The growing number of digital tools that foster virtual communication and the increasing popularity of telework have triggered a wide debate about face-to-face and remote meetings. Although there are still many supporters of in-person discussions and negotiations, the trend for online meetings seems to dominate the entire industry. Are virtual meetings better than in-person ones? Let’s try to answer this question.
In-person meetings
For many years, in-person meetings were treated as a natural and necessary part of the collaboration between companies. Partners from all around the world were travelling to other countries to make important deals and shake hands with their business partners. Even if this custom is slowly seeming to disappear, it is still prevalent in many companies, especially those managed by traditionalists. Meeting in person tends to improve trust between the parties.
Many smaller teams also like to meet in person. People who physically attend a meeting are usually more focused on the discussed topics and become less distracted by the environment that surrounds them. In addition, in-person meetings seem to improve communication as they limit difficulties in reading body language. Additionally, participants don’t have to worry about possible technical difficulties and other issues that can ruin the meeting.
Virtual meetings
When it comes to remote meetings, there are also several benefits that they can bring to your company. To start with, online meetings are easy to organise and schedule. Teams and companies can communicate at a freely chosen time agreed upon by them and can access the meeting from anywhere. What is more, this solution doesn’t entail additional expenses for the organisation. Access to online meeting platforms is, if not free, reasonably priced.
One of the major pros of online meetings is convenience. Participants in the meeting can be deployed throughout the world, and the only thing they need is a device that is connected to the internet.
Which type of meeting is better for your company?
We have briefly outlined the basic advantages of in-person and online meetings. Let’s now try to provide an answer regarding which type of meeting is better for your company.
In general, there is no such thing as a perfect meeting. Its form should depend on the nature of the discussion, its complexity and the expectations of its participants. If your team members tend to gather regularly to discuss their tasks and goals, there are no contradictions to move their discussions to the virtual world. However, if you are about to make a profitable deal with an important business partner, it may be well perceived to invite them to meet you in person.
A few examples of meetings that would be better off in person
There are several examples of meetings that are almost always better conducted in person. The examples include:
- Initial meetings. When you are meeting someone for the first time, you probably want to learn as much as possible about them. Meeting in person seems to limit the distance between you two and fosters communication.
- Creative meetings. Projects that require abstract thinking and creativity are much more effective when held in person. Brainstorming through virtual tools is difficult or even impossible for some people.
- Final meetings. As we have already pointed out, an important meeting, e.g., to establish long-term cooperation, takes on more seriousness.
As you can see, it is impossible to decide which kind of meeting is better, as it all depends on a particular situation and participants. If you prefer an in-person meeting in the office, you should always ensure its participants’ convenience. One of the greatest facilities that make meetings easier is Parkalot – a parking space reservation app that enables your employees to book parking spaces at your company car park. Moreover, the parking app enables you to reserve spots for your partners from outside the company.
Parkalot is a unique solution aimed at all company owners who want to once and for all eliminate problems with the insufficient availability of parking spaces at a company car park. The application allows employees to book parking spots in advance so that they don’t have to desperately look for a place to leave their cars before entering the office. Click here to discover the possibilities of the system.
If you’d like to introduce Parkalot – our car park management app – in your company, please contact us at contact-us@parkalot.io or book an onboarding call.
Start using Parkalot in an hour. Allow your colleagues to commute by car, and park on the parking spaces assigned to those who are working from home.