The Battle of the Meetings: Virtual vs. In-Person— Which Is Better? by Lindsay Griffiths
T
he short answer? Both! After two-plus years of being limited to almost entirely virtual meetings, we’ve learned that there are huge benefits to doing things online. But many people were also chomping at the bit to get back to seeing each other in the flesh. So that begs the question—which is better? It turns out that we need both and for varied reasons. So, while you may be tempted to toss your ring light forever in favor of jumping back onto planes…not so fast. Let’s look at the pros of both types of meetings and see why you need to keep them all in your diary.
VIRTUAL Sigh, I know, many of you were hoping to get rid of these with all of that Zoom fatigue creeping in. But now that you’ll be mixing in more in-person events, there will be a better balance and you should be feeling less worn out by your screen time. Why do you need to keep them at all? Well…
Time They’re far more efficient. Particularly for lawyers who hold on to the billable hour like a life vest, time is money. Virtual meetings cut down on travel, time out of the office, and the meetings themselves tend to be far more efficient. For a conference, it may not be practical for you to be out of the office for the conference as well as the travel time, but to hop on your computer for a few virtual sessions? Why not!
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Attorney Journals Orange County | Volume 195, 2022
Distance Depending on the client, it can take a great deal of time and effort to arrive at a meeting, which may only last for an hour before you are back on the road again. While that face time can be necessary (more on that in a moment), sometimes distance makes it more efficient to hop on a virtual meeting rather than several flights with layovers. This holds true for conferences too—you can get the benefits of virtual networking and learning without leaving your desk
Inclusivity This falls on many levels. Remote work is more inclusive generally, as recent studies have shown, so it makes sense that this would extend to virtual meetings as well. Not only does this apply to employees of color, but it also applies to women in the workforce, employees who need more flexibility, and those with disabilities or compromised immune systems. This is a HUGE benefit for meetings and will be why we’ll see both business meetings and conferences continue to have a virtual component even in their in-person events.
Cost Of course, cost is always a factor—not just the actual spends, but the time out of the office. Whenever you are making the decision to attend a meeting or a conference,
