Videoconferencing and Other Technologies
Videoconferencing
- Impact Factory runs tailored Video Conferencing programmes
and personalised One-to-One Executive Coaching
for anyone who is interested in Video Conferencing Issues
Videoconferencing and other distance communication
Modern communications technology is incredibly complex. Yet it is now so "friendly" that we rarely see beyond the screen or the buttons we push. It has become so common that we take it for granted. No longer is it just for the rich, sophisticated or geekie. We are all being required to use it.The glamour and razzmatazz that surrounds the technology, however, can easily give us the impression that it can do everything.
This is just not so.
Don't get me wrong, to be able to do a videoconference halfway round the world is miraculous; to be able to access any computer on the web would have been unthinkable even a few short years ago. And mobile phones, which were quite recently a rich man's toy, can now be seen on buses and bicycles.
No, the point we miss in the glare and hype is quite simple: the technology is not able to reproduce face to face. That simple. It is limited.
If we approach the use of our technology as if it will do our communicating for us we quickly get into trouble.
For instance, every videoconferencing system has the camera to the side or above the screen. This means that if you look at the screen (as you will, because that's where the image of the other person is going to be) you will look as if you are not looking directly at your co-communicator at the other end.
This is a problem. So much so that boffins are working day and night to perfect a screen with a camera embedded in it to overcome this failing. When they have they will inevitably produce it as the "perfect" videoconferencing system. Again they will be wrong. Yes it will be good, but it still won't be face to face.
With any communication using technology, the bottom line is that your communication is done by a facsimile of you at the other end. It is not you.
Let's take a step back and look at communication as a whole for a moment. Communication is the single most complex area of human endeavour. Whatever field you look in communication forms some part of the skill.
Basic communication has evolved so that we can let others know of some need or want that we have. This can be seen most clearly in young babies and infants, or in the animal kingdom.
As it has evolved over millions of years we can see that communication has become immensely complex.
Just look at any modern language. It has thousands of words; complex rules of grammar and can be made to express an infinite number of ideas and concepts.
This is before we include vocal dexterity. This is where the good speaker, or orator, is able to magnify the communicating capacity of mere language into something that can rouse people to action.
Add to this the whole lexicon of body language and non-verbal communication and you can begin to see that a good communicator is one of the fundamental wonders of nature.
Given the complexity of the craft, it is a testament to the human race that any of us manage to master it at all.
Indeed any work that tries to help people become better communicators has to start from the view that miscommunication is the norm.
If we just take the spoken word, look at the process that we go through to pass a simple idea from one person to another. First I have a thought, which I frame using my view of the world. I translate that thought into language; I then translate that language into a series of sound waves using my vocal cords. These sound waves travel through the air until they hit your eardrum, you then translate those sounds into recognisable symbols (words) which you interpret using a similar, but not identical language into an idea which you frame using your view of the world.
That it happens at all is a miracle. That it often happens so poorly is hardly surprising.
Now, take this complex and highly idiosyncratic phenomenon and put some distance between the two people involved.
To solve this problem we invent technology.
At first it consists of smoke signals, drums, flashing mirrors, runners, Martello towers, yodelling. All effective, but pretty crude and with obvious degradations to the communication process.
Later we begin to improve the process and we invent Morse code, Blinking lights, telegraph, the pony express: all were attempts to increase the speed and complexity of the communication medium in order to simulate the conditions that apply when the two people are together.
Recently we have come to create such wonderful, complex and clever technologies to communicate with that we have started to lose sight of the human aspects of communication.
We are starting to think that phone systems, computer networks, videoconferences, digital networks and near instant data transfer, can do our communication for us.
Remember that basic computer adage "Garbage in, Garbage out"? Basically what that says is that it doesn't matter how brilliant the piece of kit is, if the person or persons using it don't know what they're doing, you're stuffed.
To get past this we have to start to focus on that part of the communication that translates between the person and the technology. This is the human part of the interface between man and machine.
This is where the most can be achieved to help people use technologically supported communication systems better.
Once we have grasped that the face to face rules no longer apply, and therefore the perception of us by the person at the other end is different, then we begin to see that to achieve the communication result we would like, we will have to change our behaviour.
In face to face communication what we see and hear is almost a mirror image of what the other person sees and hears. This is not so using any form of technology to communicate. Once we understand how it is different we can adjust our communication to compensate for that difference, indeed once we get good at it we can even take advantage of the difference e.g. the telephone, everyone understands that you can get away with "Can't talk now. Someone's on the other line." purely because the other person cannot tell (because of the limitations of the technology) that this is not true.
So what does happen when we bring Technology into the equation?
Well, first of all, technology is already in the equation.
If you look at voices and ears you have a pretty complex form of biotechnology that nature has worked out to deal with close distance communication.
The key here is the distance involved
All the while the people in the communication are in the same location, then communication happens in the normal face to face manner and any technology that is used is there to support the communication, not replace it.
However when one or more of the people are at a different location, then the technology is the communication.
An image of you is translated into signals that are transmitted to the other location and are then retranslated into an image that represents you.
It is not you.
It is a facsimile of you
If it is sent to two different locations there will be a different facsimile of you at each location.
Though this is applicable to all forms of communication technology, the easiest way to begin to understand it is to look at videoconferencing. Set up a video camera connected to a television and try to hold a conversation with someone through the camera while they are looking at the TV.
Immediately you will become aware of the limitations of the setup.
Instantly, you will start to think like a television director, as you want to make changes to the lighting, the focus, the zoom, the size and position of the television, the sound equipment.
This basic insight into how the technology affects your communication can quickly give you an understanding and a mastery over that technology which is of enormous benefit.
Another example is the telephone. Think for a moment, what is the difference in the communication using a landline or a mobile phone?
If you think, 'none, they're both phones,' think again.
So much is communicated by the context in which a communication happens, that it is indeed possible to communicate the reverse of what you intend just by type of media you choose and the way you use it.
The very medium of a mobile phone (they are not yet invisible) communicates that you are out of the office, the call is more important/urgent, your time is valuable, someone (maybe you) thinks you important enough to invest in.
This is the same difference between communications using mail, registered mail, courier or personal delivery. Every one of them affects how the message will be received.
When looking at videoconferencing, several limitations are clear and important:
1. If you look at the person on the monitor, you will not appear to be looking them in the eye. To do this you must look at the camera. You can quickly develop a technique of switching your eye contact between the screen and the camera, which looks very much like good conversation at the other end. It will make you seem more "present".
2. Unless the lighting is studio perfect it will make you look flat, shiny, shadowy or otherwise odd. Cameras cannot cope with variation in light the way a human eye can. Oddly enough, they cope best with flat, dull conditions better.
3. The zoom on the camera should be used to "frame" you in a tight "Head and Shoulders" position. This will represent you at the other end well. However, it also means that you have to be what will feel like abnormally still in order to remain in the frame.
4. Should there be two of you at one location, it is better that you sit together rather than on opposite sides of a desk. Indeed the best image is achieved if you sit side by side practically touching shoulders. Again it feels artificial but what you are concerned about is how it appears at the other end.
5. If you are together with someone else who is doing the speaking - just sitting beside them - you still have a job to do. You are "on" at the other end in a way that you are not if it is face to face. You should pay attention again not to the screen but to the camera and your partner. Looking at the screen makes you look disinterested; looking at the camera makes you look as if you are supporting what your partner is saying, looking at your partner really brings you into the action of the conversation.
A tip here is to study the way the professional newscasters (especially the Americans) do it.
6. There is inevitably still some clipping and frame jumping, and time delay, particularly over longer distances and low bandwidth connections. This can easily be compensated for by cultivating slow, deliberate movements. Again this may feel awkward, but it will look good at the other end. If there is time delay you will find it helpful to use longer sentences and to repeat back questions before answering them.
7. A trick used by actors and TV presenters is what they call "Looking down the lens". This involves you moving forward slightly (as you would if you wanted to make a point face to face) and deliberately focusing on the lens of the camera (as you would when making eye contact with a person). This has the effect of you appearing to come "out" of the TV at the other end. Use sparingly.
8. Learn how to operate your equipment. Don't rely on others to make you look good. Get the technical person to explain how it works. It is an investment that will really pay dividends.
9. The most beneficial way to develop your videoconferencing skill is to set up a conference with a partner just to practice. Try out things and have your partner tell you how they experience you at the other end.
It's easy to get 'lazy' when there's all this up-to-date technology ready to do your bidding. However, we can't stress enough how much difference the impact you make can have if you spend a little bit of time becoming master over machine.
Communications technology is wonderful stuff, but communication is a human issue, you are the one who is out there. It's you they judge. Don't hide behind the technology. Use it to show you at your best.
