Keeping up with the times more. You often hear this phrase in connection with discussions about progress in the world of work. People should "move with the times" and adapt to new developments and learn to live with them or deal with them, because progress is unstoppable. That's probably true, but it's not necessarily a negative thing. Many people find it difficult to adapt; we are simply creatures of habit. In the world of work, change seems to be advancing particularly quickly!
Sometimes the development just goes too fast - of course, it's exhausting to switch to a new operating system, for example, when you've just gotten used to the old one... But maybe this new operating system has many advantages and is much more pleasant than the old one. As the saying goes? If you never try, you never know!
Modern Work
One point in which the world of work has changed extremely, especially in recent years, is HOW and from WHERE we work.
Even though we have all read and heard more than enough about the pandemic, one could say that it probably gave the decisive push to this change - from presence to remote. Admittedly, not always entirely voluntarily. The home office was probably inevitable due to the many recurring lockdowns. But many workers have embraced this trend! For the commuters among us, this transformation was probably like the most wonderful Christmas morning 🙂
What quickly took root in the pandemic has continued to take hold in many businesses in the years since. The shift from presence to remote has also changed the way we hold meetings.
In many companies, presence in the meeting was critical - flying business partners in from other parts of the world, preparing meeting locations, putting hours of planning into preparing the location and logistics, and then greeting each other with a firm handshake that was supposed to convey a particularly strong presence.
But the pandemic at the latest has shown us that it is time to rethink.
Technical progress brings change to the world of work
The change in meetings from face-to-face to remote was forced to take root very quickly, but has been maintained in many places even after the pandemic. There are many possible reasons for this, as well as benefits!
While one may miss the face-to-face aspect of meetings, some of the benefits, for both employer and employee, cannot be ignored. Online meetings save time and money on both sides, allow collaboration over long distances, and freedom to travel and possible physical limitations are no longer obstacles.
Advances in technology further enable unrestricted, clear visual and audio communications that make online and hybrid meetings easy and enjoyable. You may miss the face-to-face aspect, but you can't ignore the benefits. The beauty? Online and hybrid meetings are just a possibility, but not a must :).
If you still prefer to hold meetings in person, you can do that too.
What do you think about remote meetings? Are these the meetings of tomorrow?