jueves, 14 de mayo de 2015

For long distance business, be a teenager again!

Business has no frontiers anymore and we are forced to spend a lot of time on planes, taxis and hotels to feel close to our customers, but are all these hassles really necessary?
Let’s compare the old with the new style long distance business and take your own conclusions.
I love travelling. I spent many years out of Spain looking for new people, new style of life, other points of view and ways to do things. I thought that international business would allow me to make compatible this hobby with my work but it was a big mistake.
When we are travelling for work “time is gold”. You have to do meetings in a narrow time with the pressure of your fly schedule. And it could be even worse if you try to be as Phileas Fogg and travel to many different places in one trip because “all of them are in the same country!”
Technology is shortening distances and the new generations are teaching us a lot about how you can track your customers reducing traveling. Teenagers are doing long term friends using Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype calls. So, why not be more creative and learn from our young?
Video chat, voice calls or instant messages could allow us to be closer our customers and make the meeting in a more friendly atmosphere such as your office, home, on the beach :o
 Let's limit travelling to a nice diner during the Kick-off or Closing meetings.
Technology has improved in the last years, and voice and image quality allows a more comfortable meeting. You can share your desktop with your presentation, tables, documents, maps and, even more, any assistants can make modifications on line.

There are many tricks that make those type of meetings more reliable but, based on my experience, let me highlight some of them:
1.- Check the connections in advance, camera and voice devices. It is very annoying to loose time with “technology” during the meeting (what a contradiction!)
2.- Find a friendly and comfortable place, without external noise or extra light. It is tolerable to listen a car horn but not the constant heavy metal music of your teenage son/daughter. It could make the meeting a nightmare for you and the rest of attendants.
3.- Make the meeting no longer than one hour. Create an agenda, send it in advance and follow it strictly. If it is already difficult to keep attention in a personal meeting, temptations are even stronger when you are long way away.
4.- Let the people talk by turns. Say always your name before talking and an "excuse me" while adding some comment or on disagreeing. And be discreet with the “mute button”, use it wisely, a total silence could produce uneasy moments.
5.- Always create the minutes to make sure all of you have arrived to the same conclusions. Minutes are always important, but we have to keep in mind the lack of "not verbal communication" in virtual meetings.
So follow my suggestion: for long distance business, be like a teenager of our times
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