There are six ways of arranging meetings with international colleagues,
1) by conference call,
2) airport lounge or hotel meeting when in transit,
3) your hotel
4) at a town or country club, using reciprocal memberships
5) or a city coffee shop,
6) restaurant.
You might try all of these, on one business trip, or over the course of a year, as I have. Let's start with the conference call, saves flying. But first time for any of your users can lead to chaotic conference calls.
1 Conference Call
a) Choices
You can save on the cost of international calls by using Skype.
I've seen this done across three continents with companies the size of Nielsen, and also participated in multi-city conference calls with not for profit Toastmasters International speakers clubs.
b) Challenges
i) Across three time zones, e.g. USA, Europe and Asia, you may find that your VIP in the office in the USA always arranges conference calls in office hours which mean that people in other parts of the world have to get up early or miss their weekend social or club or sports meeting or family events such as birthday parties.
ii) One or more of the participants may be unfamiliar with the system and unable to hear or see or be heard and seen as you take each of half a dozen members in turn for their comments on each item of your agenda.
c) Solutions - Preparation and Troubleshooting
iA) Organisers in head office in the USA. Vary meetings days and times, e.g. first week of month or uneven weeks (1st, 3rd, 5th) use mornings in home or head office country, alternating weeks, use evenings in home country. Or change from Mondays to Fridays so you are not always taking your Asian staff away from their family or club or social meetings. Or simple ask staff if they have any regular or intermittent events at those times. You may think work is a priority over social life, especially with new staff, or even with long-time staff, but to keep goodwill and prevent staff leaving from overload it's a good idea to check every now and then.
iB) From the employees point of view, the head office cannot know that you are taking an exam for a course which is run on a certain evening a week, nor that it is your wedding anniversary. Instead of saying that you cannot attend or feigning sickness, let the others know of your plans in advance.
For example, you could ask the others where they recommend you take your spouse for your wedding anniversary dinner, and book the restaurant they suggest, and thank them. If they then decide they must hold a meeting that date and time, they may remember your dinner and realise that your are losing money on the booking and disappointing the family. The company (boss) might apologise, rearrange the conference call, or send flowers and a card or a gift to your spouse by way of apology and so that their special day is still special and to create goodwill.
ii) When trying this out with a new team, it's a good idea to have a short run with just two of you with the leader and each user so as to troubleshoot. This will get the newcomers up to speed with the system and prevent multiple users avoid all those delays whilst newcomers to the system say, I can't see the picture, I can see you but can't hear you, how do I increase the volume etc.
1) by conference call,
2) airport lounge or hotel meeting when in transit,
3) your hotel
4) at a town or country club, using reciprocal memberships
5) or a city coffee shop,
6) restaurant.
You might try all of these, on one business trip, or over the course of a year, as I have. Let's start with the conference call, saves flying. But first time for any of your users can lead to chaotic conference calls.
1 Conference Call
a) Choices
You can save on the cost of international calls by using Skype.
I've seen this done across three continents with companies the size of Nielsen, and also participated in multi-city conference calls with not for profit Toastmasters International speakers clubs.
b) Challenges
i) Across three time zones, e.g. USA, Europe and Asia, you may find that your VIP in the office in the USA always arranges conference calls in office hours which mean that people in other parts of the world have to get up early or miss their weekend social or club or sports meeting or family events such as birthday parties.
ii) One or more of the participants may be unfamiliar with the system and unable to hear or see or be heard and seen as you take each of half a dozen members in turn for their comments on each item of your agenda.
c) Solutions - Preparation and Troubleshooting
iA) Organisers in head office in the USA. Vary meetings days and times, e.g. first week of month or uneven weeks (1st, 3rd, 5th) use mornings in home or head office country, alternating weeks, use evenings in home country. Or change from Mondays to Fridays so you are not always taking your Asian staff away from their family or club or social meetings. Or simple ask staff if they have any regular or intermittent events at those times. You may think work is a priority over social life, especially with new staff, or even with long-time staff, but to keep goodwill and prevent staff leaving from overload it's a good idea to check every now and then.
iB) From the employees point of view, the head office cannot know that you are taking an exam for a course which is run on a certain evening a week, nor that it is your wedding anniversary. Instead of saying that you cannot attend or feigning sickness, let the others know of your plans in advance.
For example, you could ask the others where they recommend you take your spouse for your wedding anniversary dinner, and book the restaurant they suggest, and thank them. If they then decide they must hold a meeting that date and time, they may remember your dinner and realise that your are losing money on the booking and disappointing the family. The company (boss) might apologise, rearrange the conference call, or send flowers and a card or a gift to your spouse by way of apology and so that their special day is still special and to create goodwill.
ii) When trying this out with a new team, it's a good idea to have a short run with just two of you with the leader and each user so as to troubleshoot. This will get the newcomers up to speed with the system and prevent multiple users avoid all those delays whilst newcomers to the system say, I can't see the picture, I can see you but can't hear you, how do I increase the volume etc.
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