Face-to-Face Meeting

Even though the present technologies, such as videoconferences and social networks, allow people to communicate from different places, face-to-face meetings remain an important tool to build and strengthen relationships. For example, face-to-face meetings enable people to receive instant feedback on their speech, since the audience can ask questions and present criticism for instance. Face-to-face meetings can be more attractive because of the emotional energy and the physical contact they enable as it is not possible to email a smile or a handshake. If an event aims only to share information, especially among people who already know each other, an online meeting can be suitable. On the contrary, if the participants are supposed to build or deepen relationships and increase their motivation in knowledge sharing and working together a face-to-face meeting is still better. ^[1]

Why face-to- face meetings are still important?

• To capture attention, especially if you are presenting something new
• To inspire a positive attitude in your colleagues because interacting with other people creates a positive emotional experience
• To build networks and personal connections
• To receive/provide instant feedback
• To facilitate strategic thinking and decision-making processes
• To simplify brainstorming ^[2]