Staying Professional in Virtual Meetings
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Q. Virtual meetings have become a staple of business life, whether conducted by phone or video. What are the biggest differences between a virtual meeting and one that is face-to-face?
A. Teleconferences and videoconferences offer a relatively inexpensive way to meet with colleagues from around the country or the world, but they also present special challenges.
When you aren't in the same room with other people, you lose important nonverbal cues that register unease, confusion, agreement or disagreement. That makes it easier to miscommunicate, says Sean O'Brien, senior vice president for strategy and communications at PGi, which provides technology platforms for virtual meetings.
Participants in virtual meetings often feel a lowered sense of accountability, Mr. O'Brien says. "In face-to-face meetings people really show up, not just physically but also mentally. They come to the meeting prepared and actively participate," he says. In virtual meetings -- including the telepresence variety, where images are highly realistic -- that's often not the case.
Q. During a teleconference, no one can see you, so it's common for attendees to hit the mute button and do other things while listening. Should you?
A. People sometimes do things in a virtual meeting that they'd never do in person, like checking sports scores or having side conversations. "I've seen people at a videoconference grooming themselves on camera," says Laura Stack, C.E.O. of the Productivity Pro, a management consulting firm, and author of "SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best."
But if you are at a virtual meeting only to listen, some multitasking is fine, says Bob Preston, chief collaboration officer at Polycom, a telepresence, video and voice communications company in Pleasanton, Calif.
First Published September 26, 2010 2:00 am
