In person or virtual: Which is better?
Our response to COVID-19 has accelerated several transformations that were a long time coming: we had to reduce international travel. We had to better welcome new forms of work outside of the traditional office. And we had to make better efforts at inclusive meetings. All these changes bring positive news with them.
So you may be weighing several options for your gathering. Let us help you determine the best way to meet.
In person
Being in one same space is the gold standard for quality discussions. In-person gatherings are ideal to consider nuances, or when the stakes are high. They’re near irreplaceable to build trust and community, to celebrate, and to or avoid or clear up misunderstandings.
Advantages:
- Allows clear communication
- Irreplaceable to build or strengthen relationships
- Usually a pleasant and well-known format for participants
- Requires no technical skills
Drawbacks:
- May be more costly and less environment-friendly than online
- May consume more of your participants’ time, especially if traveling
- Usually requires more organising
Online
Meeting online is just a different – also powerful – way to meet. Online meetings are best to generate and compare detailed ideas or feedback; hold complex conversations over time; or to decide, communicate or train effectively while keeping costs under control.
And perhaps you don’t even need a meeting so much as a decision-making process. Online processes allow spreading interactions over several days or weeks. This is best for complex decision-making, and offers exciting options that aren’t available in person.
Advantages:
- Allows a wider mix of tools, formats and methods
- Can equalise and democratise debate
- Fits more easily around participants’ busy lives at work and at home
- Usually cheaper than in person
Drawbacks:
- Less conducive to deep, meaningful and/or nuanced connections
- May be tiring if poorly run or too frequent
- Requires a degree of technical ease
Hybrid
Hybrid gatherings host some participants in the same physical space, while others connect remotely. They may seem like the best of both worlds.
In reality, they accumulate both formats’ drawbacks for very few to no advantages. They often end up frustrating both remote and in-person participants. In general, we advise against hybrid gatherings and encourage finding an approach that satisfies everyone and produces the required results.
(This differs from a gathering or process with some online and some in-person times. This may be an excellent choice.)
Advantages:
- Gives the impression to include both online and in-person participants
- May sometimes be suitable for simple meetings (e.g. to communicate information)
Drawbacks:
- Unpleasant for in-person participants, who will feel constrained to make everything understandable to their online peers
- Unpleasant for online participants, who will feel they’re missing out on some of the discussions
- Leaves little to no room for adaptation
- Usually more costly to design, as they require developing parallel plans for both groups