05/27/2021

The Hidden Costs of Remote Working

Less chit-chat also means less connection

Mike Van der Vijver, managing partner of MindMeeting, may have some solutions for those suffering from remote working, through screens only. Remote working has become the standard way for many. For now, and probably for quite some time to come, there is no way around it. And in many respects, it works gloriously! 

In recent weeks, we at MindMeeting talked with several association executives about the impact of remote working and online meetings. As Meeting Designers, we were interested in a snapshot of how their meetings are functioning nowadays. In all honesty, we expected complaints about the difficulties of doing their normal work in an online environment; about issues with alignment; about low efficiency; about low-energy meetings where hardly anyone contributes. Well, they didn’t. Not at all! In fact, they found their meetings were shorter, better prepared, effective and efficient, with less chit-chat and fewer unnecessary interruptions. 

However, they did raise serious concerns, which originate in the most unexpected places. We saw frowns and heard trailing voices when they talked about the social environment which their team members found themselves catapulted in. Now that the office passes through the screen, people are actually longing for human – physical in fact – connections. 

Please select this link to read the complete article from Boardroom Global.