A Few Thoughts on the Rise of Zoom and Remote Meetings
When Zoom first announced the goal of eventually making virtual meetings "better than in-person meetings", perhaps most people thought it was a bold, exaggerated tagline. Yet it is happening. Despite all of the drawbacks (lack of rapport-building, security concerns, fatigue), I have noticed at least three small ways in which virtual meetings are already made better than offline ones.
At any given time, you get to see the name of each attendee. Admit it, we've all had those awkward moments when we don't remember the name of a co-worker (or client!) and are too embarrassed to ask...
Most of the time, you have access to an upfront view of the person speaking. This is particularly valuable for my own line of work as a simultaneous interpreter. When we see the facial expressions of a speaker, we can better understand and translate their message...
A video recording of the meeting can be produced after the fact, usually at no extra cost. This feature comes in handy for the teaching work that I do - it saves me time as I don't need to re-explain everything, and definitely saves "face" for a student otherwise too shy to ask...
Don't get me wrong. I'm NOT rooting for virtual meetings—particularly remote simultaneous interpretation - as the ideal solution. In fact, I am sure that in-person meetings will make a strong comeback once restrictions are lifted. I can't wait for my next in-person gig, the next business trip, and the joy of sharing a beer with colleagues after work. The desire to be close to each other is the most beautiful part of human nature.
But until that happens, let's take a hard look at reality and embrace the idea that sometimes a virtual meeting may have its own merits. After all, denial does not make a good strategy amid great change.
Rony is an experienced conference interpreter based in Toronto. He takes pleasure in bridging the cultural gap between Chinese speakers and English speakers.
