Phone, Web Conferencing and Email are all inferior

As I sit here in the Detroit airport facing a 4 hour delay and scheduled arrival back in Portland at 2AM PST, it would be easy for me to rail against the need for face to face visits, but I won’t. It’s incredibly valuable to get together with the team who is ultimately responsible for delivering solutions and countless updates of those solutions to a user base that is always asking for more. In fact, my visit with just such a team this week at University of Michigan only serves to reinforce my belief that there is no replacement for the occasional face-to-face get together. Phone, Web Conferencing, and Email are all inferior to physical presence.

In three busy days, we covered a wide range of topics. We imagined the best way to approach tough problems and then defined a path to get there. We talked about current challenges and the best way to handle them. We talked about the best ways to leverage native capabilities of Click Commerce Extranet. We built relationships that improve how we work together between now and the time I’m invited to return for another visit. All of this in 2 1/2 days. All of this because we were physically in the same room.

One can argue that all of this could be achieved through web conferencing, email, and phone calls and they wouldn’t be wrong. It’s my opinion, however, that the efficiency and effectiveness of these forms of communication pale in comparison to “being there, together” and the lasting impact is greater.

Sure, Web Conferencing companies will extol the virtues of “being there” virtually and there’s huge value in using this type of technology, but this is an approach taken when we’re unable to breath the same air.

Included in every project proposal are at least two onsite visits, and, for longer projects, there are at least three:

Kickoff
Starting the project right is am important part of a successful project. The kickoff is the first opportunity for your Click Project Manager to really get to know each of the members of your team. This isn’t limited to the technical members of your team but the sponsors, leaders in the business and anyone else you will need to help insure success. A lot of good work happens in this meeting. Current process is reviewed, desired process is explored, and we get to show how your needs and wants will be handled by Click Commerce Extranet. Beyond that though, it’s our chance to build a good working relationship from the very beginning. It’s a truly effective great big hug to set the project in motion.

Mid-Project Review
For larger projects, it’s a good idea to hold a mid project review where the entire project team, including business leads and sponsors, get together to review progress, remaining work, schedule, and perform a sanity check that the project is on track deliver to expectations.

Alpha Test
Development is complete and it’s time to invite your users in for a real end to end test. Nothing replaces being there to watch your end users navigate their way through a new system. Where did they “Get it”? Where did they struggle? How did the site deliver to expectations? How did it perform? All of this is subjective and much of the user’s response is communicated through side remarks, body language, and whether they continue with the tests or start checking their email instead. Most of this is not later conveyed by your testers when they complete the survey at the end of the test. By being there to “hear” all forms of communication, both halves of the team (Click and Institution) witness the same thing. It’s a shared experience that allows for better and more efficient choices in how to address what we “heard”.

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In today’s world of tight budgets, it’s easy to understand the tendency to believe that these visits aren’t necessary and can be replaced by virtual meetings but, if it’s a cost-based decision, do not underestimate the costs of not having that shared experience. Listening is done by the eyes as well as the ears and nothing is better than being there. By being remote, much is lost when you attempt to communicate virtually.

I’m thankful for the chance I had this week to breathe the same air as the University of Michigan team and felt that a lot was accomplished in a short time.

Cheers!