Many folks out there have complained about high-technology and have warned that indeed, the computers that were suppose to save us time and make us more efficient are having us spend more and more of our day working on them. Yes, we can communicate faster, but are we communicating better they often ask? These are tough questions, as people now spend on average more time on the computer than in front of the TV.

Well, I guess either way, they are gaining weight, whether they become a couch potato or put on the pounds as a desk behind a computer. There are currently studies being done that show how computers save time and travel and this saves energy, fuel consumption and is helping our environment. Could be, the studies seem to show this, so that is hard to debate, after all if you send and email or communicate via video conferencing that means you are saving fuel right?

Thus, if we get rid of computers and people have to meet face-to-face then traffic will be almost double, can you even imagine that? In all major cities and most suburbs the traffic is getting to be so bad that it is costing us efficiency. When cars are parked in traffic they pollute more as well. If the computers ever go down and people are forced to use their cars for more face-to-face meetings then traffic could double say some at the Online Think Tank.

Maybe the high-tech world and computers are cleaning the air and saving us all from Global Warming, maybe we need more Virtual Reality technologies to cut down on our automobile emissions? Indeed, there are some high-tech start-ups who are really working hard to see all this to fruition. Sincerely, Lance.

When collaborating about work to be done, how would you rate online meetings in your company? ¨

* Less than face-to-face.
* About the same as face-to-face.
* Better than face-to-face.

No online meeting will be as warm and comfortable as meeting face to face, such as to go out to lunch together or meet after work. But when people collaborate about the work, if your virtual meetings aren't at least as collaborative as face to face, or even better, then you could be missing a 36 percent increase in performance of people that do. (Meetings Around the World, 2006)

The sad truth is that most people are still using audio conference only meetings when they can't be face-to-face. Why are we continuing to meet this way, when there are so many other wonderful enhancements available to improve our online meetings: web conference and video conference?

Overwhelmingly, people feel that meeting by audio conference is dramatically less effective, less participative, less interesting, and substantially less interactive than their face-to-face counterparts. In audio-only meetings, everyone is multitasking, instead of participating in the meeting together and interacting vigorously in their live time with each other.

In the age of elegant web conference and video conference technology, the equivalent of meeting by an audio conference is like using a rotary phone instead of a digital phone. It's like watching a video tape instead of a DVD. It's like listening to an audio tape vs. a CD. Better technology is out there. It's affordable for businesses of all sizes. And enhanced conferencing is as essential as email for growing your business.

So, to grow your business and your bottom line, the key is to raise collaboration quality when you meet virtually. That means two things. First, meet in a more interactive meeting environment: web conferencing. Second, learn how to conduct a significantly more interactive and effective online meeting. Clearly, leaders and facilitators need to learn new skills to drive interaction quality that is at least as good as the best collaborative meetings they have ever attended--ever! Yes, they need to be just that great!

Creating highly effective online meetings is a huge cultural change for most companies and most people. The toughest part of change is taking the first step. Here are some essential first steps that leaders and teams can use right away to improve collaboration quality in their online meetings.

* Apply the 80/20 rule to the online meeting. Spend 80 percent of the meeting time on topics that require all-participant interaction, and 20 percent of the meeting time on information-only topics. Virtual teams collaborate 84 percent less frequently than traditional same-site teams. For that reason, it is almost a crime to waste precious and rare online meeting time on anything that can be shared by email or other one-way media. Reserve the majority of the online meeting time for interaction--identifying issues, brainstorming solutions, making decisions, and building alignment.
* Invite the right people. It's so easy to invite people to online meetings, often more people are invited than really need to be in the session. One leader I spoke with the other day invited as many people as she could just hoping that at least a few would show up for her weekly conference calls! She'd be smarter to keep the invitation list short and the content and interaction high.
* Meet about highest priority items first. The first agenda items should be the ones that require everyone's participation. As the meeting time progresses, if some agenda items don't pertain to everyone, give those people permission to leave the meeting if they wish. Don't force them off, because some will want to stay. Just give them the option to leave if their participation will not be needed later in the session.
* Agree not to multitask. Multi-tasking is a huge productivity buster for teams. Although multi-tasking gives people the sense that they are more productive, in reality it lowers personal effectiveness by 20-40 percent. Even more important, teams that multitask in online meetings (vs interacting vigorously with one another in live, interactive time) lower their team's results by about one-third. The solution is three-pronged. First get your virtual team aligned around how to have a more effective online meeting. Get training to accelerate that process. Second, get everyone to promise not to multi-task. Third, review your progress at the end of every online meeting and create action steps to correct it.
* Create solid norms to enhance your onLINE meetings. People need rules to have successful onLINE meetings. When is it OK to mute? What time shall we meet that the same site doesn't always have to meet over their lunch hour? How will we use the web conference features (like raised hand) to help us interact faster and better when we can't see each other's faces? Agree on norms that make your online meetings better, and commit to them.
* Use headsets, not a speakerphone. When people talk from speakerphones, their voices sound less clear at the other end. It is very fatiguing to try to decipher words that sound like they were spoken from an empty auditorium. Even if your speakerphone has noise-canceling or echo-canceling capability, you will always sound closer and clearer if you use a headset. Clear voices sound close and more communicative, vs. unclear voices that sound like shouting as they blast out of the speakerphone.
* Join the online meeting from the desktop, not a conference room. Nothing breaks trust and teamwork faster than when any person feels disadvantaged by location from being a full and equal participant in the meeting. When people are in the same room together--no matter how much they try to include remote people--they will always fail. When everyone meets from the desktop, however, they are forced to use the interactive features of the web conference technology to interact better together. The more vigorously that people interact from the desktop, the more inclusive and participative everyone will feel.
* Create an action item register during or at the end of the meeting. Insure that everyone knows what they are supposed to do and when they are supposed to do it. In your web conference platform, show your live action register at the beginning and the end of every meeting, to insure that every item is completed. Between meetings, post the action register in an electronic place where everyone can see it and update it.

What is the #1 improvement you would like to make in your online meeting--that is, your audio conference, web conference, or video conference meeting? We ask this question of tens of thousands of people, and they always come back with one primary answer: Interaction.

Have you noticed that interaction has nearly disappeared from the majority of online meetings? You know its symptoms:

* Everyone is multi-tasking, rather than interacting with each other. Processing email is producing higher value than the team meeting, and that’s the most important indicator that something very wrong is destroying your team performance.
* People dial into the same audio bridge, but only one or two people dominate the session. The rest are dead silent. Who even knows if they are even there at their desk?
* The leader asks a question, and no one answers. The silence is deafening as we wonder if anyone is really listening.
* The leader directs a question to a specific person, only to hear that person reply, "I am sorry, but could you repeat that question again?" Well, I'm sure fooled. Are you?
* Someone tells a really funny joke, but the mute button hides any laughter. A moment that could have bonded the team ends up being sterile and uncomfortable.

Sound familiar?

Virtual teams don't have time by the water cooler like same-site teams. The only time they have to interact together is when they link up for their weekly web or audio conference call. In fact, research shows that they interact 84% less frequently than same-site teams. That makes their live, interactive moments together in the weekly meeting really precious and rare.

So, if people on your team are multi-tasking during your team's online meeting, it's no wonder why 7 out of 10 people feel so disconnected at work in global companies. No team was ever built by watching slide shows or listening to someone talk. The ONLY path to high performance comes from raising the quality of their interaction together in every online meeting. The impact of NOT interacting is catastrophic on building motivated, committed teamwork. When virtual teams fail to interact richly enough.

* They fail to build essential levels of trust.
* They fail to establish rapport.
* They fail to create solutions together.
* They fail to leverage the diversity of its long-distance participants.
* They fail to collaborate on issues that matter to them and the company.
* They fail to participate in the result.
* They fail to feel energized by the team's work, and don't give their best.
* They fail to have fun.

When they fail to interact in an online meeting, they also hold back results--big time!

* They produce 1/3 less than those that interact effectively.
* They produce lower total returns for shareholders.
* They fail to produce a premium on the stock value.
* They experience higher turnover rates.

Are any of the items listed previously stated as goals in your performance review? Of course not. They all are signs there is a very big problem that NO LEADER CAN AFFORD TO IGNORE. So, the next time your team meets, pay attention to the silence. Then ACT to change it to interaction as fast as you possibly can. Here are some best practices to make your online meeting effective.

* Create a plan to change your company's meeting culture--starting today. Let's face it. We've acquired some very bad meeting habits over the last few years, and habits don't change overnight. Change requires commitment, time, and a specific plan to make online meetings BETTER than face to face--better for people, for interaction, and your bottom line.

* Stop meeting by audio conference alone. Always supplement it with web conference technology. If your virtual team meets by audio conference, only one person can talk at a time. When teams also meet by web conference, they can also have the choice to interact through chat, polling, raised hand, participant response panels, and annotations, among many others.

* Plan your online meeting for interaction. Apply the 80/20 rule--80 percent interaction and 20 percent information. Use 80 percent of the time to brainstorm, raise issues, solve problems, make decisions, and build alignment. Use the remaining 20 percent to cover "headlines" of critical information everyone on the team needs to know.

* Make interaction overt.

Never ask, "Does anyone have any questions?" You already know the response you'll get: Full and absolute silence! Instead, use the web conference feedback tools to have people respond with a tangible yes, no, or I will go along with it. Then communicate verbally around those differences.

* Get trained in how to conduct engaging, interactive online meetings. The toughest job in the world is to engage a virtual team linked from the desktop, with all of its temptations (email, paper mail, and a very high stack of work to do). Leaders and facilitators of online meetings need new techniques and practices to replace missing non-verbal cues, to accelerate team interaction, and create trust when people can't see each other.

The modern world requires modern solutions. And modern business needs to keep up with the changes that are constantly taking place. Technological advances have made it necessary for offices everywhere to deliver quickly and efficiently. There is immense competition in every imaginable field. A slight hiccup here and a faltering step there might result in the slipping away of a lucrative contract. Businesses today do not have the luxury of dilly-dallying with their decisions. Everything has to be instant. A minute more could lead to considerable losses. That is the way of the world today, and every business organization has to adapt itself to the needs of the new world.

Conference calling has been one of the solutions that more and more businesses have been resorting to. Now, conference calls have been around for a while. They are not exactly brand new. However, conference calling has become much faster. It has become far more convenient. And it is widely regarded as a great way to get in touch with people across the globe. With globalization becoming the order of the day, one cannot help but recognize the power of a conference call to facilitate business decisions. People who are stationed on various continents can be brought together via the power of technological progress.

Moreover, the look of the age-old conference call has also changed. One no longer has to book a call several hours in advance. Conference call booking can be done mere minutes earlier. Also, a conference call no longer has to be restricted to the audio mode. These days, with the rise of the Internet, and the popularity of web conferencing, most conference calling services provide video conferencing facilities as well. So, conducting a conference call has become a lot like having a meeting. The personal touch that may have been missing in the audio conference calling facility can be gained via audio-video conferencing.

Conference calling is an economical way of dealing with the problem of having clients and colleagues who are situated abroad. Their travel and accommodation expenses would have proved to be significantly higher than that of conducting a conference call. Most conference calling services that you might look up will provide a variety of rates and bargains that customers can choose from. Whether one decides to go with web conferencing or audio conferencing would depend almost entirely on the budget that is at hand and the requirements of the meeting. Customized conferencing services seem to be the need of the day.

Although video email has yet to take off on a worldwide basis, it is safe to say that this day is coming. After all, everybody loves to use videos when they can. Don't you agree that sending a video email could offer many benefits over simple words? The fact of the matter is that while video email is not hot with everybody right now, once it starts to spread it will catch on big time. All in all, there are too many benefits for video email to lag behind for much longer.

So what are the benefits of video email, you may ask? Here are three that you will definitely come in contact with the second that you begin to use video email on a regular basis.

1. When you send video emails the recipient is going to have a much easier time understanding you. After all, a video email is just like sitting across the table from somebody. While they cannot respond to you in real time, guess what? They can simply make another video of their own and email it back to you.

2. For many people, typing emails is not always fun. In fact, for those people who do not like to write or type it can be downright annoying. This is where video email can really pick up the slack. Instead of having to write each email out and then proofread it, you can instead say what you want and then send a video with one click of the mouse. This is a great benefit no matter who you are. The convenience factor is definitely something that you should take into consideration.

3. Getting started with video email is not as hard as you may think. The main reason that many people do not use video email is because they think it is too far advanced for them to figure out. But when it comes down to it this is not the truth. To get started with video email you need two things. First off, you need an email account. Luckily, you can register one of these for free. Additionally, you need to buy a webcam. This will allow you to shoot your video emails, and in turn send them directly from your pc. It is very easy to use a webcam, and once you send a couple videos you will be surprised at just how much you learn.

All in all, the benefits of video email are well varied. The three above are the ones you are sure to encounter early on, but as you send more and more video emails you will become aware of many other benefits. This way of communicating is definitely the wave of the future.

No matter who you are, there is a good chance that you use email as one of your primary modes of communication. This holds true not only at work, but also for personal communication with friends and family as well. And even though simple text emails will never go "out of style" there is another option that has begun to surface all over the world. Video email has a lot to offer, and will definitely become more popular as the months go by. While you may not think that you have a use for video email at this point in time, once the bug hits you, it is safe to say that you will not be able to get rid of it.

Here are five ways that video email is revolutionizing the way that people communicate.

1. Video email in the workplace is already becoming common place for some companies. While this has yet to take in all industries, the time is coming when that will happen. The nice thing about video email at work is that you can more or less communicate with co-workers, clients, or potential clients in a personal manner. This type of personalization makes the workplace much more efficient and enjoyable.

2. Just like regular text emails, video email has a lot to offer personal communication. Have you ever wanted to send a video of yourself to a friend or family, but had to settle for something less? If so, video email is probably right for you. This allows you to send videos via email to anybody who has a valid address.

3. With video email, travel time is being cut out by many people. Since video email allows you to show your recipient your face, it can often time replace having to see them in person. Even though there will still be a place and time for face to face visits, video email is definitely closing this gap.

4. Getting your point across is much easier when using video email as opposed to simple text. What is the reason for this, you may ask? Well, when the recipient can see you they will be able to read your facial expressions, body language, and much more. To go along with this, video email will help to cut down on misunderstandings as well. It is commonplace for somebody to misunderstand an email message because they are not exactly sure what the sender is saying. But with video email this will be more or less a thing of the past.

5. If you are simply dying to see somebody's face, video email will make this possible without having to travel. For instance, do you have a relative that lives hundreds of miles away? If so, you can now use video email to see them instead of only being able to talk on the phone or by text emails. This is one of the biggest benefits that video email has to offer. Video email will be just as popular for personal use as in the business world.

Overall, video email is most definitely changing the way that people communicate. If you have yet to look into this mode of communication, do so today. Even though video email is still in its infancy, you may be able to find a way to make it work to your advantage. As soon as you begin to use video email on a regular basis you will more than likely get hooked to the benefits that it has to offer. Who knows, there may come a time when video email is more popular than any other way of communicating!