This document outlines 4 principles for building productive relationships when communicating and collaborating through technology at work: 1. HUMANITY - Seek human connection in technological spaces by using technologies that convey personal connection and considering others' needs for belonging and value. 2. DOUBT - Constructively doubt assumptions about others due to gaps in virtual communication and be aware that technologies can influence perceptions. 3. FLEXIBILITY - Be flexible and aware that virtual work crosses cultural boundaries, and technologies appropriate for some may threaten others. 4. COMMONALITY - Seek common ground while respecting differences, and explicitly establish "rules" or agreements for collaborating virtually.

1. Technology &
Relationships
4 Principles
MindLines
Terence Brake
TMA World │ Head of Learning and Innovation

2. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
Increasingly we are communicating and
collaborating at work through technology.
What principles should we
adopt to make sure that we
are building productive
relationships with colleagues
and not creating
interpersonal dead-space?

3. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
1
HUMANITY
2
DOUBT
3
FLEXIBILITY
4
COMMONALITY

4. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
1 HUMANITY
We seek human connection in a technological space
The rapid advances in technology that have
connected people across the planet are an
outstanding human achievement.
The problem is that the virtual spaces created can be
impersonal and dehumanizing, particularly in the
digital workplace where relationships are often
fleeting and transactional.

5. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
1 HUMANITY
We seek human connection in a technological space
Our colleagues may only appear ‘real’ to us as
strings of words in an email or a disembodied
voice in a teleconference.
Virtual colleagues are not just nodes in a network,
they have personal needs for trust, belonging,
achievement, expression and feeling valued,
as do we.

6. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
1 HUMANITY
We seek human connection in a technological space
In a virtual workplace, relationship
competence is bound closely to technological
competence, i.e. using appropriate
technologies to convey the ‘human touch’.
Some technologies are better than others at
communicating rich information about people – a
video conference is richer than a telephone call
which, turn is richer than an e-mail.

7. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
1 HUMANITY
We seek human connection in a technological space
This isn’t to say we should always be using
videoconference for our communications.
An email can be more precise and sometimes easier to use
for people who might be working in a second language.
An email allows more time for formulating the right
message. Whatever tool we use, we should seek to
make a human connection through our language,
tone and consideration of others.

8. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
2 DOUBT
We separate the real from the imagined
Doubt is rarely elevated to a positive principle, but constructive doubt
has an important place when we work together through technology.
With reduced and less rich communication opportunities in virtual work, there
are wider and deeper gaps in our knowledge of others.
Our brains don’t like these gaps and so our tendency is to fill them with
assumptions, stereotypes and stories that might
have little connection to reality.

9. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
2 DOUBT
We separate the real from the imagined
The result of these shallow understandings is often ‘misplaced
similarity’ – the feeling that others are more like us than they actually
are.
One consequence is that some people will feel they are being treated
dismissively, that their differences are not being acknowledged and treated in
an inclusive way.

10. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
2 DOUBT
We separate the real from the imagined
Another reason for constructive doubt is ‘technology effect’.
Technologies are not neutral, they influence our perceptions and
behaviours.
For example, in team communications, video and audio-conferencing tend to
increase trust for those who are in the same room and decrease it for those in
remote locations.

11. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
2 DOUBT
We separate the real from the imagined
Computer mediated communications, like email, tend to increase
depersonalization of others and the polarization of views and reduce
participation and consensus.
When it comes to relationships and perceived behaviours in our digital
workplace, we need to be patient and take extra care when making
assumptions and reaching conclusions.

12. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
3
FLEXIBILITY
Technologies are creating what we call a borderless workplace – a
digital work environment that crosses multiple boundaries whether we
are working virtually with colleagues across a city, a
country or even continents.
The potentially wide distribution of a virtual workplace
means that we are often interacting with a greater
range of differences, including cultural.

13. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
3
FLEXIBILITY
Assume members of Culture A are comfortable giving
input and feedback publically and directly.
Their cultural orientations tend toward individualism,
explicit communication, risk-taking and egalitarianism.
Video-conferencing and audio-conferencing are
appropriate for Culture A.

14. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
3
FLEXIBILITY
Members of Culture B, whose cultural orientations tend
more towards group identity, indirect communication and
risk-avoidance will most likely find the openness of these
technologies threatening.
They increase the probability of public
embarrassment and loss of face.

15. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
4 COMMONALITY
We seek and create similarities as well as respect differences
Differences are of great value in face-to-face and
virtual environments. They introduce new
perspectives and approaches to boost
creativity and innovation.
The value of differences for change and growth,
however, must be balanced with the value of
stability for cohesion and functionality.

16. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
4 COMMONALITY
We seek and create similarities as well as respect differences
Individuals and teams working virtually must make an intentional effort to
identify common ground and this requires identifying and exploring differences,
looking at them in relation to objectives and negotiating best ways forward.
The challenge is to create commonalities in areas
of greatest importance to the task/project,
e.g. meetings, communication, decision-making.

17. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
4 COMMONALITY
We seek and create similarities as well as respect differences
These commonalities – or operating agreements – can be thought of as simple
‘rules’ for collaborating, e.g. “We will not interrupt
or talk over one another in our telephone calls/virtual
meetings.”

18. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
4 COMMONALITY
We seek and create similarities as well as respect differences
Every new virtual working relationship should
begin with the question:
“ How will we work together?
People who are working face-to-face have more
”
opportunities for common ground to emerge naturally
in daily work.
Virtual working relationships need to be more
intentional and explicit.

19. Technology & Relationships
4 principles
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