May 02 2012
Management

The Value of In-Person Meetings [Infographic]

Putting in face time with coworkers, clients and business partners really makes a difference.

Despite the growth of telework and correspondence by e-mail, business leaders still crave face time with their coworkers, according to the results of a survey conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Cisco Systems.

75 percent of survey respondents believe in-person collaboration is critical and 82 percent said they felt better understood after in-person encounters. This speaks to the natural need for human interaction and feedback, which can often be lost in faceless communications by phone, social media and e-mail.

In-person collaboration also includes video conferencing and telepresence, which combines the best of both worlds by allowing for remote work without sacrificing the subtle strengths of face-to-face, real-time collaboration.

What makes in-person communication resonate so well? The survey breaks out the six key elements of successful communication.

  • Focus and engagement on shared content
  • Tone of voice
  • Facial expressions
  • Words someone is using
  • Subconscious body language
  • Conscious movements or gestures

Check out the full infographic from Cisco for more information on the power of in-person collaboration.

The power of in-person meetings

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