The new normal is here to stay. It’s been more than a year since we shifted to this new normal of remote working and social distancing. While it seemed to be a temporary hack back then, the prominence is undefined now. As lockdown came into the picture, people stayed at home; businesses shifted operations, meetings found a remote setup as well. Skype for business saw an influential boom in its users. During the pandemic, its daily users count to be 40 million. Now that’s a significant number, especially in such a competitive market. (source)
Before pandemic
Do you remember what the business meeting looked like before covid came into the picture? Commuting to office, gathering in the conference room, turning on projectors and slides – completing the setup; and that’s just for lower and middle-level employees.
What about the top-level executives? Planning and coordination with executives in another state/country followed by reservations and days of travel. Businesses Spending a significant amount of resources, time and money; these investments were basic.
Now, even the thought of these schedules become daunting.
During pandemic
The world witnessed a paradigm shift in business meetings in the year 2020. As travel was at a halt, it forced the world of business to accustom to online mode. Henceforth, tools like Skype for business and Microsoft Teams became their resort.
All changes are complex at first, and so was this one since nobody knew how to utilise these tools effectively. Businesses were apprehensive of using technology due to concern over efficiency, security and the cost that tags along.
However, tools conveniently answered these questions by offering the following benefits.
Benefits of online meetings
Cost-efficient
Unlike physical meetings, businesses do not need to splurge money on an online setup. Earlier, companies would spend a tremendous amount of money on travel, from tickets to hotels and food.
As we resort to online meetings, the cost has become comparatively negligible. Business meetings can be held over Skype for Business by investing a small amount of money.
Better connectivity
Have you experienced the situation of travelling to a faraway town for meetings? You’d probably have to switch between 2-3 modes of transport to reach the destination. Well, online meetings end this struggle.
All you need to do to hold a meeting online is procure a device, connect it to a stable internet network, and you’re good to go.
Content sharing
This is another fantastic benefit of online meeting tools like Skype for Business. You can share documents, images and even share the screen in real-time with other meeting participants. Thus, putting away the hassle of sending emails to share files during calls and meetings. Also, you can record the meetings and resort to them later in case of any confusions or disruptions.
Resource optimisation
Resources like time, money and human presence are effectively utilised now with the help of online meetings.
Businesses are not splurging money on booking first-class flight tickets and 5-star hotels. Executives do not need to travel for 2 days to attend a 2-hours meeting with a client in another timezone, thus saving them from exhausting the most precious resource- the human mind.
With online mode, the business meeting can be completed in a shorter time frame, allowing executives to optimise their hours.
No physical restrains
Earlier businesses believed physical restrains would become a hindrance in making vital business decisions. For example– the inability to travel to another location for a meeting could lead to loss of potential business.
Online meetings tools have given businesses a platform to overcome such restraints. You can connect over video conferencing sitting in different parts of the world, thus allowing enterprises to coordinate seamlessly and expand their horizons beyond geographical location.
Post pandemic
With vaccinations rolling out, there’s a hope the world will re-open soon. Although, the business operational methods won’t be the same as in the pre-pandemic. Employers have found new and efficient ways to carry out operations, and employees have adapted to them quite well.
Employees have accustomed themselves to the new normal so much that 55% of them prefer working from home for at least 3 days, even after the pandemic. (source)
While employers are a bit apprehensive about the thought, employees feel the hybrid work model should be the new normal. With that in place, virtual meetings will still sustain their relevance, only to grow in the coming years.