With the emergence of numerous virtual meeting tools such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, Adobe Connect, HighFive, and Skype for Business, online meetings are slowly becoming the new normal. Here are the biggest benefits of virtual meetings:
1. Promote global expansion
When you make your business go global, among the things you will rely on the most is virtual meetings to run your organization. Why so? When you are running a company, your goal is to have all the stakeholders attend meetings. Getting people in one place can be difficult as seen recently due to the pandemic. Virtual meetings function to connect people in different parts of the globe. Therefore, you get a chance to monitor the progress of your overseas operations.
It is important to note that there are organizations like New Horizons Global Partners, or other providers, that specialize in helping companies expand internationally.
With the emergence of numerous virtual meeting tools such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, Adobe Connect, HighFive, and Skype for Business, online meetings are slowly becoming the new normal. In fact, people are now hosting events via Zoom and offering virtual event gift boxes to really get people interested. Here are the biggest benefits of virtual meetings:
2. Affordable
Digital meetings will reduce your operational costs. Unlike in the past when organizations had to fly people in, pay for their accommodation and meals, with virtual meetings, you do not require to do all that. Everyone is a click of a button away, you simply need to agree on a meeting day and time and people will attend from wherever they may be. Additionally, when you compare the cost of installing software for online meetings and travel expenses, it is ridiculously low. You will save millions of dollars annually when you opt to conduct your meetings online.
3. Promote effective discussions
In normal face-to-face meetings, it is easier for people to lose track of the agenda as they continually engage in arguments and other side discussions. While online meetings are good, they can be draining which makes it convenient for people to only discuss the matter at hand to avoid fatigue. A recent study conducted by Microsoft revealed that people who use virtual meeting platforms shrank their duration to half an hour or less. Such short-timed meetings are effective and get work done efficiently.
4. Break hierarchical structures
When you’re hosting on-site meetings in a conference room while seated around a large oval table with your staff, it is easy to tell who is the boss. Often in such meetings, the junior staff shy’s off and fails to contribute. Virtual meetings have broken such hierarchical structures. In online meetings, there is a horizontal structure that allows people to freely brainstorm ideas and talk confidently. Also, the fact that people’s microphones have to be on one at a time for the meeting to run without technical hitches, people can take turns to contribute.
5. Promote customer trust
In business, consumers expect to reach the people they are transacting with at all times. Video conferencing has made it easy for customers to get in touch with their suppliers in real-time to buy and clarify issues. If you have a widespread clientele, virtual meetings are the best way to promote reachability and overall productivity.
6. Saves time
In meetings where you need more than one person to present, setting up materials required for them to effectively give a presentation may be time-consuming. Not everyone is tech-savvy. If you have ever had to call in IT personnel to assist an employee to connect their laptop to the projector, then you know how much time you can waste there. Platforms for virtual meetings are easy to use such that presenters can run their presentations independently by simply sharing their screen for other people to see which saves time.
7. Makes businesses competitive
Virtual meetings have officially “dissolved borders.” Be it a small or large company, they both have an equal chance to compete in the global market. For instance, online meetings make it easy for organizations to bid on projects without worrying about travel logistics that make bids expensive, especially for small companies.
Conclusion
We have seen how technology and virtual communication tools have gone through numerous iterations since their inception into the market, especially after Covid-19 broke out. However, their core features like video, audio, and screen sharing remain essential to organizations that value offsite meetings. Online meetings are flexible and promote effective communication in business. When utilized, they make you internationally accessible to both clients and potential investors. If you think about it critically, you have no other choice but to embrace this technology.
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