Virtual meetings were already part of many people’s working lives before 2020, but since then, they have become the normal way to interact in a work setting. Phone calls, conference calls and video conferences are some of the many ways to manage communication and carry out professional collaborations; it is important to know how to use these methods ably and with a certain ease, if we want to be as productive as possible and maintain good relations.
The use of these tools has massively increased over the last two years, and certainly made a big impact in 2020, as a result of the Coronavirus, which forced many working people to completely review their approach to communication. The way we work is forever changed, and the places we work might never be the same again; so knowing how to communicate effectively in virtual environments is becoming more important as each day goes by. Companies rely more heavily on technology, both as a tool used to facilitate professional collaboration, and as a way to bring people together. The internet has become much faster over the years, and bandwidth is wider than ever, facilitating the transmission of large amounts of data and the connection of large numbers of people. Furthermore, we have seen a large increase in freelance workers and digital nomads, who have become an important part of our economy. For these professionals, virtual meetings are an essential resource that enable them to save time and money, and to stay in constant contact with the company they are working with. Virtual meetings have an advantage over those in which we are required to be physically present, which is that they can be organised with very short notice; and that is a great benefit in today’s fast paced world.
With this in mind, it is easy to understand that video and conference calls are no longer optional resources; they have become a necessity that we cannot do without, and an essential tool that we need to learn to get to grips with, to then master and use in as professional a way as possible. As our daily environments become more virtual and decentralised, these various means of remote communication have proved to be an essential asset to both companies and employees.
