Much of the country and all around the world began working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While this was unusual for a lot of us, new research is showing that it may become the new norm.
80% of Australians who have been working from home say most meetings will be run remotely when they re-enter the workplace. However, 86% have identified problems with remote meetings to date, highlighting where they could improve.
Larger organisations are more likely to create a staggered and incremental return to the office. As such, the survey revealed that the larger the organisation, the more likely they are to continue to hold remote meetings over face-to-face meetings. In organisations with more than 1000 employees, 88% of respondents believe remote meetings will dominate, compared with 63% of respondents in micro-businesses (up to 15 employees).
The survey also found that remote meetings have not been run well by some organisations, with employees having an issue with the length, lack of objectives, and structure. When asked about their experiences using remote meetings at home – and what improvements they felt were needed – 44% of respondents say they need to be shorter in length, and 41% say they should be more structured and productive, to continue effectively.
When asked about remote meeting technology, 27% of respondents say that it should have fewer technical issues, while 23% say it should be easier to use.
“While video and teleconference meetings ensure physical distancing, our research reveals that poor meeting management and technical difficulties can sometimes defeat their purpose,” says CEO and Founder of Redback Connect, Jeff Downs.
“In this current climate, we have seen an overwhelming number of organisations fall back on video and audio meetings and teleconferences, simply because they are not aware of other remote meeting technologies they can use.”
The findings
The findings come from an independent survey of a nationally representative panel of 1000 Australian employees who have been working from home – full-time or part-time – during the pandemic, commissioned by digital event specialist Redback. Connect (redbackconnect.com.au).