Spending hours on the road for an hour’s meeting isn’t the best use of time so we tested the HR water and asked those in the know including Dave Wilson, Head of Employment Policy at BT and Dr Gilly Salmon, Professor of E-Learning and Learning Technologies at the University of Leicester their views on whether web-conferencing will cut it in the future.
Dr Gilly Salmon, Professor of E-learning & Learning Technologies, University of Leicester and Director of Online Training company, www.atimod.com:
“In Higher Education we’ve found that asynchronous methods have been more productive for deeper learning but synchronous conferencing (i.e. occurring at the same time but not in the same place) is very good for reaching decisions, offering immediacy and allowing for a good transition to e-meetings for people who are used to meeting face to face.
“There are literally hundreds of both learning and business applications. In universities, for example, where PHD students are based all over the world, we can use low cost web conferencing methods that dramatically change our ability to communicate regularly and effectively. If we can do it when we’re developing PHD projects then everyone else can find productive and useful applications! You will get better contributions from some people using the web then when you do with face to face discussions, because online is both a social and psychological environment. Many people would be reluctant to contribute in a face to face meeting but will do so online. It is a much better use therefore of employee skills and knowledge, it also cuts costs, reduces travel and is much greener.”
Dave Wilson, Head of Employment Policy at BT:
“Web conferencing is already radically changing the way we do business. The concept of wasting thousands of hours a year travelling has been challenged as more and more people ask the question “Can I dial in?” As soon as one person in a meeting takes this option it challenges everyone else who is attending as to whether travelling to the ‘location’ of the meeting is really the most effective use of their time. Not only does this make it make it more productive it also reduces business travel costs and the total number of miles travelled including the impact of the way we do business on our environment.”
Peter Owen, Head of IT at Eversheds:
“There are two sides – using video conferencing and using the web to drive down prices. There is also what people classically call the web cam, a small camera attached to your screen which is generally used for one to one conferences but can be used for one to many in other words a broadcast. They don’t particularly work for lots of parties, however, and my view is that they won’t fully take off until the standard equipment incorporates the camera, built into your flat screen. We’re already seeing this in laptops but it hasn’t hit the broad desktop yet.
“That will make it widely available. It could be widespread and cheap communication coupled with a product like Instant Messaging will allow users to see if someone is there. I can see that taking off in two to three years. From an HR point of view things that will stand in the way are open-plan offices. If you’re having web conferences then that will cause disruption and there is the stress of being permanently online – where do you hide? There are lots of personal issues involved which may cause barriers to conferencing, you can already see these obstacles hampering e-learning – so there will have to be a whole etiquette built around it.”
Neil Tonks, Payroll and Legislation advisor at Midland HR & Payroll Solutions:
“Initiatives such as home working and offshoring are going to make workforces ever more decentralised. As this happens, the ability to hold a productive meeting at a distance will gain in importance.
“Being able to share documents, pictures, presentations and so on in real time will make web conferencing an invaluable tool. It will reduce the amount of business travel, which in turn will reduce costs and improve efficiency: how often have you spent a day out of the office in order to attend a short meeting at some remote venue?
“For the HR professional it will be a real boon, making it easier to provide a personalised service to employees who are scattered across the country (or across the globe).”
Joe Espana, MD of Performance Equations
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“Web conferencing is an excellent tool, when time and distance is an obstacle to team or project communication and/or updates. It’s also tremendously useful when holding a forum type debate. Unfortunately for those of us who need human contact and want to see the whites of peoples eyes as they respond to ideas and issues, it can very frustrating and limiting.”
For more on web conferencing see:
