How necessary is your meeting?

In these days where our time is precious and we’re all being asked to think about carbon footprints, an obvious place to start making savings are the many business meetings we arrange, drive to and attend each day.

Meeting in person used to be the only way to assemble groups of people, but other options are now available – and for a very reasonable cost.

Telephone – almost regarded as outdated, but still very efficient and reliable.  Groups can dial into conference call facilities to include any number of participants.

Internet – this technology is still developing but it’s already possible to invite to, connect with, interact and share information with and even to see attendees at virtual meetings.

I believe some in-person meetings are more necessary than others.  Meeting with a potential or new client over a coffee or meal, for example, can help to move the relationship forward quickly.  However, regular update meetings and training sessions could be delivered equally well using available technology.

Perhaps the reason many people don’t like to go down this virtual route, in spite of the obvious advantages of saving travel time, money and energy, is that they prefer that physical contact.  They want to shake hands, look each other in the eye and pick up on the subtle body language signals – all of which are only possible at in person meetings.

(Could this be why our politicians still keep hopping on planes to attend meetings around the world, with hardly a thought to all the attendant costs?)

When fuel was less expensive and we seemed to have less to cram into our working day, meeting in person was an acceptable use of our resources.  Today, it’s inefficient and too costly – except for those really special and important occasions!

Have you changed your meeting habits at all?  If so, what was your reason for doing so?