Conferencing Technology Takes Over for Slashed Travel Budgets
While wholesale travel is now no longer possible, remote conferencing can be enhanced when more reliance is placed on asynchronous technologies. A friend of mine tried to use Web conferences for sales pipeline meetings, rather than flying all over the world. They didn’t work too well; the Web conferences were not nearly as effective as the face-to-face meetings, where he would glare at a salesperson who claimed a customer was in the bag and the salesperson would quail and retreat.
But the Web conferences got more effective when he required salespeople to file frequent progress reports and then used Web conferencing to hold impromptu meetings when the report seemed to call for his help. He couldn’t glare during these meetings, but he often didn’t need to.
While remote conferencing technology can satisfy some global communication needs, accept the fact that you may have to meet in person.
