A book I read many years ago called Uncommon Vision, written by my now departed uncle, talks about an executive who would seek input from everybody from customers, to employees, to the crew that cleaned the company’s offices. The idea of an executive being so open and available for input from so many people was kind of revolutionary at the time. But that’s changed significantly in recent years as executives – and really, employees at many levels within organizations – have become far more collaborative and social.
Executives used to be thought of as individuals who largely operated behind closed doors in corner offices. These days, many top-level executives at the world’s largest companies have been elevated to celebrity status. But whatever the size of the organization of which they lead, conventional wisdom now recommends that executives and their staffs should actively seek out the opinions of other stakeholders in their businesses.
That said, it’s no surprise that meetings are on the rise. According to a paper published earlier this year by Ovum (News - Alert) and LogMeIn’s join.me effort, more than 50 percent of employees report that the number of meeting they have is increasing. And, executives say they average 17 meetings a week.
Other takeaways from the paper, which presents the results of a survey of 3,926 employees in 19 international markets, are that ad hoc meetings are on the rise, nearly half of meetings are one to one, and about a third of meetings are virtual.
This would all seem to bode well for companies, which in today’s environment of the always-on customer are taking extra care to listen to customers and employees that can convey information that could enable them to better meet marketplace needs, realize savings, or otherwise address company goals. But, as anyone who’s ever attended a meeting knows, meetings also have a downside – well, many downsides, actually. That may include taking up time that could be better used on other matters, and/or delayed start times due to human or technology factors that can further drain productivity.
Ovum and LogMeIn (News - Alert) indicate this situation could be improved with the right meeting tools that allow for quick and easy scheduling and the opportunity for better and more efficient collaboration.
As Maurice Nagle recently reported in a TMCnet posting, new solutions on this front include reservationless phone conference services that allow a user to host a conference call at any time of day using any landline phone or mobile device; the ability for hosts and participants to share PowerPoint presentations and other files, and to do live polling; and the capability for participants to do virtual hand-raising when appropriate to make it feel more like an in-person interaction – but without the cost and travel time involved.
Edited by Maurice Nagle