Using Technology in Meetings

Page 227

Technology has changed the nature of meetings in both positive and negative ways. Obviously, the ability to set up virtual meetings through teleconferencing and Internet videoconferencing makes it possible for groups to collaborate over long distances. That’s how Julia, the freelance designer, is able to “attend” a meeting with her client and his sales staff without leaving home. Such virtual links can be beneficial for a team that needs to actively communicate about some issue or problem. But it also can be ineffective; the fact that everyone can be included doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone must be included. Julia, for example, did not need to sit in on the meeting with the sales team; she had little to add and gained nothing by being there. Further, the ability to share information with team members quickly and efficiently via e-mail and file sharing has enabled teams to avoid some meetings altogether (Conlin, 2006). Julia and Jacob, for example, might have e-mailed a link to the beta version of the site to the entire sales team rather than meet with them to discuss it in the abstract.

But is there a difference between face-to-face meetings and virtual meetings? Research indicates that face-to-face teams perform better initially, but once the group is established, virtual teams actually do better at brainstorming, whereas face-to-face teams perform better on tasks that require negotiation or compromise (Alge, Wiethoff, & Klein, 2003; Salkever, 2003). Savvy team leaders, then, will bring their teams together for face time early in the process, if possible, so that team members can get to know one another and get a sense of the others’ styles and personalities. But as the teams develop, electronically mediated communication—especially e-mail—can often take the place of face-to-face group meetings.