As the price of oil continues to rise, companies and individuals are starting to look for ways to cut back on business-related travel. Yet, most work cannot be accomplished without communication and collaboration between the team members and with customers and suppliers. As as result, web conferencing, wikis, and other online collaboration tools are being used more often.

So, why is it that so many companies, even ones that are using collaboration tools like Microsoft Sharepoint, still insist that their employees drive into the office so that they can spend most of the day sitting alone in an office or cubicle? This insistence on rears in seats is a big waste of limited resources, specifically time and gasoline. When I was last working in an office, I spent most of my time on the phone or communicating via email. I had in-person meetings too, but most of them could have been conducted virtually. In fact, most of the meetings I attended in person also included attendees who weren’t in the room.

I read Seth Godin’s blog periodically and he recently put up a post entitled The New Standard for Meetings and Conferences. I agree with his opinion that when you are physically present in the office, at a meeting, or at a conference, that some major interpersonal interaction needs to be going on.

There is tremendous value in face-to-face interaction with other people. I’m certainly not advocating that face-to-face meetings be eliminated. I’m just echoing Seth Godin’s point, “… if you’re going to spend the time and the money to see someone face to face, be in their face. Interact or stay home!”