How to Build Professional Bonds With Online Meetings
Meetings are an important component of virtually any business. In the past, it was not uncommon for meeting participants to board a plane and fly to another coast or international locations.
This was necessary to ensure that all of the company divisions met face to face and were on the same page, but it cost a great deal of money. Travelling extensively meant that certain employees could not perform their regular jobs for potentially days at a time.
Thankfully, online meetings have changed all of that without compromising professional bonding. In fact, many of the technologies available today make staying in touch so much easier, which allows professional relationships to be stronger than ever and require less of a time commitment.
Staying in Touch
In addition to travel, meeting attendees needed to take into account the issue of where and how they would meet – the location of the building, which room, how long the room was available and for, and cost if the meeting wasn’t at one of their company locations.
None of that matters anymore with online meetings. Facilitators can conveniently schedule meetings in far in advance or start them quickly them when the need arises. Time limitations are no longer as much of a factor – and without travel, schedules can be easier to coordinate.
Meeting with your colleagues regularly allows everyone to stay in sync. It also can give attendees a chance to know their customers or fellow employees better.
When you are familiar with a person’s strengths, you can design assignments for them to take advantage of those talents. If you know what your client most desires to gain from your professional relationship, you can easily tailor your offerings to fulfill that objective.
Mass Communication Made Easy
Early versions of conference calls had limited capacity for participants and technical issues were common. Things have improved dramatically in recent years, with greater caller capacity and live technical support.
With a few facilitation techniques, many employees can participate in a meeting and feel like they are a valuable part of the process. It is one thing to receive an impersonal memo stating company business, but quite another to be present when these developments are discussed and approved.
Anyone who feels active and involved will put forth a better effort and demonstrate greater loyalty.
Enhancing the Personal Touch
Webcams can add a personal, face-to-face component that enhances a business relationship. When people can see each other, there is a different level of immediacy and sincerity in any online meeting or presentation.
Once participants are on camera, facilitators can easily incorporate icebreakers, team building exercises and other ways to socialize in a relaxed, natural setting.
Customers like to know that they are more than just numbers on an excel sheet. Staying in regular contact and easily sharing visual aids that demonstrate dedication to them leads to strong and lasting associations.
Services like FreeConference.com can make meetings easy to create and provide users with their own personal online meeting room. As many as 200 people can participate on audio, and there are three HD video feeds. Facilitators can record calls for later playback to provide anyone who missed the meeting with a recap.
Cost and distance are no longer factors that hinder employee development or the building of professional relationships. Choose the options that are best for your organization and take advantage of online meetings to enhance networking, professional development, and customer interactions.
