“See you Zoom” - my experience and views on e-meetings

Self-isolation pushed us all to the virtual world before you could blink (or click?). I had to move some previously booked events to the virtual world and I was invited to quite a few others. Actually, in the past few days I ran a two-day copywriting workshop, the March Meetup of London Marketing Club, I was invited to speak at the Business Leaders’ Family event, and at the live crisis management discussion of Deeper Underground, I was interviewed a couple of times, and I attended several networking and mastermind events - all from the comfort (?) and isolation (???) of my home. Below I’d like to give an overview of my personal experience on virtual meetings, with pros, cons and my plans for the future.

The biggest pro is evidently the fact itself that we can still keep in touch with people, let them be anywhere. Just imagine if this had happened 10-15 years ago, we would have been completely cut from each other, in real isolation, and today, it’s just a few online clicks.

The tech I used

Technology-wise I tried Google Hangouts Meet first, which is part of the G-Suite, but as apparently I couldn’t show my presentation and see the attendees at the same time, I signed up for Zoom which has this feature. Zoom costs more than double of the price of Hangouts (cc 14 pounds, free for 40 minutes.)

When it's almost like meeting in person

Overall I find that virtual meetings can be as good or almost as good as in-person ones if we’d like to transfer information, or if we speak with 2-3 people max. It’s also a good alternative when we know the people who we e-meet. Another huge pro is the time I saved with not having to travel. I never really realised travel ate up so much time, this week I had so many of these meetings, and I still had time for other things to do.

Not-together

What I generally missed is being really present and together with the others. At my workshops, I give a lot of tasks to attendees, and I like to walk around and see who struggles with the task or is on the wrong track, and I can help them. In Zoom, it’s possible to take people to a breakout room to discuss things, but people don’t necessarily say if they need help.

Camaraderie is also a big plus of these workshops, but in Zoom people who have never met, comment much less on each other’s work than in a meeting room. And the fact that we have coffee breaks, and lunch break by ourselves doesn’t help, the workshop doesn’t have that emotional touch, only the rational. (It's not an option to eat together in front of the computer, we need some time away from the screen.)

My plan is to convert workshops into bootcamps, when we have a one-hour live session on a topic each week, followed by tasks to be carried out as homework, and to be shared in an online group, where people can comment on each other’s assignments. This will also enhance the camaraderie effect and can work as a mastermind.

Small talk is big

At my Marketing Club event, I really missed the small talk with prosecco before we start, when people ease up, and the atmosphere of the evening kicks in. Some smart people argue that small talk is an unnecessary time-consuming act, but it was evident what it counts when we can't have it.

I also noticed how much I need the presence of the audience when I deliver a talk. I usually walk among them, want to feel what they feel and how they react and tweak it accordingly. If you show a presentation in Zoom, you can’t even see everybody (above a certain number of attendees), but even if you do, they are small heads. And if they don’t set it on speaker view, they also see me as a small head.

 When smart heads meet

Facial expressions become much more significant, while it’s important not to use our hands too much, as they will seem huge in front of the camera. I know that there’s equipment to show the whole body, but these events become an experience thanks to the buzz, energy, and chemistry between the people, which doesn’t necessarily happen online - especially not when people don’t know each other. 

Feedback was good and in these challenging times, it was great to come together, share worries and reassure each other, attendees could open up. But I didn’t feel the same level of thrill I normally feel even days after the event, and presumably, the audience doesn't feel it either - that feeling of talking about the event for weeks.

As Marketing Club was meant to be high standard, hosted in private clubs, I’m not even sure I would like to go on with it in the virtual world and inflate it - I will see the feedback from members.

Dresscode: business pyjamas

It’s probably a minor thing, but I also like to dress up for the occasion, and while I’m obviously not in pyjamas at the online meetings (no, not even the bottom part:), it’s not the same level of impact.

Online networking works well if most people already know each other and a moderator coordinates who talks when. Some people apparently have to learn some new etiquette - which I consider obvious normal etiquette - that you don’t turn off your video or get distracted when it’s not your time to speak.

In Zoom, it’s a great feature to have breakout rooms, where the host can send us, or we can be assigned randomly. It’s fun, but normally at a networking event, you would want to select whom you talk to.

Masterminds can work very well in the online world, if the group meets regularly, and is well selected - basically the same rules apply as when it’s an in-person meeting. The same with interviews, and 1-2-1s: no real difference from in-person vs virtual.

So, all in all, I’m very positive, and I really love the online world, but there are some occasions when you need to be there in person. After all, I met my husband 20 years ago at an online dating site. But to have our sons, personal presence was inevitable.

The article reflects the views of the author (who else?), please feel free to agree or disagree, express your thoughts accordingly in comments.