Remote meetings are here to stay, but they have not eliminated in-person meetings

Is home office over?

In recent months, this question has started to circulate frequently in companies. Many organizations began requiring their employees to leave remote work and return to the office.

Not everyone welcomed the change. Many had moved their base to locations outside major urban centers. They set up offices at home, equipped to hold quality meetings. For this group, going back means returning to a routine that they consider unattractive. They are more resistant.

Others, with no alternative, even preferring to remain at home, heeded the call and returned to the classroom almost as a sacrifice. They claim that they produce more when working remotely. They wake up later, gain more comfort time and finish the day without facing traffic, being able to dedicate more hours to family or leisure.

Big companies want people in the office

There are, however, professionals who prefer in-person work. Some do not have adequate space at home. Others complain about constant interruptions. There are still those who simply enjoy socializing with colleagues and working in an environment that they consider to be more professional.

Large multinationals, such as Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Disney, have eliminated or significantly reduced home working. Among the reasons cited are the strengthening of organizational culture, the search for greater efficiency and improved collaboration and innovation.

Hybrid models are more common

Some have adopted hybrid models, requiring three or four days a week to be in the office. In Brazil, financial institutions also revised their working models. Large banks, such as Itaú Unibanco, promoted internal adjustments and layoffs after performance evaluation processes, in a broader context of restructuring and reviewing productivity goals, which included changes to remote work. Bradesco, in turn, ended home office in certain sectors.

Despite this change, it is unlikely that remote meetings will cease to exist. Even when working in person, remote communication will continue to be widely used.

In-person or remote?

The experience of recent years has shown that distance communication was not just an emergency solution. In many cases, it has proven to be efficient, economical and suitable for objective decisions and specific meetings, especially when physical travel represents a high cost of time and resources. Hardly anyone will travel long distances just to participate in a short meeting, when the meeting can be resolved efficiently remotely.

Over time, many organizations have concluded that in-person work offers important advantages. Proximity makes it easier to monitor individual performance and favors informal exchanges that often generate ideas and solutions that would be difficult to emerge in formal meetings.

Greater commitment

The face-to-face environment also imposes a greater perception of commitment. The way you dress, interact with colleagues and superiors and participate in meetings take on another dimension. It is not possible to enter silently and leave every meeting the same way. You need to participate.

Considering that remote contacts will continue, now often carried out within the workplace, the demand for increasingly refined communication skills is growing. In-person exhibitions require specific techniques. Posture, gestures, movement in front of the group and energy in the way of expressing oneself need to be on another level.

Distance communication can be more complex

This doesn’t mean that remote communication is any less demanding. In many cases, it is even more complex, requiring care with the image, the rhythm of speech, the clarity of ideas and the interaction with participants.

Whether remotely or in person, one of the core skills for any professional continues to be good communication. The work can change location. Communication, no. Communicating well is no longer a differentiator. It has become a basic condition for remaining relevant. Follow on Instagram: @polito

*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jovem Pan.