Virtual Meetings vs In Person Meetings: Pros & Cons
Companies have more options than ever when it comes to holding meetings. Virtual meetings via video conferencing have become commonplace, allowing for remote collaboration across vast distances. At the same time, traditional in-person meetings in physical office spaces remain popular for their ability to foster real face-to-face interaction.
Both virtual and in-person meetings have their advantages and disadvantages when it comes to productivity, engagement, and cost. This blog post breaks down the pros and cons of each to help you determine what meeting format works best for your business needs.
Pros of Virtual Meetings
Virtual meetings via platforms like Zoom, Skype, or GoToMeeting exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person gatherings were unsafe. However, even as offices reopen, virtual meetings are here to stay due to the many benefits they offer:
1. Convenience of Virtual Meetings
The biggest pro of virtual meetings is the unparalleled convenience. With video conferencing tools, teammates can meet up and collaborate from anywhere they have an internet connection. There is no commute required, making meetings accessible for remote employees, distributed teams, and people with limited mobility. Meeting attendees can save huge amounts of time not having to travel to an in-person meeting location.
2. Lower Costs of Virtual Meetings
Virtual meetings eliminate many of the costs associated with in-person gatherings:
No travel expenses: Employees do not accrue costs for flights, mileage reimbursement, rental cars, taxis, or public transport to get to the meeting.
No venue rental fees: While an in-person meeting requires paying for meeting room or conference hall rentals, virtual meetings only necessitate an affordable subscription to a video conferencing platform.
Scalability: There is no limit to the number of attendees you can have in a virtual meeting. You can scale up to accommodate large groups without any incremental costs. In contrast, in-person meeting capacity is constrained by venue space.
3. Flexibility of Virtual Meetings
Scheduling virtual meetings can be much more flexible than coordinating everyone’s availability for in-person meetings constrained by geography and travel plans. With video conferencing, you can easily:
Schedule shorter meetings as needed instead of grouping long sessions back-to-back to make travel worthwhile
Accommodate team members across different time zones
Let people join remotely even if they're on the go and cannot make it to an office location
Record meetings to revisit discussions with absent team members
Cons of Virtual Meetings
However, despite these advantages, virtual meetings also have some downsides to consider:
1. Technical Difficulties of Virtual Meetings
The technology involved in virtual meetings always brings the risk of technical glitches like:
Audio/video connectivity issues
Degraded streaming
Platform crashes
Troubleshooting problems ends up eating into meeting time. There is also a learning curve involved for those not tech-savvy to access and operate virtual meeting platforms effectively.
2. Lack of In-Person Interaction of Virtual Meetings
The most significant con of virtual meetings is the lack of face-to-face human interaction. Non-verbal communication like body language and eye contact gets lost across a video screen. Side conversations and social interactions don’t happen naturally. This can limit relationship building between colleagues and make it harder for meetings to feel productive and engaging.
3. More Distractions of Virtual Meetings
It is easier for people’s attention to drift in a virtual meeting if they can mute themselves and turn off their camera. Multitasking temptations also abound when participants are sitting in their normal work environment rather than a meeting room. That can degrade participation, understanding, and implementation of action items after a virtual session.
4. Zoom Fatigue of Virtual Meetings
Staring at a screen for back-to-back virtual meetings can induce fatigue. As human beings, our brains find prolonged video interactions more intense than in-person discussions. Over time, virtual meeting burnout can decrease team morale and productivity.
Pros of In-Person Meetings
Here are some of the major advantages of old-fashioned, in-person meetings:
1. Face-to-Face Engagement of In-Person Meetings
In-person meetings allow for the most organic conversations and collaboration. Reading facial expressions and body language comes instinctively during face-to-face discussions, clarifying communication. Side conversations enable bonding with colleagues. Overall, in-person meetings feel more dynamic and engaged.
2. Fewer Distractions of In-Person Meetings
When participants assemble in a meeting room, they are less likely to multi-task or get interrupted compared to sitting in their regular work environment. In a physical space designated for meeting focus, attendees give the discussion their full attention and avoid drifting off.
3. Professionalism of In-Person Meetings
Meeting in an office conference room or rented venue lends a greater sense of occasion and professionalism compared to talking through a computer screen. Getting out of the home office or cubicle provides a change of headspace to keep energy and productivity high.
4. Better Technology Reliability of In-Person Meetings
In-person meetings don't get derailed by video conferencing mishaps. As long as the presentation equipment and room Wi-Fi are set up properly, technology issues are minimal. Participants can focus fully on the discussion instead of troubleshooting virtual meeting problems.
5. No “Zoom Fatigue” of In-Person Meetings
In-person meetings give attendees a welcome break from their screens, reducing the risk of video chat fatigue setting in after long virtual sessions. Being able to read body language and interact in-person is less taxing for focus and concentration.
Cons of In-Person Meetings
At the same time, in-person meetings have downsides to weigh:
1. Less Convenient of In-Person Meetings
The need to travel to an in-person meeting location reduces convenience significantly. Local attendees may lose productivity commuting. Out of town attendees face air travel and hotel costs. Trying to coordinate everyone's schedules for in-person meetings can also prove challenging.
2. Venue Rental and Catering Costs of In-Person Meetings
While using a video conferencing subscription has minimal costs, renting meeting rooms and catering food and refreshments for in-person meetings represents a major expense. For larger meetings and events, securing an adequate venue and providing meals, drinks, A/V equipment etc. can blow up the budget quickly.
3. Limited Scalability of In-Person Meetings
In-person meeting venues have finite capacity. If you're expecting a large turnout, it may not be feasible to accommodate everyone comfortably in a single conference room or hall. With video conferencing, there are no such seating limitations.
4. Health Risks of In-Person Meetings
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the public health risks associated with bringing groups together in an enclosed physical space, especially during flu season. While virtual meetings keep attendees safely apart, in-person meetings have potential to spread viruses and illnesses.
5. Environmental Impact In-Person Meetings
In the fight against climate change, reducing unnecessary travel is essential. For geographically distributed teams, cross-country flights to attend in-person meetings generate massive carbon footprints. Virtual conferencing is a greener alternative.
6. Disruption from Travel from In-Person Meetings
Long-distance travel for in-person meetings can sap productivity and morale. Being stuck at airports or in cramped plane seats for hours diminishes energy upon arrival. Jet lag from time zone changes can further interfere with performance during and after meetings.
Best Practices for Productive Meetings
Whether you opt for virtual or in-person meetings, following best practices is key to having productive sessions:
1. Set a Clear Agenda
Define the meeting objectives and circulate an agenda so attendees can come prepared. Make sure everyone’s clear on topics and goals upfront.
2. Use Meeting Minutes
Take detailed meeting minutes to capture key discussion highlights, action items, and decisions. Share the minutes with all participants to keep everyone aligned on next steps.
3. Limit Meeting Size
The fewer meeting attendees, the more productive the conversation. Only include required participants and avoid allowing meetings to balloon into assemblies.
4. Designate a Facilitator
Appoint someone to serve as meeting facilitator to keep the discussion on track in a timely fashion. The facilitator can redirect off-topic tangents and make sure action items get recorded.
5. Utilize Visual Aids
Visual aids help focus the meeting and enhance retention of complex information. Have presentations, documents, or diagrams ready to display as needed.
6. Set Time Limits
Make sure meetings start and end on time. Avoid going over the scheduled duration unless absolutely necessary so participants remain attentive and focused.
Choosing the Right Meeting Format
In deciding between virtual and in-person meetings, organizations need to consider factors like:
Meeting purpose: Some discussions lend themselves better to in-person interactions, like brainstorming sessions where you want lively energy and debate. Other more straight-forward meetings can work fine virtually.
Team distribution: If employees work remotely across states or countries, virtual meetings may be the only logistical option.
Meeting Frequency: Monthly or quarterly large-scale meetings might warrant the investment of assembling in-person. Weekly team standups can get accomplished effectively online.
Budget: Renting meeting rooms and traveling has major costs, so evaluate your budget before committing to wide-ranging in-person meetings.
Ultimately, the best approach is usually a blend of virtual and in-person meetings tailored to your team’s needs. Take advantage of video conferencing convenience for regular collaboration. Then schedule periodic in-person time for relationship building and higher-impact strategy workshops when budgets allow. This balanced mix enables businesses to maximize productivity and benefit from the unique advantages of both meeting formats.
Make In-Person Meetings Memorable with Davinci Meeting Rooms
When it is time to bring your distributed team together under one roof, you want to make sure every detail is perfect for hosting productive in-person meetings and brainstorming retreats. Davinci Meeting Rooms delivers great experiences around the globe. Davinci Meeting Rooms offers customized solutions to create engaging meeting experiences for groups of all sizes.
With state-of-the-art Davinci Meeting Rooms, solopreneurs to large enterprises can choose from over 20,000 spaces, reserve online instantly, rent by the hour or day, and tap fully serviced and equipped services that includes administrative and catering. Reserve a Davinci Meeting Room today.
Categories
Subscribe to Our Blog
Archive
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- September 2017
- June 2017
- April 2017
- October 2016
- July 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- February 2016
- November 2015
- September 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- July 2013
- May 2013
- February 2013
- December 2012
Talk to an expert
Want help finding the ideal meeting room? Give us a call
Book the Perfect Meeting Room Now
Find a Meeting Room