Introduction
Technological advancements in many fields have continued to revolutionize our day-to-day lives. Communication is one of the most advanced items in terms of technology.
In the space of a few years, people have greatly changed the way they communicate be it in the social or business circles by embracing technology.
This has largely been contributed to by convenience, reduced costs and many other associated advantages that come with technology. On the other hand, global and local economies continue to face challenges especially in finances and time management.
Cutting costs has become a principle mechanism for virtually all businesses in a bid to survive the tough competition and the modern operating environment. This essay discusses the future of large face-to-face meetings in the advent of virtual meeting technologies.
It is almost certain that face-to-face meetings in the business arena are set to be replaced by technological options in the coming days. This has largely been contributed to by convenience, low costs and sheer superiority of these technological options.
To begin with, the aspect of cost is very important to businesses. Face to face, meetings have with time proven costly to many businesses.
This is because they involve people coming together and in the process inquiring expenses like transport, lunches and drinks among many other accompanying costs.
Indirect costs of face-to-face meetings include wastage of time travelling or getting the venue ready. Even when such meetings involve people working in the same building, it still takes some time for all people to get to the venue.
On the other hand, social media and other means of communication like conference calls and Skype cost much less and waste very little time.
All it takes is a onetime investment on communication gadgets like computers, phones and internet networks, which are usually present in many businesses anyway.
In today’s world with traffic jams, flight delays and high costs of hiring hotel conference rooms, paying employee’s night outs, shipping materials and many other accompanying costs, virtual meetings and instant communication through social networks make a lot of business and common sense.
Today, there are computer programs designed to enable virtual meetings to be just like face-to-face meetings. People can choose what they want to listen to, how they participate and interactions appear like real face-to-face meetings.
Futuristic technological advents are uncertain, but if past trends are something to go by, communication sector will definitely become better with time.
It is undeniable that face-to-face meetings offer the best environment for connecting with clients, partners or other people. They certainly appear more real and convincing to many people, but with the current circumstances, virtual meetings and events appear more convenient and most preferable.
With continued use, they will become a part of people psyche and will be a big determining point of whether businesses survive tough times or not.
In conclusion, it is very clear that technological advancements are making virtual events not just replacements for expensive face-to-face meetings but also superior ways of doing business.
Just looking at today’s trend is enough to show one the direction that future business environments will take. Thus, it is undisputable to say that virtual meetings and social networking will be the more preferred means of doing business by far as opposed to face-to-face meetings.