If Covid had happened 20 years ago, the business world would struggle to survive. Luckily enough, we were all prepared for online meetings and Zoom team buildings. However, countless events have been postponed or canceled and not everything was manageable online, at least at first. Today, we have a different vision when it comes to business meetings and we can say there are business meetings before and after Covid. Let’s see how this is going so far in the continuation of this article.
People are keener on attending business meetings
Remember there were always a couple of employees unwilling to attend or just lazy to show up for a business event? Well, it turns out that after lockdowns, travel restrictions, and isolation, people have learned to appreciate personal contact, so everyone is just more keen on attending meetings, team building, and similar events. Covid’s influence has led many people to feel isolated and depressed while online meetings have become a thing in our everyday business lives, personal gatherings have gained value due to the aforementioned reasons.
Hybrid events gained popularity
People are still hesitant to attend meetings with a lot of people since the spreading of the Omicron variant of Covid has shown to be very easy and fast. To avoid that, business managers have come up with hybrid meetings, where a part of the group is present personally and another one is attending via some of the online platforms. This satisfies both those who are eager to return to their offices and those who are still unwilling to risk being infected.
However, bear in mind that this can bring you double costs since you will have to organize both the physical event and have the equipment to do video conferencing.
Different venues than before
People are bored if they have to be stuck in a meeting for hours in a closed venue, with poor ventilation. These days, so many companies opt for team buildings or meetings in nature, country houses, at the pool, etc. Although this might not sound like something very professional, it can make the colleagues bond and reconnect after so many months of isolation and it can benefit general human relations.
Increased focus on health and safety
Safety has always mattered, but these days, it matters even more. You can’t stop the virus from spreading, but if you organize an event, you have to think about all the safety measures that before weren’t discussed that much. Sneeze guards, barriers, antibacterial soaps, and hand sanitizer are always available at event venues upon request. Event organizers should make sure this is provided to every attendant.
Furthermore, the catering must be handled in such a way that nobody touches the food too much while being served. Also, since the pandemic hasn’t influenced all of us in the same way, some people like to stay 6ft apart from others, some like to touch elbows or knuckles as a greeting, and many more things that we didn’t think of before. Social interaction has gained some new features and business meetings are just one environment where that happens.
More engaging activities
This is especially true when it comes to online meetings when human contact is not complete, due to not being able to speak eye to eye. Then, it is normal to try to compensate for this by creating some extra activities to make all the participants interact more. Workshops, quizzes, and presentations where all the attendants participate and ask questions are typical examples of this.
How can this be done? The important thing is to make sure that you have smaller groups, because if there are 30 people involved, hardly they will all participate at the same time. Groups of 5-6 people or 10 as a maximum are ideal for these meetings. That means you will need more sessions to cover up the same thing with all the team members. Luckily, good video conferencing can be organized easily if you have the right partners. Contact some of the professionals in that area if you don’t have enough expertise.
Get to know your audience
Imagine having a meeting in person with people who hate it and want to stay at home. That meeting would probably not be successful. The same thing with the reverse situation. Some people just hate endless Zoom meetings and prefer to do it eye to eye. Make sure you know your audience and put them into the right group so that everyone is happy. Never oblige anyone to do something they don’t want to because it’s counterproductive. In the same way, you shouldn’t make people put their cameras on during a meeting in case they’re not comfortable with that.
Make sure you book on time
In case it’s presential, make sure you book on time since many companies book venues for their meetings and events. Hence, there is a certain shortage and bear in mind that fewer people attend those meetings and that there have to be several meetings in a row in some cases.
On the other hand, if you have an online event, make sure you have all the necessary equipment, such as a good internet connection and also ethernet cables. Your professional partners who deal with video conferencing for you can make all this much easier.
Other than just technology, you need this too:
- Make sure everyone has an opportunity to answer
- Participation should be done through video conferencing
- Sit in a peaceful and quiet area so nothing is disturbing the meeting
- Don’t make the meeting too long since people won’t stay focused
Business trips have become fewer
In some companies, it was normal to have a couple of businesses per year. However, the pandemic has made that more difficult for two main reasons. The first reason is that in the first couple of months many places were unreachable and many airports were closed. The second reason is that even now when traveling is more accessible, plane tickets for some places are more expensive than ever, with the oil price following the trend of the price rising. Many companies have just found video conferencing a better and more affordable way of communication with business partners from other parts of the country or even the world. To sum it up, this pandemic has brought us many negative effects. However, we were technologically well prepared to manage everything and keep our businesses going well. One always has to adapt to their current situation and circumstances and business meetings are just one of those things. If you find online meetings and video conferencing the right solution, don’t hesitate to use them to save time and money. Especially if you run an online business. Otherwise, you can consider the hybrid method or the traditional physical meetings.