Because of technological advancement, a lot of changes have been seen in the businesses and in the meetings. Today, it has become possible to host not only in-person meetings but virtual meetings also. There are several advantages of both types of meetings but we cannot say which is better among these. We need to focus on one thing: in which situation, which meeting fits the best. There are some topics which require discussions from a distant location in the form of virtual meetings whereas some topics require face-to-face conversation in the form of in-person meetings. In the year 2020, a rise in the virtual events has been seen because of the COVID-19. Now I am going to describe the key difference between in-person and virtual team events.
1. There is a requirement of developing work from home skills for the team members – In an in-person meeting, the members need to focus on functional skills. On the other hand, there is a need to focus on these skills as well as on core competencies whenever there is a virtual meeting. Now as the virtual team is efficient, we need the same efficiency in our traditional team also. What is the difference between the face-to-face teams’ leadership needs and remote teams’ leadership needs? It is necessary to develop work from home skills in the employees so as to effectively manage the group. Self-discipline, time-management, proactive networking and managing ambiguity are some of these skills.
2. It will be best for virtual teams to use a flatter organization structure – A flatter organization structure is needed for a remote team but for traditional teams, there is a support of hierarchies and authority. This is how a face-to-face group is different from a remote group. We need to consider remote teams as well as traditional teams for developing the structures for professionals, only then can we adjust in this fast-changing time. For encouraging collaboration and creativity, a virtual culture needs to be created and for this, efforts need to be put by all the members of the group so as to achieve good results. Now because of social distancing, we are facing several challenges. To overcome these challenges, there is a requirement of support and communication of higher levels.
3. It can be more effective to follow a leadership style that is transformative – A research suggests that as compared to face-to-face groups, the remote teams’ performance can have a positive effect because of the behaviors of the transformational leaders. When the transformational style of leadership was increased by the leaders, a higher level of performance was delivered by the employees. Now, what do you understand by transformational leadership? The social systems and individuals can undergo a change by getting influenced from an approach of leadership and then they transform into leaders by themselves. Instead of following a traditional command approach for a group, it is possible to lead a group with a coaching and democratic approach by a transformational style of leadership. It is also possible to deliver a group performance of higher level by the virtual groups if there is a boost in the transformational leadership efforts of the leaders. So, whenever you face difficulty in managing your virtual team, try to work with them and give authority to some of them.
4. It is necessary to have a communication that is effective and efficient – As compared to face-to-face groups, how virtual groups have different leadership needs? Communication plays a major role here. It has been found that communication gaps and misunderstandings are more in remote groups as compared to face-to-face groups. For fixing an issue, some more time can be taken by a virtual group because of communication issues. The reason behind this can be differences in the time zone or a long distance. You can’t solve a problem quickly in a virtual meeting because bringing the complete team to the event is very difficult. For minimizing these issues, it is necessary to organize the channels efficiently with the help of software and apps that are advanced and can serve the purpose very well.
If you take interest in hosting an event and you want to include virtual reality, social media and mobile in it, then it will be good for you to host a digital event. The Digital Events are very good for increasing the participation of the people.
