Why go to both the expense and time of face-to-face communication? For some target groups, you’re never going to be able to afford it. But for the individuals and groups who are nearest and dearest to your organisation, it is critical.

I see five main benefits:

1. You can better understand the mood and background of the person you are communicating with through observing and responding to their body language.
2. You get a better and richer quality of information when you’re face to face. We’re currently interviewing visionary people in their field around the country about seasonal forecasting needs. We didn’t have the budget and time to visit a couple of these people, so we interviewed them by phone. The phone interviews lasted less than half the time of the face-to-face interviews and didn’t give us the same depth of information.
3. You can clarify information interactively when you’re face to face, which is much better than a series of email exchanges where you can easily be misunderstood.
4. If you’re face-to-face with the people who need to make the decisions, you can resolve issues much faster than through correspondence of any kind, some of which can drag out for days or even months!
5. With personal contact, you develop, build and maintain relationships – the essential ingredient of all successful communication.

When you can't be face-to-face, video or web conferencing can be a great option for communicating with your colleagues.

I recently attended a meeting on museums and community engagement, where the Director of the National Museum of Ethnology in The Netherlands gave a presentation by videoconference.

It cost a fraction of what it would have cost to fly him to Australia, not to mention the time it would have taken.

Here are five tips to make sure your video conference runs smoothly:

1. Test your system with the other party prior to the meeting. You can do this the day before.
2. Make sure that all parties are aware of the time differences; consider daylight saving and public holidays. And arrive a bit early.
3. Make sure the room is quiet. Paper shuffling and side conversations can be very distracting on the other end.
4. If you are in a group, identify yourself before speaking.
5. Silences can be awkward and people often interrupt each other by accident. It helps if each person says their piece, and then gives the others a chance to speak. It can seem as though you’re giving a monologue, but it’s usually the best way to make sure everyone is heard.