In-person, internal meetings are a growing and essential
piece of the hybrid workplace model, according to 250 senior leaders of U.S.-based
small, midsize and larger enterprises surveyed by Cvent in February, the
meetings management platform provider reported last week.
Among survey respondents, 68 percent currently managed an
in-person work environment, while 22 percent and 10 percent, respectively, led
hybrid and remote workplaces. That said, 56 percent predicted future workplaces
would come with more hybrid and remote models.
To what extent those executives were leaning into in-person
internal meetings currently—and the reception by employees to required internal
meetings—varied. At the end of the day, however, company leaders rated in-person
meetings as more effective for engaging, inspiring, motivating and keeping
employees mentally connected and productive regardless of their workplace model.
These are five key takeaways from the survey.
1. Attitudes on Internal Meetings
Ninety-five percent of surveyed executives said impactful
internal meetings drive employee culture, engagement and productivity. Eighty-nine
percent maintained that internal meetings would be a critical part of the
future workplace, and 85 percent were increasingly trying to bring employees together
face-to-face now for internal meetings, especially for onboarding/ new-hire
orientations; town hall meetings; teambuilding; professional development and
one-on-ones with existing employees. Ninety percent of business leaders with
hybrid workers said employees were increasingly seeking more options to
interact with colleagues and internal teams.
2. Small & Midsize Enterprises Get Together More
Small and midsize companies reported stronger current practices
in utilizing in-person meeting formats for town halls/all-hands-on-deck
meetings (67 percent for SMEs v. 46 percent for larger enterprises), one-on-one
meetings (65 percent v. 49 percent), professional development (61 percent v. 47
percent) and department status/update meetings (53 percent v. 38 percent).
3. Employee Preferences Differ for Internal Meetings
Overall, employee preferences for internal meetings were
weighted toward in-person interactions—but not by much. Fifty-five percent said
less frequent, in-person meetings were more impactful; but 45 percent said more
frequent virtual meetings were better. Those findings may be a “current state,”
with workplaces still stocked with Boomer and Gen X employees. These
generations both lean toward less frequent, in-person internal get-togethers,
while Millennials have more mixed feelings about the issue. Flash forward to
Gen Z, however, and virtual meeting models are preferred for internal information
exchange and collaboration. Currently, 79 percent of company leaders are
shifting toward less frequent, in-person internal meetings.
4. Finding the ROI of Internal Meetings Remains Elusive
for Many
While Cvent reports that 92 percent of survey respondents
used metrics to measure the success of internal meetings (the most popular
means was by employee satisfaction surveys, used by 69 percent of respondents),
64 percent said the metrics change depending upon the meeting format and 58
percent admittedly struggle to understand the return on investment of internal
meetings, despite their efforts.
Yet, there are many intangibles that business leaders cited
regarding internal meetings, whether they successfully measured it or not: 96
percent believe internal meetings boost productivity, 94 percent said they
boost employee innovation; 92 percent saw a boost in employee engagement
levels, 90 percent said retention rates benefited from in-person get-togethers
and 89 percent said that in-person meetings boost morale overall.