subject: Face-to-face Meetings Still Very Important [print this page] The advent of virtual meeting technology has changed the face of meeting. Videoconferencing, instant messaging, social media, teleconferencing, and emails some of the most widely used virtual meetings solutions have taken the place of in person meetings. The demand for virtual meetings is increasing within companies and organizations and the reasons for it are aplenty. However the two most important reasons are the following:
Virtual meetings can be fixed, arranged and carried out in matter of seconds. Click a button and the meeting is on. The virtual technology enable people to meet, communicate and collaborate irrespective of their geographic location.
Virtual meetings are cost-effective when compared to in person meetings. In the case of virtual meetings there are no business travel expenses in the form of travel, accommodation and food expenses.
In short, virtual meeting technology saves time, money and provides more flexibility with respect to location and timing. However it no way means that face-to-face meetings have lost all of its glory. Hence, if companies and organizations are planning to avoid in person meetings completely and step into the world of virtual meetings then it would be better to rethink their decision. Several studies have proved time and again the significant value of face-to-face meetings in the business world and its effectiveness in reaching customers, business partners and clients. Lets look at some of the important advantages of in person meetings.
Engage the attention of the attendees
In face-to-face meetings, the scope for distraction is very less. From the beginning of the meeting to its end the attention of the attendees is focused only on the matter under discussion. However in the case of virtual meetings the situation is different. There is every chance of multitasking in a virtual meeting therefore its not necessary that every point discussed makes its way into long-term memory.
Induce positive feelings
Human emotions are contagious hence the positive mood and emotions of people attending the conference or meeting easily passes on to others. Thus face-to-face meetings induce positive feelings which subsequently bring about new thinking.
Strengthens relationships
Face-to-face meetings increase the quality of relationships. In person meetings help in building trust, the very foundation for developing strong and more meaningful business relationships.
Since there is room for both face-to-face meetings and virtual meetings, the company strategy should be one of using virtual meeting technology to complement rather than take the place of in person meetings. If business travel expenses are what that is forcing companies to cut down business travel budgets, then the most apt way to deal with this problem is to use expense management software for better business travel management.
