Online Meeting

Better or worse

I think these days, almost everybody in this world is faced with a new way of like. Covid-19 has forced us all to do all the things we were never exposed to before. For those of you who are working, now you are probably adjusting to working online, meeting online, etc. But is it more effective? Here is the pro-con in my personal experience.

Pro

Clearer direction

I think during an online meeting, people in charge of the meeting tend to come more prepared during the meeting. Meaning, they tend to make extra effort to shape the direction of the meeting. They prepare the material better and try to engage more with the audience in the meeting. I think it is kinda like reverse psychology. Online meeting is something new for many people, therefore people tend to prepare more because they have never experienced anything like that.

Time-effective

We can all agree that online meeting saves time. In the past, we have to commute to someplace to meet people, today we can meet online anywhere in the world. Online meeting is not only effective in cutting commuting time, but it is also effective in cutting down a meeting time. In my experiences, people tend to be quicker in giving their opinion online and quicker in taking decisions online. It could be that because people are not in the same room, they tend to vote directly according to what they think is right at the moment, without the need to contemplate about what others think (like what happens in real life meeting).

Con

Wild audience

During the online meeting, I have noticed that the audience is less controllable. During a real-life meeting, there is the “meeting vibe” however, during an online meeting, that vibe is gone. Furthermore, not every place has a good internet connection, which makes it hard when communicating. Some people may not be able to hear what the other is talking about, or sometimes when somebody is asked to speak their internet connection gone off.

Difficult to concentrate

It is also a lot easier for people to be distracted during an online meeting. At the office, there is a designated place for people to conduct meetings, but for online meetings, people do meetings anywhere. Also, some people might not be fully present during the meeting, because the surrounding is hidden from the camera, so people could be playing their phones below the camera and all. It is also very difficult to identify those who are not fully focused.

So have you adjusted well to this new “normal”?