Behaving with technology
WITH EERY passing day being the dawn of a new gizmo or aid to human commerce, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the times. With the advent of the telegraph, it was thought that business communication could not get any faster ,till the advent a few years later of Mr. Bell's telephone. The world as it was then known was thought to have shrunk as much as it could. But then it was discovered that while conversations could take place, it was not as strategically useful or effective as a face-to-face meeting. So businessmen continued to travel so that they could see each other and talk shop. Facsimile transmission was followed by the speed-of-type email.
Then it became possible to talk to several people at once and the teleconference became popular, but it was still not as satisfying or reassuring as looking at the person with whom we were dealing. It became inevitable then to find inventors and innovators working in a frenzy to provide a method where corporate moguls could confer while keeping a wary eye on their counterparts on the other side of the world. Face to face meetings between people half a world apart became possible when video-conferencing became possible.
For a few years it was a technology that only Presidents and Prime Ministers could afford, but today a person off the street can video-conference and the technology has permeated even to some of the remotest regions of the world.
However, with its ease of use came the accompanying opportunities to abuse. And since abusing is often easier than following regulation and rules, abuse became the order of the day. Finally, business behaviourists got into the act and laid down norms to facilitate the friendly commerce between companies so that an atmosphere of trust and reliance could be created.
A successful videoconference does not happen naturally. One has to take deliberate measures to ensure the desired success:
Get Your Side Aligned. One thing a videoconference needs to be successful - arguably the most important thing - is equipment that works.
Make certain that all equipment is in top working condition. See that the camera has view-access to every person required to attend. Check the auto focus and that the voice-sensitive direction finder works.
A successful session always has a spare camera console and sound equipment in case something goes wrong. Remember the first law: if anything can go wrong - it will!
Get the Actors in Place. Despite being the most movie-crazy nation in the history of the world we are also the most incredibly camera conscious citizenry on the planet. Allow participants to strike several attitudes on camera, allow them to see what they look like, and allow them to get comfortable with the disconcerting swivel pan that the voice-sensitive camera performs from time to time.
Make sure the chairs are comfortable so that participants do not keep fidgeting about all the time
Make sure everybody is Agenda Aware. It will be destination disaster if participants maunder on endlessly without a proper planned agenda to follow. There should be one and it is mandatory that everybody knows it well beforehand.
A strategy would be to orchestrate the respondents. For instance it would be wise to ask one member to field certain types of questions and another to deal with others. This will ensure efficiency and indicate to the other side that you have a well-oiled office with clear responsibilities delineated equitably.
Otherwise when several people join the fray to answer with overwhelming eagerness nothing will resemble the confusion of Babel more
Agree on Externals. Please get participants to dress with decorum and taste. It will not do to have a group of people dressed in a way that violently clashes with each other - unless the idea is to audition for a clown act in a circus. Muted elegance should be the order of the day, with sobriety and professionalism being the watchwords
Adhere to Timelines: Make it a point that you start (and end) on time. It is both rude and self-defeating to allow participants to shamble in and out of the room while the videoconference is in progress. The other side will realise how undisciplined your company and you are if you allow this. When the conference starts please introduce everybody present and if it is possible to have high-visibility name boards in front of every participant things can get really cosy
Talk Shop. Remember that you will be talking with the aid of microphones so there is no real need to holler as if you were in a particularly busy fish market. Make sure everybody speaks up and clearly - into the microphone. Many first timers start looking at the video screen and talk over the microphone. Some are consumed by unwonted shyness and mumble incoherently into their beards.
Others feel that a whisper is sufficient to carry across several thousand kilometres. Eye contact is important and staring at the screen may not establish that. Talk to the camera, not necessarily only to the screen. When talking to someone in the same room, do look at him naturally but be aware that the remote party can see you
Beeps, Trills and Spills. Do everybody the courtesy of switching off all cell phones, paging devices, alarms and, if you gesticulate a great deal when you talk, make certain that any glasses of water are away from the sweep of your scything arms. Yes, I said switch off, not `put-on-silent'. Phones on silent mode interfere with the conference equipment.
Restrain, Retrain but Remain! Leaving the room is a no-no. Unless you are having a massive heart attack and have this overwhelming need to live, do not allow yourself from being removed from your place.
Restrain your bladder by moderating your fluid intake. If you must eat, try not to stuff yourself while you speak aside from becoming incoherent, you will also spray the microphone with suspended particulate matter that will ruin the system in minutes. Ensure that very crisp biscuits are placed in close proximity to a humidifier so that there is not a sound like the crackle of small-arms fire in the background as participants wolf them down
Understand Network Delays. If your system is linked to a creaky pipeline be aware that there will be a two-second gap in the video/audio feed. Allow people to finish what they are saying before leaping in with your answer. It feels silly if your response pre-empted a different question
Finally, as in real, face-to-face meetings try to keep your biological hygiene activities down to an unobtrusive minimum.
The spectacle of a participant performing elaborate cleansing or re-adjustment activities across thousands of kilometres is not for what the technology was invented. So get in there and talk to the stars!
ABHIMANYU ACHARYA
Abhimanyu@india.com
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