Remote lessons in listening

In tune with the times, the 37 members will, if the test this week goes well, meet remotely for the first time.

Like most changes enforced on businesses and individuals since the coronavirus crisis hit home, a remote meeting would have been unimaginable just a few weeks ago.

After all, this is the Assembly that has only just opened the door to proxy voting for deputies unable to attend in person.

However, nothing stays impossible for long in the face of Covid-19. Government and scrutiny cannot take a leave of absence for months on end.

Still there are deputies questioning whether a remote meeting is feasible. How will all those points of order and points of correction be raised?

The answer, hopefully, is that they won’t. Most are needless interruptions designed to throw the speaker off their game and nitpick over some obscure personal argument. They add little to democracy.

The greater danger is that it works too well and it forces deputies to change their ways. It might even set a new standard for debating.

For, as families and work colleagues across the island have learned all too well since lockdown, there is a strict discipline and etiquette to multi-person video meetings.

The person speaking needs to be given the floor and allowed to make their point with brevity. A constant flow of chatter and commentary from the sidelines makes for a cacophony that wears thin very quickly. Using technology, an adroit chair learns to silence the inattentive.

States members need to learn quickly and make this experiment work. While most of the work of government is being done by a select few politicians, the remainder are sitting at home drawing a full salary.

If they cannot work to a full capacity they should, like many in the island, take a reduced pay check to reflect that.

We do not know how long it will be before the States is again able to meet in person. Deputies must embrace the technology and learn to listen more and interrupt less.