Language matters in virtual teams
Communication is vital for team work. The language that we use to successfully communicate takes on more significance in the virtual workplace. Working together online, non-verbal communication cues, which support our spoken and written interactions, can be weakened or completely lacking. Think of the power of a supportive head nod when you are attempting to get your point across in a face-to-face business setting. You don’t feel like you are speaking into a void. In an online meeting, the temptation can exist to shout is there anyone out there? as if you are at the final frontier of virtual space. Consciously using your language to drive interaction can only help in such cases.
Looking at our language in workplace teams, we can think of it on two levels. The first of these is the actual language spoken in your workplace. Many of us work in international teams with colleagues that have different first languages (L1s) but the language of business is primarily English. In linguistic terms, we describe this as English as a Lingua Franca (ELF – we all love an acronym!). In the workplace, adding in B for business knowledge, we use the term BELF and categorise it as a separate variety of English. BELF is the language used to get the job done. It encompasses simplified English grammar. However, it is far from a case of “dumbing down” language choices as team members generally deploy a high level of sophisticated terminology specific to their functions. Just think of all those acronyms in your own team!
If you are reading this blog as an English L1 speaker, have you ever thought about the variety of English that you use in work? Studies have shown that many English first language speakers are not cognisant of using English for international communication purposes. This can lead to non-participation by English L2+ team members as they may feel they can’t match the level of fluency of the native speakers. Research has also demonstrated that English L1 speakers have participated in avoidance strategies, cutting short or completely abandoning the point they are trying to make. These issues do not get the job done!
So what can be done? Tsedal Neeley’s rules of engagement for virtual meetings, as published in the Harvard Business Review, provide teams with excellent advice on this matter. Fluent speakers need to dial down dominance, slowing down the pace and asking for confirmation that their points have been understood. Less fluent speakers need to dial up engagement, also seeking confirmation of understanding and explicitly asking other speakers to further clarify as needed. Finally, the team leader or meeting facilitator must balance for inclusion, providing space for everyone in the meeting to contribute. In my own research, I collated instances of successful communication in virtual meetings. I loved the input from one participant who described their “popcorn” process to go around the virtual room to ensure everyone present had the opportunity to contribute. My research participants worked in the technology sector and I also feel that we can learn a lot on effective communication from Agile Scrum teams that are commonplace in this sector. Individual meetings are kept very short but everyone provides their individual workload updates, seamlessly handing over the verbal baton to the next team member.
When looking at success in workplace communication, there is also a second level of language dynamics to consider. This involves the pragmatics of language usage, the true meaning in interaction of what we say and sometimes, even more importantly, what we choose not to say. Think of chatting with a close friend or family member, the expressions you use and the bantering style of speech. You have an advanced understanding of meaning in this scenario, sub-consciously and very successfully navigating your interaction.
You have to work more at this with your virtual, often international, team members. How much chit chat should there be at the start and close of meetings? Is it acceptable in interrupt or could it be considered disrespectful? What is considered polite? In linguistics, we approach politeness in two ways. As an example, explicit politeness involves thanking others. This is an art form, in itself, for Irish people that often puzzles other nationalities who merely thank someone once and only when acknowledging a service provided. Continuing with the Irish example, being direct in our speech is not always familiar to us. Why say it directly when we could spin a story from it? While generalised, this represents our language pragmatics.
In a study of workplace meetings with British and Chinese participants, it was found that not allowing time for small talk and relationship building caused considerable frustration for the Chinese team members. In other studies, including my own research on international virtual teams, no offence was taken with minimal small talk as relationships were already established.
What we need to understand is that language pragmatics can differ from person to person and from team to team whether from different functional or cultural backgrounds. In the virtual workplace, we need to be conscious of our individual and team language pragmatic preferences and be willing to adapt. Simply put, language matters in virtual teams!
The content above is a guest blog contributed by an independent industry expert.
Author: Dr.Gail Flanagan
Role / Organisation: University of Limerick
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gailflanaganul
Dr. Gail Flanagan has 21 years of professional experience in Business Operations leadership in
global technology companies. She is highly skilled in managing multicultural teams. She has
managed international, cross-functional projects and is an expert in employee and business
process integrations as a result of Irish subsidiary start-ups and company acquisitions. She has
extensively worked in international virtual teams.
She has completed a research PhD at the University of Limerick (UL) on spoken communication
in international virtual teams. She is currently working as a communication and linguistics
lecturer and tutor in UL.
Having recently established Gail Flanagan Communication, she now delivers leadership and
team communication training and consultancy services, marrying both her professional and
research experience. She tailors each training programme to the needs of individual clients. Her
observation approach and recommendations place sensitivity to individual team dynamics at the
heart of her consulting work.
The author is not affiliated with Grow Remote. We are grateful for their contribution to the
Grow Remote blog and to the wider remote‑work ecosystem in Ireland.
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