The Virtual Meeting Coach

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photo credit: krishnamohan01

By now,  I think just about everyone in the world has heard about the “Butterfly Effect.”

But if you haven’t heard of it – or you can’t remember – the phrase refers to the enormous potential for change that can be triggered by very small acts. Like the possibility of the flapping of a butterfly’s wings triggering a tornado on the other side of the world. (Mouse over the photo above and you’ll see the photographer’s sense of humor about this.)

The concept is part of Chaos Theory and the whole idea of “sensitive dependence on initial conditions.” Since there’s a lot of chaos showing up in economic markets across the whole globe, I’ve been thinking alot about the Butterfly Effect lately. And wondering what actually triggered the whole mess we’re in…

It’s not like I believe there’s a definitive answer to the question. But that doesn’t keep me from wondering.

The funny thing is that my musings led me to a short video that makes an important point about making small changes in a sweet and funny way. Take a look:

So, what’s the point? Well, as soon as I quit chuckling, it occurred to me that what’s going on between this man and woman is the same thing that happens between me and other people who are watching me enjoy virtual meetings… and wanting some of that sweetness for themselves.

I’m always telling clients – and potential clients -  that they can have a bite for FREE, any time they like. I pass out links to different kinds of sites where they can try all kinds of virtual meeting tools – for FREE.

But a surprising number of people are still having a hard time getting the sweetness from these new possibilities without some help from me. Just like the lady needs to borrow the man’s chompers to take advantage of the Butterfinger. That’s why I started this blog in the first place.

So, for what it’s worth, it seemed useful to share the video. Not because I want to brand myself as a pair of false teeth (although that’s a pretty funny idea).

The point is that if you’re not already having your clients and your coworkers jump all over the idea of having virtual meetings with you (instead of spending their precious time and money driving and flying all over the place), then maybe they need a little more help from you so they can get some of the sweetness for themselves.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Does that make sense?

If so, what small change could you make in the way you’re pitching virtual meetings to your clients that would allow you to trigger an avalanche of savings for you – and for them – in 2009?

My change-of-the-week: making an analogy, using this nutty video, that you can pass along to YOUR clients and coworkers. The analogy is a little out-of-the-box, but if you enjoy it, you could use it to open the conversation with clients and coworkers about how you could help

I invite you to share this post with every client you’d like to share a $5K to $50K savings with next year. Or pass it on to coworkers, so you can start saving your time this year for what’s most important…

What might happen if you actually did this? It can’t hurt …and you just might just trigger an avalanche of well-being.

At the very least, if you got one person to start meeting with you virtually, you would be walking your talk about reducing the carbon footprint you’re leaving with your business travel.  And that would be a valuable contribution to the whole planet!

Want to play? Tag, you’re it…

I don’t know about you, but I’m watching the economic news from the sidelines.

On the one hand, things look truly bleak. Some days the future’s so far in the RED that it almost looks BLACK.

On the other hand, with everything in the toilet – now including the US auto industry – there’s a lot more room for new possibilities.

I never thought I’d find myself feeling gleeful watching so many things and so many concepts we’ve considered “valuable” get flushed away all at once. But as the news gets worse and worse, I find I’m often feeling better and better.

Call me perverse.

Maybe I’m finally getting the wisdom of hopelessness Meg Wheatley wrote about after 9/11.

Whatever it is,  besides feeling surprisingly okay watching most of my lifesavings float away,  I’m also getting more and more excited about helping friends and other independent business people develop their “telepresence.” Because it’s time now. Really time!

We simply have to do some things differently if we expect to save money and save time for what’s really important in 2009. And using social media – including virtual meetings – is one of the best ways I know to augment close business and personal relationships without driving and flying all over the place all the time.

So, what is “telepresence?”

The way I use that new word, “telepresence,” is a little different than the way the manufacturers of the expensive, high-definition video conferencing systems are using it. I’m not talking about buying and installing $50-$300K remote viewing systems in your home office.

For me, “telepresence” is a way of referring to your skill at being present with people you’re not able to be in the same room with.

Understood this way, “telepresence” has nothing to do with hardware and very little to do with software.

Instead, “telepresence” is about using your telephone, IM, text messaging, and now virtual meeting rooms in ways that make people feel like you’re with them, even when you’re across town, across the country, or across the globe from their physical bodies.

Looked at this way, telepresence is a set of engagement skills. Some of them are technical. Most of them are social. Some parts can become routine. Some will remain art and, therefore, require practice. But the good news is that all of them are FREE to develop and practice.

Skype, GTalk, DimDim, Yuuguu, Yugma, vYew, Elluminate, and WiZiQ all offer free places to practice and play with people around the block or around the globe.  New places are opening up every week. Get yourself a membership in one or more of these places and let’s practice!

Instead of wringing our hands about things too big for us to change, I’d like to suggest that the year ahead is going to be a great time to practice our “telepresence.” Like Meg Wheatley, I’m ready to “journey through this time of increasing uncertainty. Groundless, hopeless, insecure, patient, clear. And together.”

What have we got to lose?

It’s Wednesday afternoon at 3pm: you’ve got to leave the office one more time to drive across town and sit with a client to explain a complex document.

Or it’s Friday morning at 10am: your partner can’t make it back today to meet with the Board chair, so you’re scouring the office for a recorder and a mic so you can at least record your conversation.

Or it’s Tuesday at 5pm: your client just made crucial changes to your project plan. You need to alert the rest of the team to change direction right away. Only three people are out of town and so is your boss.

Just another day in paradise, right?

People who make a living selling their expertise need help saving time and reducing the costs of doing business.

The good news is that virtual meeting technologies give us the ability to do both right now.

In virtual meeting rooms, from two to two dozen people can easily share voice and visual data in real-time without anyone having to drive across town or fly across the state to do it. And, if you know how, you can do this for FREE!

When you understand how to use them effectively, free virtual meeting rooms afford you enormous freedom and save both time and money.

They allow you to conference with others over critical documents anywhere you can get on the internet. They spare you and your clients the headaches of rush-hour traffic jams and skyrocketing fuel costs, not to speak of the money you spend on hotel rooms and crummy restaurant food.

And they help you reduce the carbon footprint you’re leaving with all that business travel, too.

As you become more familiar with them, free internet conferencing tools can help you free up hundreds of hours and save from $5K to $50K – or more – a year!

Just off the top of my head, here are 21 things I know you can do just as well in a FREE virtual meeting room as you can face-to-face:

1. Update participants on project teams without anyone having to travel.
2. Train from 1 to 1000 people – presenting crucial information, taking questions, sharing answers.
3. Collect input on a critical issue from a dispersed group of stakeholders.
4. Discuss highlights in trend data with decision-makers without anyone having to travel.
5. Qualify sales prospects so both parties are ensured of high productivity from face-to-face meetings.
6. Do the same with job candidates.
7. Collaborate securely around visual data in real-time with a dispersed group of experts.
8. Include non-local stakeholders in a Board meeting.
9. Provide customers both data and personal support when they’re experiencing difficulties making use of your products or services.
10. Explain or clarify news about your company.
11. Explain document complexities in a low-pressure context so you can negotiate contracts and close sales faster.
12. Consult one-on-one with clients when you’re on the road, providing them both voice and visual support.
13. Demonstrate confusing software operations.
14. Record contributions made by meeting participants for later review – or so people unable to attend live can see and hear what happened.
15. Poll stakeholders on crucial questions and explore their responses with them in real-time.
16. Review a budget, line by line, making annotations and changes with others.
17. Elicit and capture people’s informal feelings and needs (using text chat) while moving quickly through a formal presentation.
18. Share pictures, diagrams and technical drawings in a secure environment, without delay and without travel.
19. Reduce operating costs while enhancing the frequency, efficiency, and effectiveness of coworkers’ real-time communication and collaboration.
20. Extend the reach of personal services to shut-ins and other people challenged by travel.
21. Host interstate and international conferences without having to think about airport shuttling, parking, hotel reservations and setup, catering, or name badges.

How do I know you can do these things? Because I’ve done them all myself.

And, this is really just the tip of the iceberg!

Free virtual meeting tools offer independent business people and nonprofit organizations enormous potential benefits and savings.

Of course I would never recommend that you move ALL your meetings online. But as you begin to move the right ones into free virtual meeting rooms, you can pocket huge savings… and start using all that time and money for what’s really important to you – and the planet.

Save once – win two or three times over!

If you want to learn more about how to use these free technologies, stay tuned here. That’s what I’m all about.