Until a few months ago, the word “meeting” probably gave you the image of co-workers seated across a large conference table, receiving a presentation and discussing their views. But in 2020, the formal dress code, connected office culture, and the office environment were all given a miss as the world was hit by the fatal Coronavirus. 

 

“Office timings” seems to have disappeared, and that pretty much meant that the modes and methods of the way to work have all changed. And that, trust us… isn’t all that bad! Take, for instance, Google Calendar has been the top trendy App to organize meetings. Meetings are now virtually possible, and are almost the norm - let’s not get into the space of conferences and webinars!  But that’s the thing - possibilities in the Digital World are endless. 

 

“I grew up in a physical world, and I speak English. The next generation is growing up in a digital world, and they speak social.”

Angela Ahrendts

 

Before 2020, the number of companies that dared to tread on digital ways of working (like today) were little to none. With the increase of webinars, virtual meet-ups, discussions, and screen-share enhancements occurring, we all have been unconsciously moving towards a digital world. 

 

While it has been the bane for the airline industry and in some cases for the local inter-city travel, the pandemic has been a boon for the digital transformation of businesses worldwide;  for it has accelerated the digital world like never before. It has had a very strong impact on learning too. One significant aspect of digital learning which is in common with the virtual meetings is the need of scheduling virtual meetings backed by video conferences, breakouts, recording, whiteboards amongst many others. Herein, we concentrate on the virtual meetings, while the synchronous online learning (which has similar needs) is described here.  

 

Today, many companies have the opinion that online meetings are much better for more reasons than one. Here are a few of them:

 

1. 1) It’s a bargain: Any company runs on profit. With more participants fleshing out newer/innovative ideas to make big gains online, virtual meetings are a big hit. With multiple team members assembling at the same time with the same technology, there is so much more work that gets done! And travel time and cost are saved enormously.
    
2. 2) No more hard sell: Social media is everywhere, isn’t it? Now that we are all separated by geographical barriers, there is little to no question of a hard sell (particularly where every member of the clientele would request a physical judgment of the product). Soft sell using digital media and social media interaction is the newest plus of online meetings.
    
3. 3) Increased attention and participation: Now that we have screen-share as a regular feature, everyone is currently required and adept to be more attentive than ever in a meeting. More so because the representation of one’s work progress is mainly through participation in the virtual world. Having team members with a video-camera on are very important to get a human feel and understand body language.
    
4. 4) Creating better leaders: Everyone is a leader in this digital arena. Each one of us manages our tasks and time in a way that optimizes productivity. As time passes by through this pandemic, each of us may just become better future leaders!  

   “Leadership means partnership, cooperation, mentoring, and support. It does not mean dominance. Dominance is tyranny.”
   -Sadhguru
    

5. 5) Better Return on Investments (RoI): Imagine hosting an in-person meeting with low turn-over. The sheer amount of time you will put in to physically travel for a meeting!  Imagine every meeting costing you your time! If you consider the aspects of time is money, you’d realise the mind-boggling advantage of having online meetings. 

 

All you have to do is invest in a good video conferencing system, a great people development policy, and you’re set to take off your idea of a successful company -   Bon Voyage!!