Virtual Or Live?

When the Pandemic first hit, most of us made an instantaneous pivot to 100% virtual communication.  We learned how to Zoom, Hangout, Meet in Teams, Circle, and likely live on a half dozen other video-based platforms.  We know "Zoom Fatigue" and we've experienced both really cool moments and likely some dreary ones as well.

So, how then shall we now live?  Here's my going-forward thought:  What if we only do live that which we can't do virtually?  What this means to me:

1.  We maximize our effectiveness in virtual and asynchronous communication.  We develop mastery in remote work. 

2. We learn how to have difficult conversations virtually, and we let go of fears around not being able to connect authentically.

3.  We accept the tremendous gift of time that virtual work has afforded us by reducing all kinds of travel.

AND IMPORTANTLY,

4. We master and maximize our live gatherings to focus on HOW we're working together.  We use the time to build relationships, sit around the fire, share a meal,  connect as people first.

I know I have a significant bias here.  I've been pulling people together for meaningful group experiences for a long time and always fight for the relational side of things while my groups typically want to simply focus on the content of their work.  It's okay!  What many are learning is that much of our content work can be done virtually, but you just can't replace the fireside chat on a Zoom screen.

Let's not make it an "either/or" but a "both/and" with the positive intent of maximizing our experience whether it is in virtual space or live.  

What do you think?

Onward!

V