Boris Johnson’s trip to New York yesterday to attend a press conference – admittedly to promote business travel – got us thinking about one of the main reasons for organising a conference call instead of a face-to-face meeting: time. Whilst he may have had other things to do whilst there, Boris’ press conference probably lasted only an hour, so he effectively travelled over 10 hours (return trip) not including getting to and returning from the airport, for a one-hour meeting. Ten hours which would surely have been better spent in and around his office in London.
Travelling to a meeting often takes more time than the meeting itself, and even in this age of the mobile internet, travelling is never as productive as sitting in the office with all the necessary tools to hand. What is scary, too, is how little distance you need to travel in order for travelling time to exceed meeting time. For instance, Powwownow’s offices are based in Richmond, so only around 15 miles from Central London, and yet even from this distance it will typically take two hours of travel to get there and back again once you take into account walking to and from stations, waiting for trains, changing trains, etc. This means that a one-hour meeting will in fact take three hours of potentially billable time, and this doesn’t even take into account the cost of travel, or the cost to the environment. Once you start to go further afield, say Leeds, then a whole day will basically be consumed for a 1-2 hour meeting.
We’re not saying there aren’t good reasons for face to travelling to face meetings, but there are many more bad reasons. In all of these cases, a conference call is undoubtedly cheaper and greener, and it will also save time every time.
