How We Communicate #2: Hugues Martin

hwc hugues

First, tell us a little bit about yourself

I’m BroadVision’s  Director of Professional Services for Europe, and also act as pre-sales for the same area. I’m based in the south of France, with regular trips to my office in Paris.

How many different services do you send and receive business-related messages through (and what are they?)

Most of my communication inside BroadVision is through Vmoso or Clearvale, with occasional emails (but those are fewer and fewer these days). Skype and GoToMeeting for team meetings.

With the outside world, most of the communication is through email, or skype/telephone when a synchronous communication is needed.

What’s the first communication tool you check in the morning when you start work? And what device do you access it from?

Email through smartphone, but that’s before I start work. I try to not mark any important thing as ‘read’ at that moment, to make sure that I don’t miss any item once I’m really starting to work.

Once I’m at work, it’s Vmoso through the web interface on my laptop.

How much of your communication takes place from your desk, and how much while you’re away from your desk?

90% at one of my desks, 10% away.

Do you check messages as soon as they arrive, or save them up for specific times of the day?

It’s variable. Usually I check as soon as they arrive, unless I’m in a task requiring concentration, in which case I check my messages when I’m finished or need a break from the current task.

How has the way you communicate changed over the last 3 years?

Instant communication has not changed much. Asynchronous switched partly from email to Clearvale and Vmoso in that time. The way I send my information hasn’t changed drastically (except I write it in a different interface), but the way I read other’s information has changed. Now I got a much wider data source to tap from, with mixed blessings. The good part is that I’m much more aware of what’s going on, and able to participate even if not explicitly invited. The bad part is that I might, more than before, miss something important.

Email – your best friend or worst enemy?

Still a good friend. Maybe not the best anymore, I hope it’s not too jealous.

Popup notifications – love them or hate them?

Love them. That is, as long as they happen in the background and don’t interrupt what I’m doing at the time.

If I stole your smart phone and only gave it back to you after I deleted every app except one, which one would you choose to keep?

I still think it would be email; that’s what lets me connect with everyone

If you could fix just one thing in the business communication tools you use, what would it be?

Tricky question. Maybe the fact that they are too many of them.

How do you hope Vmoso will improve your business communication?

Ideally, aggregate all the communication streams I have, so that I have a single point to look at.