Image Rules

Early Edition

An associate of mine shared a trend she had noticed in her workplace.  Her company has multiple offices across the country, so they spend a lot of time meeting via conference calls.  She told me that shes noticed a number of individuals in her office participating in the conference call from their desk or office as opposed to joining in a central meeting room with the rest of the meeting participants from that office location. 

In other words, these individuals arent walking down the hallway, or going up two floors to participate face-to-face with the colleagues in their location as they conference in with those in remote locations.  I found that curious.  I immediately thought those that choose to communicate this way are lazy.  I might be incorrect, but that was my split second impression.  Why would they not at least join the local team to be there in person?  It promotes communication, collaboration, team unity and meeting effectiveness and efficiency.  Would some ever consider dialing in for a meeting down the hall?  Of course not!  Whats the difference between that and now adding some more folks via a conference call? 

There are pitfalls to dialing solo a conference call with a number of call participants.  You can get distracted easily.  Im thinking that one reason these individuals are opting out of the meeting room is so they can multi-task.  You know, do some email while kind of listening in.  It also sends that statement that the individual doesnt think the meeting is important enough to show up in person, which will likely be noticed by others.  A big red flag.

The quality of the interaction suffers.  Multi-tasking is paradoxically inefficient because you arent giving any one task your full attention.  As a result, the quality of the interaction suffers, the meeting doesnt go as efficiently and effectively, and people are missing out on personal interaction.  For me the personal interaction is so important.  As an extrovert, I get energy from being around others.

Communication is the building block of relationships.  While not many of us love endless meetings, they create a forum for interaction, which can be leveraged to build and enhance relationships.  My advice is if there is a central meeting room in your office that is part of a multi-location conference call, show up in person to the meeting.  It sends the right message, it positions you to be the most effective contributor you can be, and it keeps you present and focused. 

In addition, there is a health by product.  In this sedentary age, taking a few hundred or thousand extra steps a day can add up to meeting the 10,000 steps per day goal (5 miles) that many health organizations are recommending for fitness.  So, stand up, walk to the meeting a talk face to face at that next multi-location meeting.


Posted in: Office Matters

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