From Phil Smith
Bill Johns states that “video-conferencing will improve to the extent that substantial travel will become unnecessary”, reducing carbon emissions (15 November, p 24). This is a fantasy.
We know that non-verbal communication is the majority of any communication in the flesh. Video-conferencing adds a little to pure voice communication, but misses most of the nuances that face-to-face meetings make apparent.
The establishment of a business relationship depends on each side understanding what can be expected from the other. This is easier to achieve in a social setting: a lunch, dinner or other event in which the guarded forms that are natural in a business meeting can fall away.
It might seem that a contract involving a few tens of thousands of pounds is not important enough that such nuances matter, but such a contract may be the saviour of a struggling company and the basis of business worth considerably more.
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Travel to gain confidence in potential business partners will be essential long after oil has ceased to be the main fuel source for such travel.
Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK
