Zoom and Remote Meetings: Sean Aloise Explains How COVID-19 Could Revolutionize Business Meetings

As of early March, big corporations and small businesses alike have switched from brick-and-mortar work environments to work-from-home operations in an attempt to flatten the curve and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Sean Aloise, a Communications and Special Projects Manager at University of California, San Francisco, Campus Life Services Facilities Services, is invested in monitoring how COVID-19 is impacting professional communications—especially in the context of remote work. Although the pandemic will someday resolve, he believes its effects will continue reverberating in the professional world, forever changing how we work and communicate. In many ways, COVID-19 holds the potential to revolutionize the business world, completely transforming workplace communication protocols.

COVID Forces Innovation in Business Practices

Working from home (otherwise known as ‘telecommuting’) has only become widely possible in the last 5 to 7 years. Even so, previous to the coronavirus pandemic it had never truly become a standardized practice. While remote workdays and regular telecommuting were not exactly unheard of, they certainly were not commonplace, either. As recently as 2017, for example, U.S. census data indicated that only around 5.2% of professionals regularly worked from home.

That is not to say the technology did not exist back then to facilitate it—an observation which highlights that the business world may have been long overdue for advances in innovation. As pointed out by Sean Aloise, many professional workplaces have realistically had the tools and resources needed to standardize remote work for years now. Platforms like video conferencing softwares, Trello, Pintask and Asana which aim at facilitating remote collaboration are truthfully nothing revolutionary. Zoom, for example, will turn 10 years old in 2021.

In short, professional organizations have long possessed the tools necessary to facilitate a widespread transition to standardized remote work. What has held them back from doing so, most likely, was skepticism regarding the efficiency of distance collaboration and the simple resistance to change.

In giving workplaces an ultimatum between shifting to 100% remote models or closing down entirely, COVID-19 has spurred long overdue innovation in the professional world. Individuals and organizations that likely never would have switched to remote models of their own accord have instead openly embraced it as a welcomed solution amidst the pandemic.

Advantages and Challenges of Remote Meetings

The spontaneous, widespread transition to remote meetings has, of course, presented considerable challenges. Technological complications and interface-related learning curves have certainly hindered productivity for many. Even so, most are finding that the advantages of remote meetings far outweigh the initial barriers.

Among the many advantages of these new models, perhaps the most notable is the elimination of overhead costs created by operating and maintaining physical workspaces. Since closing their formal offices and switching to remote models, many companies have significantly cut operation costs, allowing for considerably larger profit margins.

As far as operational advantages go, many have reported that distance models and remote meetings are more productive than their physical alternatives. Faced with stricter timelines, meetings are more likely to be focused and succinct. For the most part, remote assemblies expedite the communication process by cutting out social interludes and facilitating a more concise interaction.

As more office workers become comfortable with remote work and more workplaces transition permanently to 100% distance collaboration, organizations will also be granted the advantage of expanded hiring pools. No longer restricted by geographic location, organizations will likely be capable of finding more diverse talents to fill critical roles.

Could Remote Work be the New Norm?

COVID-19 has forced overdue innovation in the realm of business practices and professional communication. As office workers become more acclimated to remote models, their advantages become increasingly apparent. While some workplaces will inevitably switch back to in-person operations when the pandemic resolves, Sean Aloise believes many will see remote meetings and distance collaboration replace old practices and become the new norm.

In short, these current measures may be temporary, but their effects will inevitably change some workplace practices forever. According to Sean Aloise, one such change will be the increased normalization of remote business meetings, distance collaboration, and even 100% digital work environments.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes