As Coronavirus is forcing us to radically change the way we interact / collaborate with one another, I believe AstraZeneca have a unique opportunity to turn the challenge into an opportunity to shift our habits - to rethink the way we work/learn together, to make better choices on the digital collaboration tools we use, and to address the sustainability impact we have on the society. I have compiled this 7 habits to collaborate virtually checklist for virtual team to collaborate. I hope this might be useful for our AZ colleagues. The views are mine and I do not represent my company's view. On 29 Feb 2020. this post was first posted on AstraZeneca internal social media platform to stimulate awareness and attention to good collaboration, communication habits, in addition to learning how to use new technologies. Many employees provided comments and feedback to improve on the initial version. During COVID-19 crisis period, this internal post is slightly adapted and made publicly available. We hope this post will be useful for other companies and institutions who need to build virtual collaboration capabilities in times of great uncertainty. For more information, please contact: Dr Bonnie Cheuk – Global Capability Lead, Learning Agility & Learning Culture, AstraZeneca

1. 7 habits to Collaborate (Virtually) Across Borders and Cultures, when face-to-face is not an
option during COVID-19 crisis
Posted on 29 Feb 2020, by Dr Bonnie Cheuk on AstraZeneca internal social media platform
As Coronavirus is forcing us to radically change the way we interact / collaborate with one another, I
believe AstraZeneca have a unique opportunity to turn the challenge into an opportunity to shift our
habits - to rethink the way we work/learn together, to make better choices on the digital
collaboration tools we use, and to address the sustainability impact we have on the society.
I have compiled this 7 habits to collaborate virtually checklist for virtual team to collaborate. I hope
this might be useful for our AZ colleagues.
#1 Slow Down to Speed Up
Take the time to set expectations, to focus, to create processes on how the team will interact, and to
put the appropriate tools in place. Take time to learn how things work will help or hinder the ability
of the team to work together seamlessly. Do not take things for granted. Do not assume your
BAU/original team communication and operating model works.
Agree on an explicit communications management plan outlines what communication needs to
happen, who needs to be communicated with, how frequently, the intention of the communication,
where it originates, nuances, and the communication medium.
Have a clear agreement about how to work together daily; to resolve issues, report status, assign
work, show up for meetings, timeliness, what to do if deadlines or meeting are missed, and more.
The operating agreements allow virtual team members to take off their virtual blindfolds and
interact with each other more effectively and not just when an issue arises or during formal team
meetings.
[Template: Use the collaboration contract and agree on team communication and collaboration
protocol]
You can begin every virtual team meeting by reviewing them and discussing adjustments to them.
Questions to consider include: Which agreements are working well and why? Which ones are not
working? Do we need some new agreements or to adjust some existing ones?
#2 Respect time zone difference
A simple solution to a 10½- to 13½-hour time difference is to have someone work a little later while
others get up a little earlier than usual (for example, 6:00 AM in Los Angeles is 9:00 AM in Boston
and 7:30 PM in Mumbai). If you rotate the role of early riser on a weekly or monthly basis, you are
truly sharing the pain.
#3 Put extra time and extra planning effort to host virtual meetings (eg run brainstorming
sessions), truly ensure everyone has a voice AND promote mental/emotional connection with
one another.
This means upholding very good practices to facilitate virtual brainstorming, be clear about the
purpose, open up the space for input, provide “layering” methods to seek input.
Layer 1: Prior to meeting, use online tools to capture initial input. Provide pre-read and stimulus.
Layer 2: During the meeting, if you have a large group of 20, if each person speak for 5 minutes, your
100 mins is gone. So keep the input focus by using a dialogue template, and apply strict timekeeping
to avoid anyone dominate.

2. Each person takes turn to share: (a) how do I see the situation we are in; (b) what I see is our goals;
(c) what is currently helping (or not helping)? Are the hidden power issues that constrain actions or
willingness to speak up? (d) what have I considered which might benefit others; (e) how would I like
to be help/supported by this team; (f) if I can wave a magic wand, what would I wish for?
Layer 3: Deep listening without disruption: As you listen to each participant’s thoughts, use a self-
reflection note taking form (can be done online).
Note your reflection: based on what I am hearing/just heard (a) what resonates with me; (b) what I
don’t agree with; (c) what is confusing to me?; (d) how does the point/ideas connect with me, my
team, my business, my community?; (e) the speaker could be better help/supported by (x); (f) I
would like to connect with the speak to dig deeper on (topic x). You can email or share your self
reflection notes with each speaker after the meeting.
[Reference: Dervin’s Sense-Making Methodology – Making Sense of the Complex World Together:
Workshop and facilitator guide]
Layer 4: because there is limited time to have discussion, many voices can remain hidden. To
address this challenge, open up an online space in the background, for everyone at any time to add
their questions/comments/input. A facilitator should keep an eye on these input, and bring to the
group for discussion after the 100-min round-table.
[Additional tips on how to run great virtual meetings: Harvard Business Review article; Stanford
Graduate School of Business how to be a virtual meeting hero video]
#4 Maximise opportunity to express nonverbal cues
Spending extra time validating understanding is important when you cannot see or interpret facial
expressions. Turn on video conferencing where possible (if network performance permits).
Explicit check-in on the sentiment of the participants. “How’s everything feeling at the moment? if
we can see one another, what faces do we see? Green, yellow or red? anything we can do to adjust
quickly before we keep going?”
[Credit to: Victoria Ward Ltd]
#5 Make people feel like they are physically together
Whilst waiting for participants to join a virtual meeting, invite the people who just join to share
where they are, and from where they sit, what do they see outside the window. Broadcast DJs do this
all the time, they will bring in cues by talking about physical spaces or sports events happening at
that time, to give the impression of the “togetherness”.
#6 Use Technology to keep the virtual team connected (as if they are co-located)
The specific rules for the tools need to be decided up front, communicated, and documented early
on. Allow all team members to show their personalities and presence online. Create a virtual water
cooler. Keep an online open communication, such as chat room, open all the time for team members
to just hang out (whenever they need to).
#7 Make feedback more frequent and less formal.
You can't high-five someone in a virtual office or have a team lunch to celebrate success. On the other
side of the coin, it's also not easy to give constructive criticism via a webcam. Set expectation with
the virtual team members that it is something you all deliberately practice in giving feedback to one
another, it is a gift for one another to receive critique and feedback. Consider starting all hands
meetings with a celebration section on both work and personal milestones.

3. Final thoughts
With the need to work as virtual team, we need to put extra care to bring out humanness at work, to
treat one another as living breathing human beings with emotions, feelings, pay attention to respect
and celebrate diversity of thoughts/preference, AstraZeneca can go a long way!
The current travel ban - although creates disruption - we can turn it into an opportunity to humanise
the workplace, to practice collaborative leadership, and learn to embrace digital technologies and
achieve our sustainability goals.
Hope this is useful! Love to hear other good practices you are adopting to make virtual collaboration
work for AZ!
Disclaimer: On 29 Feb 2020. this post was first posted on AstraZeneca internal social media platform
to stimulate awareness and attention to good collaboration, communication habits, in addition to
learning how to use new technologies. Many employees provided comments and feedback to
improve on the initial version. During COVID-19 crisis period, this internal post is slightly adapted and
made publicly available. We hope this post will be useful for other companies and institutions who
need to build virtual collaboration capabilities in times of great uncertainty. For more information,
please contact: Dr Bonnie Cheuk – Global Capability Lead, Learning Agility & Learning Culture,
AstraZeneca