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900 Greenbank Road
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Are conference calls, e-mail discussions and
teleconferences all a waste of time? By Wayne McKinnon Many
people feel that regular meetings are, so why should technology change
that? Regardless of the chosen technology, the common denominator is
people, and unlike computers, people have not yet developed artificial
intelligence. People have true intelligence, which gives them far more
choices than can be pre-programmed into computers. One of those choices is
to procrastinate, do nothing, or otherwise focus on something other than
the task at hand. But true intelligence means that people can learn to
improve each time they perform a task. Unfortunately, few people improve upon the task of using electronic communications. The common belief is that using it is common sense, but the only thing common about it is that nearly everyone struggles with determining how to use technology better. This comes from being too focused on the task and not being aware of the process. Interestingly, the same applies to face-to-face meetings across a boardroom table. In
“real meetings,” people arrive unprepared, formulate ideas on the fly,
and then drone on too long. To complicate matters, comments are taken out
of context and heated debates driven by emotion often ensue. Moving these
meetings out of the boardroom and into a virtual setting solves none of
these problems. (It sometimes seems that the only real benefit is that you
can doze off or keep yourself busy with other tasks without anyone
noticing while you wait for something interesting to be said.) So
how do we improve our electronic meetings? One answer is to begin by
taking a look at the common problems that plague any meeting, and then
look at what advantages technology offers us for providing solutions: Distribute the agenda
listing the desired outcome via e-mail, with a clear heading and concise
points well ahead of the meeting. If all
participants have an opportunity to preview the meeting via an agenda,
they can take the time to prepare their thoughts and arrive with concise
points to address. Any objections or concerns about the discussion topics
can be voiced ahead of time so that any appropriate changes can be made
before the meeting begins. Distribute the agenda listing the desired
outcome via e-mail with a clear heading and concise points well ahead of
the meeting. Begin on time We often feel
compelled to wait for latecomers, but why not condition attendees to feel
compelled to arrive on time? There are many excuses for being late, but a
new one is popping up. “I had trouble logging on, calling in, getting
connected…” Prepare ahead
of time by testing the connection, and then connect a few minutes earlier
than you otherwise would, just in case. Work out technical hiccups on your
own time. Reward those
who show up early by sharing some worthwhile information with them before
the meeting starts. "If you want it first-hand, you've got to
arrive on time 'cause it won't be repeated during the meeting." Stick to the issues on the agenda In any
meeting someone has to have the power and the backbone to stop a
discussion that does not relate to the immediate topic.
In a virtual meeting, the rules don’t change. If the meeting uses
voice or video technology, it should be handled in the same way as a face
to face meeting, but it is even more important to have a moderator who
will restrict the number of comments or questions that each recipient has.
Attendees should know their quota ahead of time. Have a timekeeper move the discussion along at a reasonable pace, and bring each topic to a close At
round-table meetings, a topic should be given a specific number of minutes
before discussions are brought to a close. With electronic meetings,
discussions may be stretched over days or weeks.
Regardless of the medium used, a deadline for concluding the
discussion topic must be imposed. Particularly
with electronic meetings, this adds some sense of urgency to expressing
one’s views. Without
urgency, less important points creep in, or people don’t participate
since they may not schedule time to participate in what has become a
low-priority task. Move side discussions to a separate meeting involving sub-groups With e-mail,
the topic heading of new messages should reflect the new subject. If the
topic is being discussed in an electronic discussion group, a new thread
should be started so that all members (including those who will view the
historic records that this medium provides) will be able to easily find
the information they are looking for. Follow
up with minutes for all to see Minutes are
important since they serve as a record of what was said, and, more
importantly, what decisions were made. If a topic re-appears, the meeting
chair can save time by simply referring to past decisions as documented in
the minutes. Minutes of
teleconferences can be recorded and stored in a voice mailbox that people
can call later, or distributed on tape for review during the drive home.
With e-mail, the traditional thinking is that each recipient is
responsible for maintaining his or her own records; but, a summary is
still worthwhile in order to clarify and consolidate any points that may
be open to interpretation. Electronic discussion groups are dynamic records of what was said. They provide a history of how the discussion progressed and, at various points, thoughts can be summarized either by the participant, or for the participant, depending on how the discussion is managed. Wayne McKinnon. 900 Greenbank Road Suite
531, Nepean Ontario Canada K2J 4P6 phone: (613) 860-1384 Fax: (613) 825-4895
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