The Power of Face-to-Face Networking

I was privileged to attend the Society for Computers and Law (SCL) fiftieth anniversary dinner at One Great George Street in Westminster in London this week. There was a great keynote speech from its President Richard Susskindlooking back at the achievements of SCL and forward to the future, and in particular the continuing impact of AI. I am fortunate to be a fellow and past chair of SCL (when I was honoured to be able to introduce Richard to his current role in the society) and was delighted to see and hear about its obvious continuing success in marrying the fields of technology and the law and its practitioners. However, the thing that also really struck me about the evening is how the dinner demonstrated the continuing power and effectiveness of face-to-face personal networking. At the pre-dinner drinks and over the meal I met and talked to many existing contacts and made new ones, some followed up on LinkedIn. This really brought home to me again the benefits and pleasure, especially in our digital world, of meeting and socialising face-to-face. Indeed, I consider that in the post lock down world, when we were prevented from meeting up, there is a pent-up demand in people and organisations for person-to-person events. We have in my own work held two gatherings of our function recently which were very well attended and where colleagues contributed enthusiastically.

In addition to the obvious benefit of human social contact there are many good reasons for meeting in person as professionals. See, for example, this blog What are the Benefits of In-Person Meetings for Businesses? which observes “While virtual meetings have become increasingly popular as a result of remote working, they are not always as effective as in-person meetings when it comes to collaboration” and suggests “In addition to non-verbal cues, in-person meetings enable you to express your thoughts and ideas and ask questions more easily, decreasing the risk of misinterpretation. As such, face-to-face meetings are particularly important for task meetings or when trying to solve complex problems.”

While this article Face-To-Face Meetings: 9 Benefits and Why They're Important proposes that  “Face-to-face meetings are important because businesses are built on relationships. While digital communication has advanced significantly in recent years, face-to-face meetings can still be critical components of building a strong culture, developing rapport with clients and connecting with people on a deeper level.” It suggests the benefits include:

• Interpreting nonverbal cues like facial expressions or gestures
• Coming up with ideas
• Limiting technology issues – we have all experienced challenges from time to time with Teams or Zoom or whatever virtual medium we use 
• Engaging in purposeful small talk
• Addressing sensitive issues

This Harvard Business Review article poses the question in its title When Do We Actually Need to Meet in Person? It strikes a nice balance in the post-Covid world discussing the  relative advantages and disadvantages of real and virtual meetings. It suggests that rather than the “push and pull” of whether we should go into an office…”we need to reframe the conversation and focus on what we’re actually trying to achieve rather than where, precisely, we’ll be sitting when we achieve it.” In effect we have an opportunity, having experienced enforced Zoom and Teams meetings, to achieve a balance. “Now that serendipitous in-person interactions are possible, and now that we know how to do virtual work well, let’s think very carefully about whether time spent meeting might be better spent thinking, writing, or engaging in other projects.” It recognises the potential advantages of online meetings including “For some people, the screen creates a sense of psychological safety, and with it the freedom to share views and take risks.” It also discusses hybrid meetings and the challenges they present and in particular how to involve the colleagues online. I have seen this approach used for training and it works, but is so much harder to get online participants to contribute. The lesson I take from the article is that we now have a unique opportunity to find a balance between in person and remote meetings. It concludes “Let’s harness our new perspectives on time, technology, and togetherness to rethink how we work — and specifically, how we gather.”

I also found a Forbes article Should Your Next Meeting Be Online Or In-Person? which picks up this post pandemic dilemma of how and where we work and meet. It recognises “the tension between employers and employees over the issue of hybrid versus in-person working as worker are called back to the office.” It suggests “business communicators need to make sure that any in-person gathering is really the best way to get their message across—both verbally and non-verbally.” And draws an interesting distinction between “transactional communications” (getting information out there so people can act on it) and “transformational communications” (exchange and inspiration involving relationship and team building).

Don’t get me wrong here. I work from home and enjoy the freedom that gives me and the absence of commuting, but when I go into one of our offices I almost always achieve things I could not do online. I also started this blog extolling the virtues of face-to-face meetings. However, I do recognise that for some business meetings virtual or even hybrid gatherings are perfectly adequate and can even be better. They can also in multinational groups help bring colleagues in different countries together. We had an excellent Xmas video contributed to from our legal teams around the world. However, for cementing old contacts and making new ones there is no substitute for meeting in person.

And there is a risk with over reliance on electronic communication: Vincent Nichols a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic church warns “We’re losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person’s mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point. Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanizes what is a very, very important part of community life and living together.”

Stephen R Covey the educator and author sums the benefits up nicely “The person who is truly effective has the humility and reverence to recognize his own perceptual limitations and to appreciate the rich resources available through interaction with the hearts and minds of other human beings.”
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While for an extremely prescient final thought Charles Dickens of all people said “Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.”

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