The saying, “Time is money” always holds true for those in business. From dealing with staff, liaising with clients on the phone to arranging and attending business meetings, it’s little wonder that businessmen and women look for as many ways as they can to maximise their time – and their money. Here we look at how effective holding business meetings online can be versus the traditional face to face alternative.
Pro: Cut Costs
There may be some initial technical investment and a service subscription required to set up your online meetings. After that however both travel and venue hire costs can be minimised. Travel is a factor that costs both time and money. Arranging an online video meeting means the entire meeting can take place without ever having to worry about missing the 9:28 to Paddington.
Con: Cheap Technology
The advantages of hosting online meetings rely totally on having the right equipment for the job. While web-cams and computer microphones are ubiquitous in the office, if they’re not high quality, your attendees won’t be able to see you properly or understand a word you say.
Pro: The Flexibility
So you’ve probably recognised one of the major benefits of online meetings: the absolute flexibility. You can drop in and out of the meeting at will, without making a big show as you would in a traditional face-to-face meeting. So if something urgent comes up…
Con: Personal Interaction
Humans are social creatures, and face-to-face meetings allow a more nuanced discussion in any business meeting – it helps build relationships. It’s not always easy to grasp the magnitude, or understand a joke, when conversing online.
Pro: Shared Documents
Online business meetings are perfect for sharing an invaluable slideshow or document with everyone else without having to spend out on printed materials (and making sure you have enough of them for everybody). Online, everyone can see the document in question perfectly, right on their computer screen.
Con: Communication Issues
When having an online meeting, it’s a good idea to make sure everyone knows what their role is. Unlike sitting in a boardroom, when people all start talking at once, it can be difficult to bring order without an effective and strong chairperson.
Pro: Anywhere in the World
– The best thing about online business meetings is that it doesn’t matter where anyone’s based – whether it’s Tokyo or Toronto; Melbourne or Manilla; or even sitting at home – everyone can join the meetings they need to be part of, without having to shift around diary dates and schedules.
Con: Finding Time to Plan the Meeting
For all its benefits, any meeting you have online will still have to be planned, invitations sent out and responded to even if people are more willing or available because its online. As such, it’s a good idea to take advantage of an online meeting scheduler or a meeting scheduling virtual assistant, to make sure it all goes off without a hitch.
There are plenty of good reasons to take advantage of business meetings online and even the cons can be ironed away with a little forward planning. If you would like to know more about our meeting planning services or any of our other online personal assistant services feel free to call us on 0800 994 9016 or use our contact form in the menu above.