For our remote meeting, our group decided to use Google Hangout in order to discuss and work on our team project.
I hated it.
First off, I'm really not a technology-literate person, so having to meet via computer put me in a bad attitude anyway. We started the chat, only to have problems getting everyone on. Then my wifi went out. Then it went out again. Then I got frustrated. We were able to do some work on our project using Google docs, but overall I was not satisfied with the experience.
I understand the value of being able to have remote meetings; people all across the world can talk together and share ideas. However, I don't understand why anyone would ever have a remote meeting when they can meet in person. I think that meeting in person eliminates a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding. It seemed to take three times as long to decide on things during our remote meeting as it usually does when we meet in person.
I'm going to avoid meetings via Google Hangout like the plague.
Thanks for your post! And for your honesty about Google Hangouts! Yes, technology can be frustrating. Especially when you are relying on technology to establish communication among different people. I agree that remote meetings should only be used when in-person communication is completely impossible. Perhaps if your team members were thousands of miles away, the experience wouldn't have been as frustrating because there wouldn't have been any alternative to the remote meeting. Anyways, technology can be a blessing when needed. I can't ever think of a situation when the plague could be a blessing. :)
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