Written by Mike McMullin
With most everything you will find good and bad. With something like the COVID pandemic, there was very little good to be found. People were strongly encouraged to be hermits in their homes. Face-to-face, or even face-to-mask, interactions were discouraged or forbidden.
Subsequently, virtual meetings, although they existed prior to the pandemic, were introduced and embraced by the masses. This was good at the time, as it allowed us to see people in our meetings. It was better than not seeing people at all. Even post-pandemic it gives us the option of having people virtually attend meetings if they can’t be with us in person.
As good as this may seem, there is absolutely no substitution for in person meetings with teammates or customers. Live meetings put us into the setting that human beings are born for. When we communicate with someone, only 7% of our message comes across in words, while 93% of our intended message is distilled from our tone of voice and our body language/facial expressions.
Even though a virtual meeting allows you to see and hear the person you’re interacting with, there are too many potential hiccups with this mode of communicating that don’t exist when you’re sitting across from someone. This is especially true in group meetings that often have background interruptions from unmuted mics, or from people who hide their video during the meeting. You wind up wondering if they are awake or even in the room.
When you set a meeting with someone, always aim for it to live. The benefits will far outweigh any perceived inconvenience of driving to see them. You will build loyalty and show them respect.
Some of the rewards that come with in person meetings are:
- You will build stronger relationships by just being present with people. You can’t look someone in the eyes and shake their hand in a virtual meeting. This is a powerful moment in any human interaction.
- You will be able to read their emotions and how they feel by seeing their facial expressions and their body language. Nonverbal communication is critical, as you can pick up on hand gestures, head nods, smiles, frowns and a myriad of other messages that don’t need words.
- Your conversation will be more natural. Uninhibited by poor internet connections that result in buffering and potential disconnections.
- Virtual calls feel more structured and don’t allow for a gentle interruption or question that you want to ask. In person communication has a natural flow that virtual communication hinders.
- This is how people have been communicating since the dawn of civilization and in recent years social media has been suffocating this very human interaction.
- Your team will be more focused and you will see better results in achieving your company’s goals. Business will grow.
Social media and virtual meetings have their place sometimes, but resist being swept away by things that rob you of the power and the profit behind in person meetings.
