My Google alerts for virtual teams and collaboration runneth over, thanks to the high price of oil. Who'd'a thunk it?
Many reporters, for example, The New York Times's fine one, Steve Lohr, whose article, "As travel costs rise, more meetings go virtual," took the headline earlier this week. Nothing wrong with Lohr's article, good, solid reporting with news for the newbies to the area: Cisco's telepresence offering, high price tag aside, makes participants feel like they're "there;" "companies of all sizes are beginning to shift to Web-based meetings for training and sales;" and this, worth the pull quote:
A report last month by the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, a group of technology companies, and the Climate Group, an environmental organization, estimated that up to 20 percent of business travel worldwide could be replaced by Web-based and conventional videoconferencing technology.
Twenty percent? Me thinks a lot higher. But, numbers aside, where Lohr's article is like all the rest - and where it misses the point - is in this: Technology alone does not solve the problem. I've harped on about this before. Our old motto, "90% people, 10% technology," is being drowned out by the reflexive action whereby companies/organizations throw technology into the hands that once held airline tickets.
It's not enough. Virtual meetings, including those conducted by Cisco's telepresence, can be very good indeed but I wager that the technology only contributes a small fraction of the reason attendees deem these meetings as good. It's the process by which the meeting is conducted, the inclusiveness of their facilitators, the hard work of the leaders - and their exemplary virtual behaviors - that make such meetings sing.
I've written about this a lot - here's an old favorite, "Bored on conference calls? Relief!"
