Companies Rethink
Role of Face-to-Face
By TOM WEBER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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LOST IN TERRORISM'S aftermath last week was the report of a remarkable feat in the journal Nature. Using computers, robots and high-speed communications lines, surgeons in New York successfully removed the gall bladder of a patient more than 3,000 miles away in Strasbourg, France.
Distance grows less relevant each new day in the 21st century. That's an important fact to keep in mind as we strain to divine the future. When high-tech tools make it possible to communicate and collaborate from nearly anywhere, perceptions about the importance of physical location can shift.
These forces were already at work long before the World Trade Center fell and the Pentagon erupted in flames. But the trends are likely to accelerate. At least for now, there's a reluctance among many to travel by air. And more than ever, people want to be connected all the time, no matter where they are. Cellphones have become a must-have accessory in the wake of the tragedy.
Evolving perspectives about distance and technology will shape the future of business, influencing when people meet in person and when they link up electronically. They will also affect decisions about where companies locate offices, and where workers choose to live. Ultimately, they could reshape the landscape of cities and suburbs.
AT MASIMO, a medical-technology company in Irvine, Calif., executives have already decided to do things differently. Last week the company ordered an $8,000 videoconferencing system from Wire One Technologies. "The day after the World Trade Center we said, 'Let's do it,' " says Brad Langdale, Masimo's chief financial officer.
The terrorist attacks didn't raise the issue for Masimo, but they crystallized it. Mr. Langdale says the company had considered videoconferencing on and off for years, and lately had been pressured by customers to install the capability. He expects executives will still fly for key client get-togethers, but many others will be handled electronically. "Personally, I think there's been far too much traveling around the country for 30-minute meetings," he says.
E-mail Tom Weber at tweber@wsj.com
We know intuitively that face-to-face interaction has value, but balancing that intelligently against other factors is a challenge. Ray Ozzie, the "groupware" pioneer who created Lotus Notes and more recently launched Groove Networks, a peer-to-peer collaboration system, says companies need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of technology. Factual, productivity-oriented tasks benefit greatly from technology, he says. But where emotions are at stake -- when managers must resolve conflicts -- people need real-time communication that conveys emotion.
Often that simply means getting on the phone or attending a videoconference while parties at both ends use computers to provide them with context, such as a project schedule. But in some cases, when the stakes are high, in-person encounters work best. "It's the extremes," Mr. Ozzie says. "We want to go face-to-face when we want to have a pleasurable interaction, or a really tough interaction. The stuff in the middle can be done reasonably well remotely."
The terrorist attacks have already raised concerns that working in cities, especially in showcase locations, will become less attractive. Mr. Ozzie believes companies will step up efforts to move back-office activities to suburbs. But he also thinks big-city locations will become even more valuable for customer-oriented activities. "One thing I've always loved about New York is that when I go there, in a two-day period, I can cover four or five meetings," he says.
ONE LIKELY RESULT of the tragedy will be a move toward making sure all key employees can work efficiently at home, says Mitchell Moss, professor of urban policy and planning at New York University. When lower Manhattan shut down after the attacks, the ability to work remotely proved invaluable for law firms, consultants and others, including reporters for this newspaper. "The home is now the backup to the office," Prof. Moss says.
As for the value of cities, he remains bullish. Big cities provide abundant and reliable infrastructure services, he says. Indeed, the speed with which Wall Street reopened, despite unprecedented destruction a few blocks away, was impressive. But Prof. Moss predicts the biggest reason companies will stay in cities is one they've always had: quick access to a diverse, skilled work force. "Location depends on where you can access the best talent," he says.
So in the long run, the shape of things to come will depend very much on individuals. If talented employees want to be in or near big cities, companies will want to be there too. And if that's where companies are, cities will look that much more attractive to workers. Even in the face of extraordinary events, that's not likely to change drastically.
For now, that is. The next generation of workers is growing up right now with a relationship to technology that's closer than ever before. After school, many teenagers slip into the multimedia cocoons of their rooms, where they hold dozens of conversations at once via instant-message chats, and talk on the phone and watch television at the same time too. When it's time for them to get jobs, their views on distance and face-to-face communication may be very different. |
