The economy being what it is, there's not a lot of money in most organizations for discretionary travel. There was a time when I was off on some business trip or another at least once a month ... one year, I was working a project for which I traveled so often to Colorado Springs that I got a Christmas card from the manager of the Holiday Inn where I always stayed.
But that was then, and this is now. Unless you're the CEO of a major corporation or a member of Congress whose travel is paid for by the CEOs of major corporations, you figure out ways to get things done without traveling. The main way this is done nowadays is by videoconferencing or audio conference calls.
Videoconferencing is nice because you can see the people at the other end, and you can get the feeling - almost - that you're in the same room dealing with them. The downside is, of course, that they can see you, too. It can be embarrassing to fall asleep while the camera is on you, or to see on screen that the notes you're taking are actually on a crossword or sudoku puzzle.
Conference calls are better. No one can see you on screen, so if you're participating from home, you can do so in your pajamas (or less) and no one is the wiser. There's no camera (which can often be controlled by the people at the far end) to see what you're really doing while you're on the call with the mute button pressed.
And what are you doing? According to this article in the Harvard Business Review, these are the top things people are really doing while they're on a conference call*:
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
* If you add up the percentages, it comes to 378%. There must be a lot of people on that call.
** I almost said, "doing number one or number two," but thought better of it.
