Virtual meetings: a means to an end

Virtual Meetings are a means to an end.

I just wanted to preface this post with a note that; as per all my blogs and posts, they are personal reflections, not stating absolute facts, just opinions and thoughts to either stimulate a discussion and/or to share potentially a different perspective.

Technology is fantastic! I love gadgets, interesting software, and rely on technology to live my daily life. I have relied on technology for decades before the pandemic and will continue to waste inordinate amount of time on my home tech and explore solutions for work to either try and make my life easier, automate the mundane, make me more productive or just because it’s fun trying different things!

With that caveat out of the way, onto the topic at hand…. Virtual meetings!

It is unquestionable that virtual meetings have kept us going during the pandemic and kept the majority of businesses and industries afloat. Had it not been for Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Whatsapp and other applications we’d be in a far worse state than we are now. However, it must be noted that virtual working cannot save all industries and following the many reports in the news over the last year scores of small businesses have bust, sole traders are struggling and let us not forget the tourism, aviation and entertainment industry who were also particularly badly hit.

It is not all doom and gloom fortunately, and I am grateful that my sector (construction and infrastructure) has managed to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels shortly after the first lockdown. However, a significant amount of this productivity was not done remotely; this work had to be done in person. Fortunately, our industry is well accustomed to working in high-risk environments and managing risk, so managing something like Covid whilst an extra element of work was manageable. That said, our industry is far from perfect; with over 60k non-fatal injuries to workers, 40 deaths and over 80k workers suffering from work-related ill health (new or long-standing) there is a lot more to be done to mitigate this. However, that is a topic for another blog… the point is that whilst virtual working would avoid these injuries, the work wouldn’t get done.

So, with the “one size doesn’t fit all” in mind, it is clear that mandating and adapting a “remote only” type of work is clearly not applicable for everyone. From a personal perspective and after several decades of life and a few less decades as someone who works, humans revel off human contact. I believe we’re designed to use all of our senses when we interact people. Virtual meetings removes several of those senses and being glued to your screen I feel is not a healthy way of being human. I personally worry for the future or younger generations that are having their social ability eroded by lack of real human contact, the sense of community and interaction you have with colleagues, peers and clients.

“Zoomed out….”

For me a typical office day (at least pre-pandemic); would be a mix of sitting at my desk, popping to someone’s office for a chat or to ask for something, grabbing a coffee with a colleague, some meetings (you can never escape those!), and a bit of time after the meeting to process the actions and actually deliver some of the work. Though I will admit that myself and colleagues often used to roll our eyes “what? Another meeting?!”.

That said, we have a new expression now: “I’m totally zoomed out!”, certainly that’s applicable to me, back to back virtual calls are not conducive to:

1. to enjoyment, hard to get engaged with a computer screen;
2. productivity - when are you supposed to get your work done?;
3. being able to use the facilities…

Another point to consider is; you’d have time to get up, walk to see someone, ask questions to colleagues, chat and interact with people around you, develop friendships and a whole raft of other things. Whilst this sounds very distracting, work got done, people were productive, and people were generally happy. However, this typical day I highlighted is seemingly more and more alien to people with an increasing number actively distancing themselves from wanting to do it again.

I think there could be productivity issues that will result from not being physically around people (admittedly not all industries), but for me what is even more important than productivity, is human interaction. So many nuances cannot be picked up by virtual meetings, but I suppose the virtual world does force people to be more careful with their communication? Regardless, a lot is missed in the virtual setting.

For what it’s worth, I have thoroughly enjoyed working from home more. It’s meant more time with friends and family, spending time with my children (and even doing the school run!), and ￡ks saved on commuting. It also allowed me to spend 3 weeks in Cyprus this August as I was able to do some work remotely as well. I would like to think that a more blended approach will be the way of working in the future. However, there are a few things to consider.

“To hybrid or not to hybrid, that is the question…”

With COP26 round the corner and Net Zero on the forefront of everyone’s mind now, the CO2 impact cannot be ignored. Less commuting, less travel for meetings, less need for heating/cooling and electricity use in offices, less catering requirements and overnight stays also means less costs to businesses. That sounds like a win… doesn’t it?

For businesses I can understand this quandary of whether home working is going to be beneficial or more complex. I don’t think there is a simple answer. I’m not an environmental scientist, or an expert in this field at all but I don’t think things are as clear cut as they seem.

Some things I’ve thought about:

• Office buildings are generally more efficient at heating/cooling than our homes at least in the UK, so we may be adding more electricity/heating burden by working from home?
• Hybrid working means paying for utilities in your home and an office building so actually could end up being worse than being full time in the office even if you take into consideration commuting – whilst it’s not “doubling up” something feels a little clunky about it, and would the train operators raise their prices to cater for less regular commuting or use of their network?
• Trains are still one of the most efficient means of transport for people when looking at tonne of CO2 per person for mass transport. Trains are still running and thus become less efficient if they’re empty.
• If they reduce trains, people may be less inclined to travel owing to the lack of flexibility that less frequent service brings.
• People will still travel to see families and friends, whether domestically or internationally – if a plane is full, it is more CO2 efficient per passenger than a bus.
• It also seems that long haul flights are more efficient than single occupancy cars, so moving away from single occupancy cars is a significant push. Also, where remote working becomes much more efficient.
• What to do with empty office buildings or part-occupancy? Keeping people distanced is not going to be a long-term strategy (and frankly pointless) and price per square meter is something to consider.

I found some stats albeit a little out of date but probably still relatively relevant:

Virtual meetings are still very important…

There is a time and place for virtual events and meetings. For example: Webinars, team / business updates, some online learning, Ted Talk type of events, and some CPD activities. It must be noted that some sectors also are better suited to it as well. However, not all sectors are the same, not all work can be done online, furthermore human relationships are easier to develop face to face for the majority of people (after all, we’re humans and that’s what we do!). Of course one must be aware of groups/generations in society that seem to be more inclined to meet virtually before meeting in person. That said, they still want to meet in person at some point!

In closing I think the main point of this post was to highlight we shouldn’t be rushing to solely work remotely at all costs. There are few elements to consider more so than just CO2 – a few examples I’ve thought of:

• The people/human element, interacting with your colleagues and co-workers and the social aspect of professional life;
• Productivity. I know there will be examples of high productivity in spite of home working, and that may well be the case, but this cannot be unilaterally applied for the entire workforce of the UK or even globally;
• The issues of working in isolation at home, and the impact on mental health;
• The support of the local economy by going to a restaurant, shop, café, pub etc…;
• Being able to do a lunch time gym session or errands is easier in a town / city environment;
• More effective meetings and workshops.

I think the pandemic and how it was managed has dramatically altered people’s perceptions of “normal”, but also possibly challenged how we work and view the world. Although I consider myself an innovation leader, I still struggle to move away from face-to-face meetings and solely relying on remote working. I don’t think it’s particularly good for me at least, or my mental health. I would also challenge that as a race, humans whilst tribal at times and strong-willed, need that softer side to flourish to allow us to collaborate better, develop friendships and partnerships to be the best that we can be not only at work but as people too.