IP Convergence: Beyond VoIP, Beyond Cost Savings

We've all been there.  Travel expenses have to be cut, and yet your work centers are geographically separated, work groups are forged from different work centers, and your management suggests you increase your use of video conferencing.  You grudgingly submit to the idea but hope that you still have enough money to do the necessary amount of travel, and you might even try some video conferencing.  But will it work?

Corporations have learned a lot since this 2004 Norwegian study that indicated that video conferencing affected corporate travel from 2.5-3.5%.  Part of the  following study suggests that it's merely a matter of implementing the right culture with the right technology and you can start saving, but what might the long term impacts be of reducing personal interaction amongst employees.

In the online Q&A for Patrick Lencioni's book Death by Meeting, Patrick states:

Q: As technology continues to make life and business more and more virtual, do you think this has positive or negative effects on meetings?

A: I think that the promises of the virtual workplace have not panned out to the extent that everyone expected. The fact is human beings need to be in the same room, face to face, in order to engage in the kind of discourse that leads to good decisions. When we try to circumvent that reality by using audio and video conferencing, we dilute the quality of our conversations, and ultimately, the decisions that we make. Of course, there are certain types of conversations that are fine for virtualcommunication - customer service, basic information sharing, and tactical updates. But trust andconflict and commitment and accountability are not easily nurtured over a network, even a high speed one.

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After having read a few of Patrick's books, I believe this theories are fairly sound.  I can see how it would be difficult to mine for conflict on an audio bridge if you can't read body language of everyone simultaneously, although I do seem to find the sore subjects on my own even without video, it just takes a few more questions.  I also wonder if Patrick tried using a true telepresence setup if he might change his mind.  In this recent post from our own Thomas Hobika, Tom covers telepresence and what is involved.  If you can truly create an experience where it is almost as good as being there, wouldn't it be almost as good as being there?

Of course, you still can't get the satisfaction of going to lunch together after the meeting is over.  At least not yet.  :-)

by Dave Siegel