Julia
McIntosh of the American Society for Quality has created a really nice summary
on why attending meetings promotes networking [see: http://asq.org/blog/2015/04/the-pros-and-cons-of-conferences/
]. And many thanks for pointing
to my blog on one of the challenges of meeting travel [see http://www.medicallaboratoryquality.com/2014/07/quality-standardization-and-mh17.html
].
To
be clear, let me underscore that I absolutely agree with Julia. First and foremost, I know there are some
inherent risks, but on greater balance, attending meetings is critically important to Quality and Communication. As the old adage goes “the most important
part of a meeting is that people meet”.
When
people get together, creative juices flow and innovation and collaboration and
synergy opportunities abound. It is
tough (but certainly not impossible) to duplicate that over a telephone or by
watching and participating through a computer or tablet screen.
But
it is also fair to say that meetings can have costs which have to go into the planning
mix. Yes, even attending meetings is a
Deming PDSA opportunity.
You
can’t be in two places at the same time, and sometimes urgent things can happen
while you are way, and the longer the meeting, the greater the risk. Also, it is pretty clear that the more flight
legs it takes to get to a meeting, the higher the probability of a
problem. Lost luggage, missed
connections, jet lag, and common colds, phlebitis, and more recently it seems,
measles, can mess up your meeting. And let’s
not even talk about flying in or out of the North-east anytime between
mid-December to early-March (?) with predictably unpredictable weather.
And
then there are the financials to take into consideration. In my world, an average 3 day meeting can
consume between 4 and 5 thousand dollars, for travel, hotel, registration and per
diem costs.
So
I can agree that attending meetings is important, and you can optimise the
up-side benefits and reduce the downside hazards, with the following:
1. Ensure
the meeting is worth the risk. Are the
people that you want to meet or listen to likely to be there? In my world, ASQ meeting are right up at the
top.
2. And
as an extension to the above, if you go to a meeting and talk only to your
friends, or even worse, talk to nobody, that is opportunity lost.
3. Look
for meetings in the sweet spot, May-to-October, (maybe avoid August) to reduce
risks of weather.
4. Make
it a meeting worth your while by balancing travel time against meeting time. Do you really want to travel for hours-and-hours just to attend a one-dayer? And on the other hand, do you really have the time to be away for 4-5 or 6 days?
5. Look
for meetings in locations that you can get to on one or two flights. More than four flights is probably a
guarantee for at least some lost luggage or a missed connection.
6. And
as another extension, look for meetings in places where you might like to
visit.
7. Look
to save some cash. Book meetings at the
Early-bird registration rate. Usually
the meeting hotel is going to give a good discount and sometimes, meals are
included as part of the meeting.
So
ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Nashville, in a few weeks
for most folks in North America would meet all those criteria.
Where
also would be an ideal meeting to consider, if you are in the medical laboratory/healthcare/safety business, is
to think about visiting Vancouver BC and the UBC Program Office for Laboratory Quality
Management Conference in October 28-30, 2015.