Before the outbreak of the coronavirus, most business meetings were held physically. But one of the biggest changes in business during the coronavirus was the online meetings. Employees worked from home and weekly or monthly meetings were held online. Online and face-to-face meetings each have advantages and disadvantages. We intend to explain them in this article.

Before reviewing online and face-to-face meetings, it is necessary to state whether the meeting is necessary or not. A blog will be published soon to answer this question, which is fully explained.

Disadvantages of physical meetings:

1-Delay

One of the problems of face-to-face meetings is the delay in starting the meeting. Problems such as traffic and parking space cause delays for participants. Thus, everyone’s time in the meeting is wasted. This is one of the serious problems of physical meetings.

2-Cost of physical meetings

Holding a meeting includes expenses such as the cost of the reception, the cost of renting a meeting room, and printing the minutes for all people. Although costs can be reduced by management, these costs are almost zero in online meetings.

3- Waste of time

If the meeting is not well managed and the participants do not speak in turn, it will waste a lot of time, which will reduce the efficiency of the meeting.

4- Absence

If one of your teammates has a cold or is traveling, it is not possible to attend the meeting. However, in online meetings, most people can attend the meeting in any situation.

Benefits of physical meeting:

1-High focus

Suppose you are sitting in front of your laptop and as you listen to your manager talking, the doorbell rings and you are completely distracted and lose your focus. Attending a meeting increases your chances of increasing your focus.

2-Eye contact and body language

One of the most important benefits of a face-to-face meeting is eye contact and body language. Suppose you are invited to a meeting to negotiate. The power of persuasion in physical meetings with body language is far greater than in online meetings. Deep communication and emotional involvement in physical meetings are greater than in online meetings.

3-Higher impact

The speed of holding meetings is higher than in online meetings. Internet interruption or slowing down reduces the speed of the meeting. This point is very important in the effectiveness of the meeting. Also, after the meeting, you can talk about the meeting in an informal atmosphere and answer the relevant questions.

Online meetings:

Disadvantages of online meetings:

1- Internet speed

One of the main challenges of online meetings is the Internet. Sudden interruption or slow speed can slow down the meetings and reduce their efficiency.

2- Basic equipment

To have a good and quality online meeting, you have equipment such as a microphone and a quality camera. Buying this equipment is a lot of money that is not affordable for most people.

3. Surface communication

You can’t communicate deeply with your audience in an online meeting. As mentioned, eye contact and body language have a huge impact on people’s emotions.

advantages of online meetings:

1-Save time

From the moment you get dressed and move to the meeting place to your return home, a lot of time is wasted, like traffic. But the advantage of an online meeting is time savings. You can join the meeting from anywhere in the shortest time.

2- Online meeting facilities

Online meetings provide services to participants. They can share their files without consuming a single piece of paper. Or the meeting can be fully recorded and saved.

3-Suitable for short meetings

Holding a physical meeting for 10 minutes is not sensible. For example, sometimes you need a short meeting with your team. A physical meeting is not suitable for ten minutes and short meetings can be held online.

Finally, we must point out that each meeting has specific conditions. Your weekly meeting with your team is different from the negotiation meeting for the transfer of shares of a company. Therefore, choose the type of meeting that suits the conditions of the meeting.

For your physical meetings, we introduce the iHiT Meeting Room, located in Nairobi, Kilimani. The iHiT Meeting Room can accommodate your 2 to 60-person meeting. One of the most important benefits of a meeting room is its affordable price, which you can save money.