高效的视频会议怎么开

    电话会议、Skype在线视频通话以及全球视频会议等技术不断涌现，极大地改变了人们举行会议的方式。这是件好事，因为它至少每年能为大公司省下大笔的差旅费。但它也有软肋：在视频会议中，要实现有效交流实非易事。

    通讯咨询公司Speakeasy的首席执行官斯科特.维斯称：“现在绝大多数管理人员都是在现场会议的环境中成长起来的，即大家坐在同一个会议室里围着一张圆桌开会。因此，视频会议的环境会让他们觉得颇为陌生。部分原因在于，在这种会上，与会者通常无法获得即时反馈，对自己表现如何心里没底。”

    因此，在Speakeasy最新开展的一项调查中，尽管高达67%的受访高级经理称，2012年预计将举行更多的视频会议，但毫不奇怪，也有62%的人称，他们对自己是否具备充分利用这种会议的技巧感到担心。

    维斯称，搞砸视频会议的风险确实存在。他说：“比如要和派驻在不同地点的高级管理人员召开一场常规的季度战略会议，而且决定采用视频会议的形式。如果与会的每个人并未完全理解会议上所说的内容，或者有人没机会发表一些至关重要的信息，你可能要等到会议结束很久以后才会意识到这一点——而此时经营上可能已经蒙受了重大损失。”这时就该你张口结舌了。

    就如何避免这种情况，维斯及其团队已向众多“财富500强”企业的管理人员提供了相应的培训。这些企业包括：可口可乐公司（Coca-Cola），微软公司（Microsoft），家得宝公司（Home Depot），UPS公司以及通用汽车公司（General Motors）。这一培训的要点如下：

尽可能减少视觉干扰

    显然，在电话会议中这不是问题，但在视频会议上，与会者能相互看见，这就不是小事了。因此维斯的建议是：“请按照电视出镜的标准着装。”这意味着，要穿的保守而简单，比如一套深色西装，纯色衬衫或女式衬衫。不要穿白色服装，因为在灯光下它会产生眩光，也不要穿图案复杂的服装，比如犬牙花纹。

眼睛直视摄像头

    摄像头通常就是个小黑点，所以，当你潜意识里可能更想看着显示屏时，要你看着摄像头会有些不舒服。不过，维斯称：“摄像头就是进行眼神交流的手段。如果看着别处，就会让人觉得你在有意躲避，或是心不在焉。同样的道理，当你在会上与对方交谈，视线却越过对方的肩膀，也会显得失礼。”

    维斯称：“就算视频会议要开两个小时，你也必须专注地看着摄像头。举个例子，你肯定不希望摄像头拍到你时，你正低着头看手机。人们常常跟我说，一场耗时很长的视频会议开完后，他们会因为全程都必须做到全神贯注而感到筋疲力尽。”

    What with teleconferencing, Skype, and global conference calls, technology has wrought a sea change in the way people hold meetings. That can be great, not least because it saves some big companies millions annually in travel costs. The downside: Coming across effectively in a virtual gathering is tricky.

    "Most executives today 'grew up' with in-person meetings where everyone was seated around a table in the same room," says Scott Weiss, CEO of communication consulting firm Speakeasy. "So a virtual meeting is a strange environment, partly because you usually don't get immediate feedback to let you know how you did."

    Small wonder, then, that although 67% of senior managers in a new Speakeasy poll expect more virtual confabs in 2012, 62% say they're concerned about their own skill at making the most of these meetings.

    The risks in blowing it are real, Weiss notes. "Let's say you have a regularly-scheduled quarterly strategy meeting with all of your senior people in various locations, and you decide to do it as a teleconference," he says. "If everyone doesn't get everything that's being said, or someone doesn't have a chance to contribute vital information, you might not realize it until much later -- after substantial damage has been done to the business." Gulp.

    Weiss and his team have coached executives at Fortune 500 companies like Coca-Cola (KO), Microsoft (MSFT), Home Depot, UPS (UPS), and General Motors (GM) on how to avoid that. A few pointers:

Minimize visual distractions

    Obviously, in a phone meeting this doesn't matter, but in a teleconference where your audience can see you, "dress as you would for a television appearance," Weiss suggests. That means conservative, simple clothing, like a dark suit and solid-color shirt or blouse. Avoid white, since it can create a glare under the lights, and busy patterns like houndstooth.

Keep your eyes on the camera lens

    This is usually a small black dot, and it feels strange to stare at that when your impulse is probably to watch the monitor instead. "The lens is your means of eye contact. Looking anywhere else comes across as evasive or inattentive," Weiss says. "It also looks rude, like looking over someone's shoulder when you're talking to them at a party.

    "Even in a two-hour teleconference, you have to stay focused on that lens. You don't want the camera to find you looking down at your cell phone, for example," Weiss says. "People often tell me they're exhausted at the end of a long virtual meeting from being 'on' the whole time."