The Importance of Face Time by Chuck Martin (Darwin, 02/13/2005) tells us that while we prefer to communicate by email, we want our managers to talk to us face-to-face. The pluses of face-to-face are balanced by a few negatives, such as lack of an audit trail. Preferences for other electronic means of communication are, in order: telephone, scheduled meetings and cell phone calls. "The real issue is not which means are used, but how well they are used."

While Chuck didn't specifically mention desktop videoconferencing, one view is that the best desktop-based videoconferencing tools on the market today are a close approximation to face-to-face. Communication is richer than with email or telephone, but not fully as engaging as physical proximity. For distributed sites, the trade off of travel makes the difference, enabling a more natural connection of lots of short conversations. Contrast this to the tendency to bundle communications in to a few, long conversations when travel is required. 

So look across the various electronic means of communication available before you send out that next email or schedule that next meeting with an eye towards increased productivity. Are you missing out on any key options?

6:05:01 PM    
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