If the world of remote working has shown us anything, it’s that a lot of meetings actually are useless. Sometimes the process of getting up from your cubicle, traveling to the meeting space, getting everyone set up, conducting a meeting, then getting back to point A can do more harm than good. When we think about this aspect, another thing comes to mind: business travel. Although there are definitely situations when traveling for business is the necessary or more convenient thing to do, I’m sure we can all attest that there have been some business meeting trips that were flat out unnecessary.
Traveling for business can be expensive (for both the employee and the employer) and exhausting. Despite this, business meeting traveling has continued to increase over the past decade. Companies simply value face-to-face interactions more than virtual meetings, believing that in-person meetings promote better collaboration. But, being in the same room with someone doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a fruitful meeting. There are actually a lot of stats and facts that support the idea that video conferencing is more productive than in-person meetings. Check out our article, 5 Reasons Video Meetings Are More Effective for more specifics!
The growing revolution of remote work will continue to expand as companies realize how effective and efficient it is. This includes things such as conferences and meetings that employees would otherwise be spending a lot of time and money invested in.
Conference From Anywhere
In-person meetings and conferences that require travel absorb a lot of precious time. Hours or even days can be lost when traveling on a business trip. And although it can be nice getting a change of scenery and seeing a new place, going virtual allows you to conference from anywhere, giving everyone time back for work or leisure. Do you ever check your email at the end of a business trip and feel overwhelmed with what you missed? Being able to simply video into your conference from home or your own office can takeaway that looming feeling that your to-do list just got a lot longer.
Information Sharing Ease
A lot of times at a business conference, there are pamphlets and papers of presentations that are only going to end up getting left behind, lost, or recycled. With a video conference, the important information can easily be shared across platforms without having to do much extra work. You can also record the conference right on your computer so that you A. don’t miss anything, and B. can easily look back at the video saved on your computer for later purposes.
Time Savers
Video conferences in lieu of in-person traveling conferences saves time for obvious reasons. You don’t have to spend time traveling to the location that the conference is in, you can simple log on when the time is right. Attendees are also more prompt since they simply need to log into the video conferencing platform instead having to be somewhere physically at a certain time. Because video conferencing offers features like screen sharing and annotation, it’s easier to stay on course. You’ll find this even more so if you use an agenda. If there are multiple speakers you don’t have to worry about that awkward silence between switching speakers. The next speaker will already be “up on the podium” and ready to go.
Accessibility
Some companies do not have the proper budget or time allotment to send employees off to a conference in another state and spend money on flights, hotels, food, and conference costs. Along with this, some employees are not able to travel or it may be difficult for them to travel for various reasons. Some of these reasons could be health related, disability related, or for parental/caretaker reasons. Having online video conferences or meetings can help combat all of these issues and give more accessibility to those who need it!
In person meetings and conferences won’t disappear, but as more companies and organizations start seeing the perks of video conferencing, the want for a virtual conference is going to start going up. Video conferencing is an extremely valuable tool to have to support communication, collaboration, and productivity in a cheaper and more efficient way.