Benefits of “Enterprise Twitter” … Sean outlines the benefits of using Twitter-like capabilities inside the enterprise. “The key benefit to implementing microblogging withing your organizations is collaboration. I am a firm believer that any tool …

I agree that the ultimate answer is not technology, per se, but the evolution of behavior and culture to take advantage of the technology. To that point, someone who would exert the energy to travel but can not make the necessary preparations to successfully collaborate electronically has a clear opportunity to evolve. I believe that that workers who make these behavioral changes will be very valuable assets - travel is unlikely to become cheaper, easier, or more environmentally friendly any time soon! (Although the solutions offered by FlyMiwok are undoubtedly superior.)

Thanks again for the discourse! Next time let’s use video!

I don’t want to knock technology per se. Over the last years, technology has much improved and the variety of technology has increased beyond my personal expectation. Today we happily use a variety of all the technologies and services that you mentioned in your comment to our post. The less complex the set-up (not just technically, but people being in the right places, having access to good-quality communication with little background noise) the more satisfactory the outcome typically is.

More often, it’s the people that are at the center of the problem. Many are willing and stick to the “rules”, but some are just rude and do not care that they disrupt meetings and how they do so; or are simply oblivious to the consequences of their actions.

Technology often helped me when presenting to a large number of people, such as in trainings and webinars (typically through shared access to media and concierge services). Where it broke down was in highly interactive meetings where business decisions were made. Decision makers were frequently on-the-go while “calling in” for a meeting, thus not having access to materials and having a hard time following along. Co-Presenters were driving to their next customer appointments while trying to influence business decisions; you can probably predict the outcome. Stakeholders paid the usual “constant partial attention” to the proceedings of the meeting. In fact, as the stress of our daily lives increased, so was participation via just the telephone, so one could put the call on hold and listen in while “multi-tasking”.

All of this might be either a sign of our times, just bad manners by some or the lack of discipline in certain organizations. But it’s very real. Technology cannot overcome this. Depending on your role in these group meetings, technology might make your life easier. Or might force you on the road, to be in the room with the decision makers to ensure that everything goes according to plan. At least as much as you can influence it.