Why Business Trips Are Still Better Than Video Calls (Or Why We Are Not Going Green)

Now that companies are getting ready to the Earth Day tomorrow, Skype has published some interesting info on the company’s blog about how we could help our planet by reducing the number of business trips and replacing part of them with video calls.

Basically if businesses choose video calls over only 20% of their air trips, it will eliminate 22 million tons of carbon dioxide annually which is equivalent to emission from 4 million cars, energy for 1.9 million homes and preserving 150 thousand acres of forest.

Of course it is understandable that Skype suggests its video calls as an eco-friendly alternative to business trips that are so bad for the environment. And while it is a good idea to increase awareness of how each of us could help make the world a cleaner place by dialing a Skype number instead of booking an air ticket. But let’s try to be realistic.

The problem is that no video call (even with superb quality) will ever be as exciting as a trip can be. Of course making a monthly trip to headquarters of your very own company hardly makes it an exciting adventure but if you are considering making a trip to a prospective customer somewhere in Paris or London, would anyone really prefer to stay at home and have a nice video chat with the prospect instead of meeting in person, shaking hands and having a delicious lunch together?

Any psychologist will confirm that the difference between video calls and personal face-to-face communications is huge and people will stick to virtual alternatives for communications only when they are the only option but will probably go looking for more personal ways to contact someone everywhere else.

Of course there are businesses that will stick to video calls and Skype for international and long-distance calls forever but these will probably be smaller businesses that simply can not afford sending their employees to visit suppliers or customers abroad way too often. There will also hopefully be some companies that will choose video conferences more and more over monthly meetings at headquarters for personnel of their branches. But my guess is that everyone else will stick to the approach that is not friendly to Earth but means a lot as both employees enjoy the trips and are frequently more productive due to a significant change in conditions while customers and partners enjoy personal attention from employees of the company.

On a side note, Microsoft has found out that it is really not easy being green as 70% of people admit they would never limit the number of toilet flushes to conserve water. So if we can’t even persuade ourselves to spend less water when using toilet, will we want to abandon the pleasure of trips when our employers pay for them?

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