakes and hugs will have to wait for now. In the meantime, nurturing online peer groups may fill the widening void.
Richard Milecki
mileckiblog 