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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