This article was submitted to Organizational Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Communication
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In the wake of the current global pandemic, international travel is restricted. This poses substantial challenges for research relationships aiming to build capacity and foster co-creation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, where global collaboration and communication is paramount. This is especially challenging when it comes to interactive dialogues that go beyond the typical one-way structure of online learning. Considerations on structural, technical and behavioral levels are needed to not only deal with these challenges but rather to take advantage of the new situation. This commentary outlines the lessons learned from an internationally operating project, co-developed to cope with travel restrictions. We discuss implications for future reduction of international travel to reduce carbon in the context of climate change.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address global challenges including climate change, equality, education and health for peace and prosperity. To create and implement evidence-based solutions, we need effective and targeted capacity building firmly embedded within best research practice (
Capacity building is defined as “building abilities, relationships and values that will enable organizations, groups and individuals to improve their performance and achieve their development objectives” (
Current practices of virtual interaction include online learning, online conferences, webinars, livestreams as well as virtual meetings. While some of those practices (e.g., webinars) emphasize knowledge transfer and are often not interactive, others can be interactive (e.g., virtual meetings) but this potential interactivity is not yet fully exploited. The academic community has responded quickly to the challenges of delivering remote teaching. Although the teaching can be highly interactive, they are rarely co-created and often simply replace traditional formats of talks and presentations. Projects striving for mutual capacity building and co-creation (
The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Blue Communities Project connects researchers from five countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Vietnam) with the aim of building capacity and delivering research on sustainable management of coastal communities and marine ecosystems in Southeast Asia. Like thousands of research teams around the world, Blue Communities is facing the challenge to keep meeting the project’s goals without the benefits of face-to-face interactions during joint field visits (
Here, we describe lessons learned from a capacity building workshop originally intended to take place in Indonesia with participants from four countries (
The four countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Vietnam) participating in the virtual capacity-building workshop (as depicted with the red lines) on stakeholder interaction that will be carried out in the case study sites (Taka Bonerate Kepulauan Selayar Biosphere Reserve, Tun Mustafa Park, Cu Lao Cham and Palawan; as depicted with the orange bullets).
With the aim to welcome the challenge and to deliver high-quality outputs according to the funder’s standards and our personal project goals, we had to adapt across three dimensions: behavioral, structural and technical. Behavioral adaptation covers all conscious amendments we identified to optimize interpersonal communication, group leadership and engagement. Structural and technical adaptation encompasses the consideration of different time zones, internet connectivity and additional equipment. In the following section, we present our identified key considerations across these three dimensions. Subsequently, we are going on to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the virtual format, ending with some recommendations. Our insights are by no means meant to be exhaustive and can be extended or transferred to other virtual workshops requiring a high level of engagement and interaction.
Getting to know each other or building new rapport might be neglected when connecting online from multiple locations. We claim that with the added physical distance, it is even more important to establish personal connections between participants to make up for the lack of non-verbal communication. Some but not all partners in our workshop had already established working relationships. To build rapport we asked everyone joining the meeting to describe him- or herself in three short sentences including the professional background and expertize as well as a personal fun fact.
We found that communication can be challenging in virtual settings, especially with poor connection. Therefore, we used multiple routes of communication. These routes involved pre-workshop email exchange to develop the agenda and the workshop aims, collect topics to cover and to discuss a code of conduct. During the workshop we used a chat box within the software for all participants to ask questions. Workshop leaders took turns to monitor the chat box. In addition, we used email and phone conversations after the workshop to cover additional topics that could not be covered or required more expansion to provide closure.
We found having at least two people present in the same room per location was helpful, if this is possible given regulations on social distancing. This helps to stay on top of the multiple pathways of communication, share responsibilities and avoid the likely exhaustion that will occur during virtual capacity building (
Many subtle interactions that enable a face-to-face workshop cannot be directly transferred to virtual capacity building. In order to effectively communicate, cooperate and empathize with our colleagues we needed to find creative solutions. Compared to face-to-face workshops we cannot get an accurate feel if our partners are still motivated, tired or confused. Especially for the presenter it can be a daunting experience not to receive the verbal and non-verbal reassurance that would be implicit in any face-to-face interaction. Research has shown that very small delays (above 1200 ms) in visuo-audio feedback can lead to negative perceptions of participants on a personal level (
This brings us to the importance of time management. We experienced that virtual capacity building required more time than standard capacity building. This is due to materials that have to be adapted or prepared, the need for more breaks during the workshop, but also potential time lags between the sending and the receiving party making it necessary to repeat sequences more frequently. The Blue Communities capacity-building program had to be planned across three time zones with up to eight hour time difference. Ideally, workshops like this would take place during working hours for all parties involved. In reality, global interactions force us to be flexible. In our case, this meant that some teams connected during early mornings or late evenings. Collectively deciding on a time schedule that best suits the majority of participants is crucial.
When capacity building takes place remotely, a higher level of commitment is required than would be necessary for a face-to-face workshop (
Obvious technical and structural requirements include a good internet connection, meeting rooms and relevant equipment. A stable internet connection can be problematic, especially in developing countries or remote areas as was the case for the Blue Communities project. We experienced interruptions during the meeting, difficulties in uploading and downloading materials as well as impeded functionality of different communication channels.
We established a set of instructions for 1) very strong bandwidth: all partners share their video and audio settings 2) partially problematic bandwidth: partner with problematic bandwidth to turn off video, all turn off audio apart from when they speak 3) problematic bandwidth: all partners turn off video and audio settings with the exception of the current speaker. This code of conduct was familiar to all parties involved, leading to fluent communication across conditions.
An important factor is the use of a platform that enables sharing screen, text chatting and uploading documents and pictures. These functions are essential for a high level of interactivity, as is the use of a good quality camera by the workshop leaders. We found a movable camera with zooming and focusing function to be particularly useful for ensuring interactive materials (flip charts and post-it notes) were legible on screen. We also found microphone quality to be important as better microphones reduce communication issues due to different mother tongues.
A crucial element was the use of comprehensive supporting materials. A pre-workshop checklist was distributed to all participants. Some items might seem self-evident in the context of face-to-face workshops, but they might be forgotten in virtual interactions (e.g., flip charts and post its). We found the mixture of physical and electronic materials useful.
As an additional resource, we prepared an electronic handbook, which contained a literature list, methods and data analysis instructions. This helped to reduce the reliance purely on audio/video information. The scope of the handbook went beyond the content of the workshop itself and complemented other materials such as PowerPoint slides, which all were adapted to the new purpose of virtual capacity building. We identified visuals a key form of communication as they can be understood across language barriers and despite poor audio connections (
In this last section, we will discuss how we found ourselves benefitting from this novel situation as well as struggling with challenges we did not fully overcome. We will conclude with the main lessons learned to facilitate current and future projects relying on remote capacity building.
As a side effect of restricted travel, remote capacity building can reduce travel related carbon emissions beyond the pandemic. In addition, remote capacity building gives rise to more advantages than just carbon savings.
Online capacity building workshops are a less costly way to achieve international skills and knowledge transfer than face-to face interactions. Costs for traveling, accommodation, meeting rooms and catering are reduced drastically. Along with the financial savings comes the time saved that is usually spent on planning, layovers, environmental adaptation and jetlag. This means that not only are virtual meetings more cost-effective but they also take less toll on our physical and mental wellbeing. We remain located in our familiar environment and time zone, which is in line with our evolutionary circadian rhythm (
Despite the aim to bridge the distance imposed by the virtual connection, there might also be advantages coming with the distance itself. People who struggle with face-to-face interactions might be able to communicate better without the presence of direct cues used to detect potential negative feedback from others (
Despite the potential benefits of remote capacity building, we think it is important to acknowledge some disadvantages that we were unable to overcome in the limited time we had available during this crisis. We invite suggestions for strategies to help overcome these remaining barriers.
Some challenges like cultural and gender-related roles and stereotypes seem to be diminished whereas some other challenges seem to be enhanced in remote communication. Language barriers are always a challenge within international collaboration. However, understanding each other and adapting to different linguistic varieties might be even more difficult in virtual settings and lead to disruptions or compromised team functioning (
While adequate trainer-participant interactions are relatively easy to realize and are perceived as normal and necessary, this may not be the case for participant-to-participant interaction. In our case, there has been an active dialogue between the United Kingdom and the partners from each country in South East Asia, but almost no interaction between Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. For the main purpose of mutual capacity building, which should involve networking between all participants and learning from others’ best practice, participant-to-participant interaction is indispensable. Actively encouraging participant groups to communicate with each other during designated tasks could overcome this challenge.
Considering the disadvantages, the delivery of virtual capacity building may not be appropriate for all training contents which still require direct physical interactions like for example complex field work activities or the handling of tools. When there is choice, the advantages and disadvantages of virtual and ordinary capacity building need to be carefully considered before making the decision to travel or not.
We need to question our existing practices and norms when it comes to global collaboration for capacity building and create new, innovative measures and strategies. Based on our three-day experience of virtual capacity building we have identified several key lessons that can apply for similarly structured activities.
Firstly, it is important to keep the dialogue active despite the obvious convenience of a one-way communication. An interactive dialogue is the key to the co-creation of project plans and enables us to go beyond one-way training and toward mutual capacity building.
Along the same lines, the workshop preparation should involve backup plans, allowing for the unexpected to happen. This flexibility is best realized through active communication between all partners, continuous co-creation and meticulous workshop development.
Thirdly, we need to make it clear to ourselves what the potential advantages and disadvantages of holding a virtual capacity building workshop are, prior to the process itself. This is to acknowledge the limitations inherent in the approach, which may call adoptions of specific structural, technological and behavioral adaptations.
Despite its non-physical nature, we feel that our virtual workshop did reduce the geographical difference amongst us. Not only by co-delivering our workshop but also by jointly rethinking our lessons learned for this article made us appreciate the togetherness of us as disparate workshop members striving to achieve a common aim despite the current challenges.
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
All authors jointly conceived of the presented concept. IR developed the article structure and took the lead in writing the manuscript with input and feedback from all collaborators. SP supervised the process.
This work has received funding in part from the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) via the United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) under grant agreement reference NE/P021107/1 to the Blue Communities project.
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.