Virtual collaboration & Covid-19

Karin Grasenick, Julia Trattnig | 29 September 2021

Complex, large-scale, international, publicly funded research infrastructures (CoLIPRIs) and projects are defined by a mosaic structure, distributed among several countries and various institutions, thus involving a diversity of stakeholders.
Due to this framework, the collaboration within the project mainly takes place virtually, i.e. through emails, phone or video calls and meetings. For this reason, communication is especially crucial to provide everyone involved in the project with relevant information and create commitment. Leadership needs to be aware of these special conditions to ensure good governance.

Complex, large-scale, international, publicly funded research infrastructures (CoLIPRIs) and projects are defined by a mosaic structure, distributed among several countries and various institutions, thus involving a diversity of stakeholders.

Due to this framework, the collaboration within the project mainly takes place virtually, i.e. through emails, phone or video calls and meetings. For this reason, communication (see “Communicate constantly”) is especially crucial to provide everyone involved in the project with relevant information and create commitment. Leadership needs to be aware of these special conditions to ensure good governance.

The Human Brain Project (HBP), as one of the three FET (Future and Emerging Technology) Flagship projects, is one of the largest research projects in the world. Starting in 2013, more than 500 scientists and engineers at over than 140 universities, teaching hospitals, and research centres across Europe come together to address one of the most challenging research targets – the human brain. Due to this remote structure, project members of the HBP collaborate mainly virtually – a type of collaboration which was enhanced by Covid-19 for many people worldwide. Virtual collaboration, i.e. working from home with increased digitalisation, became the new normality (Waizenegger et al., 2020).

In this respect,

“the HBP has a long-lasting experience of interdisciplinary collaboration by virtually bridging distances because its involved partners are not only complex but also spatially remote”
(Grasenick/Guerrero, 2020).

To ensure inclusive virtual collaboration, the following two levels must be considered by leaders, especially in times of crisis:

Personal life & mental health

Everyone has different personal living situations and especially during the Covid-19 crisis, family and other social significant obligations may vary depending on the changed living conditions. In times of crises such as the Covid-19 crisis, women are often hit harder because existing gender inequalities are exacerbated (EC, 2021).

Furthermore, everyone reacts differently to a crisis, not only depending on their personality,

“but also on the specific circumstances of life, which bring stability, or other factors of uncertainty, for example, the financial situation, personal health or remoteness of friends and family members”
(Grasenick and Guerrero, 2020).

Professional life & virtual collaboration

“The impact a pandemic like Covid-19 can have on the professional situation depends, among others, on the educational background or scientific discipline and career stage of a person. While some can make progress by working from home, others might depend on lab work, contributions to conferences or a research stay abroad. Especially for early career stage scientists, contracts might not be safe or at severe risk due to travel restrictions, no or restricted access to labs and further resources crucially needed to progress”
(Grasenick and Guerrero, 2020).

Therefore, it is helpful to clarify

“different options of contracting under the given circumstances [in order to] provide as much security as possible.”
(Grasenick and Guerrero, 2020).

Virtual collaboration will continue after the end of the pandemic and, despite some challenges such as the clear distinction of boundaries between work and personal lives (Vasel, 2021), it also offers many advantages, the most important being that it can take place anywhere.

However, these

“virtual environments lack the opportunity to dedicate the same amount of time and involve all senses, which is even more critical when cultural and professional differences come into play”
(Grasenick and Guerrero, 2020).

Although virtual meetings are better for the environment,

“they are more exhausting because movement in between meetings is missing, voices sound different, and it is unclear who looks at what on the monitor”
(Grasenick and Guerrero, 2020).

For this reason, it is essential to pay attention to these specific characteristics of virtual collaboration by reflecting on the questions listed in the table above and thereby consider EDI principles to allow everyone to thrive and contribute (virtually).