Drake SettsuProject Manager / BloggerHi, United States
If your team is in the same geographical area in walking distance. I feel an in person meeting would be more appropriate over a con-call meeting requiring you to share your desktop to present. People tend to multitask and not give their full attention to the meeting. You cannot engage in a virtual meeting like a physical meeting.
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
If the situation is like you describe I will meet my stakeholder face-to-face INDEED (sorry for the capital letter). In my case, I am working on virtual environments from more than 20 years ago into initiatives where more than 65 countries are involved then all my work is via conf-call and others virtual tools. No matter that, no matter I firmly believe that is the way we will work in the future (for me, is the present) there is nothing better that to interact with the people. You can see you corporal movement for example when you talk with them, Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
If the opportunity is there to meet F2F, then I would certainly choose to do so. Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
It depends on the topic being discussed and the stakeholder. I work with IT Engineers, and they're not always the most social individuals. If we can exchange information effectively via a virtual conference and the individual prefers it, I'll arrange one even though we're in the same office. Saving Changes...
Dr. Cesar PortilloManager IT Project management/Director| UnitedHealthcareWaterbury, Ct, United States
I have to agree with Drake. If at all possible, physically meeting is a lot better than virtual meetings. It is more engaging and there are less opportunities for distractions. In virtual meetings something like this often happen "Can you repeat that? I was multitasking and did not hear the question". Which makes valuable time less effective.
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1 reply by Drake Settsu
Nov 02, 2017 7:15 AM
Drake Settsu
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Lol "Can you repeat that". That happens all the time.
Saving Changes...
Drake SettsuProject Manager / BloggerHi, United States
Nov 02, 2017 6:45 AM
Replying to Dr. Cesar Portillo
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I have to agree with Drake. If at all possible, physically meeting is a lot better than virtual meetings. It is more engaging and there are less opportunities for distractions. In virtual meetings something like this often happen "Can you repeat that? I was multitasking and did not hear the question". Which makes valuable time less effective.
Lol "Can you repeat that". That happens all the time. Saving Changes...
In general I agree, however just because someone is there in person doesn't mean you have their full and undivided attention.
I've found that folks tend to participate actively in person or virtually if they believe the discussion to be of value to them. This is why it is so important to follow basic meeting "hygiene".
I also find having the team develop ground rules for meetings early in the life of a project helps to avoid issues of people unnecessarily multitasking...
In my view, for one-to-one and small attendee numbers, virtual meetings will become prevalent communication methods in the future. Virtual workers are heading toward 50% of the workforce by the mid 2020's, and if that continues, well do the math. There are some advantages to face-to-face meetings over virtual ones, and the same can be said for virtual meetings over face-to-face ones. Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
The only way you get the full message from a person - voice, face, body - is face-to-face.
You can even tell when people are not giving you their full attention. For example, when you are talking to someone standing up, check the direction of their feet. Saving Changes...
There are situations where virtual meetings are unavoidable and they are sometimes the best alternatives for F2F meetings due to distance, time and a whole lot of other reasons. But virtual meetings are still alternatives to F2F meetings.
Ground rules as Kiron mentioned are no doubt important for any kind of meeting. Saving Changes...
