In-Person Meetings: Time to Face Reality

My dining room with chairs six feet apart, from middle of one chair to middle of next

Just a few days ago, the county where I live lifted the COVID-19 stay-at-home order, leading me to think more about what to expect with this pandemic as regards in-person meetings. My home state of Colorado is one of the earlier states to begin reopening. Currently, our governor’s orders are for offices to operate at up to 50% capacity–clearly not compatible with meetings of an entire department or work unit. In the best-case scenario, if there isn’t a huge surge in new infections, that order might get relaxed in perhaps a couple of months.

Even after offices are permitted to operate at full capacity, the responsible thing to do would be to have meeting participants sit six feet apart and wear masks. Have a look at the photos in these two links to get a sense of what that looks like.

I’d estimate only maybe five or six people would fit around a typical conference table; perhaps a dozen could fit in a good-size training room. I know from my facilitation experience that when people are so far apart physically, it feels cold and awkward–hardly a way to promote team cohesion. And what to do about employees at higher risk due to age or chronic health conditions? Exclude them, or put them in the awkward position of deciding whether to attend? I don’t see this scenario changing until everyone can get vaccinated, which means well over a year.

Happily, we have an alternative–videoconferencing, an option that would not have been so easily available had this pandemic occurred even 10 years ago.

I know, GROAN.

The term “Zoom fatigue” has entered our vocabulary, and for good reason (I can attest). Plus we all know you miss something when going from real, honest-to-goodness, in-person contact to something that transpires on a screen.

Despite these drawbacks, given the realities of how far off a return to normal will be (“normal” here meaning people can sit two feet apart at meetings instead of six feet), it’s time for managers to seriously consider conducting retreats, planning sessions, conflict-resolution and other not-so-routine meetings via videoconference. I know routine staff meetings are occurring this way already, but my clients have been postponing other more in-depth sessions.

There are many ways to minimize the drawbacks of virtual meetings, and they even have certain advantages. I’ve been teaching online (through American University’s IR Online program) for almost six years. My classes have included up to 18 students, all on live video. (Thanks largely to the university’s partnership with 2U, this format is far more successful than courses that were just hastily shifted online in the last few months.) Also, I just finished facilitating some pretty tough repair of working relationships for a small organization via Zoom, and it went as well as any in-person work I’ve done. While in videocons, I often use small-group breakouts, which is one way to make the interactions a little more intimate. I also break up what would normally be a longer meeting into chunks of two hours or less, to limit that screen fatigue. This chunking approach has the advantage of allowing time to change course or get additional information in between sessions, all with no new commute time. Another advantage over in-person meetings is the hand-raise icon, which allows me as facilitator to easily track who is in the queue to speak. And if absolutely necessary, I can put a participant on mute–a superpower I would have loved to have in the past, particularly at some public meetings.

A recent online class

All the videcon applications–Zoom, GoToMeeting, Skype, Google Meet, etc.–are easy to learn. (I’ve taught some serious Luddites to use them.) Zoom has been upgrading its security in the wake of highly publicized problems. The main issue is whether participants’ Internet connection is fast enough (and if not, going audio-only is an alternative for the individuals having trouble). If you’ve been putting off some serious negotiation or dialogue or other in-depth workshop until the pandemic is over, I urge you to think again.