9 Major Benefits of In Person Meetings

The move to remote work has caused an explosion in the number of virtual meetings businesses schedule. Thanks to software like Zoom and Calendly, it’s easier than ever to plan meetings online. Yet, business leaders are realizing that the shift to primarily meeting virtually has brought unintended negative consequences to their organizations and employees, too.

One downside to the ease of scheduling and attending virtual meetings has been a subsequent meetings overload. Companies like, Asana, now schedule meeting doomsdays to internally audit meeting schedules and cancel recurring meetings that aren’t valuable. There’s also a concern for the mental well-being of employees who experience Zoom fatigue from staring at a screen in so many virtual meetings.

Business leaders and managers need to be purposeful with their meeting strategies if they hope to care for their employees and keep them engaged. One vital piece of a skilled leader’s meeting toolbox involves knowing when it’s better to schedule in person meetings.

Here are 9 major benefits of gathering face to face:

1. In person meetings are ideal for establishing trust.

2. Face to face meetings are better for accomplishing goals.

3. Securing a commitment is much more likely to take place in person.

4. Connecting face to face improves mental health.

5. It’s easier to communicate in person.

6. In person meetings encourage creativity and require less cognitive load.

7. Adding in person meetings and decreasing virtual ones helps avoid meeting burnout.

8. Cultivating relationships is easier to do with face to face time.

9. Connecting over a meal leads to greater collaboration and productivity.

1. In person meetings are ideal for establishing trust.

The greater the level of trust between people who are meeting, the more likely it is they’ll be able to accomplish the purposes of getting together.  This can be problematic since people in the U.S. trust each other less today than they did 40 years ago.

Part of the issue with building trust in virtual meetings is that they tend to be transactional by default. Virtual meetings are ideal for exchanging efficient updates to move projects forward, but the care it requires to establish trust takes more effort when communicating online.  

Meeting in person, on the other hand, naturally leads to connecting at a relational level. You greet each other with a handshake or a hug, gestures that communicate safety and care for the other person. You grab a coffee, a beer or a meal together, and suddenly you feel more relaxed.

Catching up on how each other has been no longer feels like an obligation done in haste to kick off the meeting. This all adds up to a much better environment for building trust.

2. Face to face meetings are better for accomplishing goals.

A recent Meetify survey of professionals’ behaviors and thoughts on meetings revealed employees prefer to meet in person when goals need to be accomplished. A Harvard Business Review article points out this is especially true when the goals are relationship-based, like addressing a conflict or providing difficult feedback. While it may be tempting to hide behind a screen when you have something challenging to say, it’s ideal to talk in person if possible.

3. Securing a commitment is much more likely to take place in person.

If you’re wondering how to ask your manager for a raise or a promotion, or you’re hoping to close an important deal, schedule to meet in person. It’s far more likely to lead to a “yes” than when you make a request in a virtual meeting. In fact, research indicates it’s 34 times more likely to get a commitment in a face to face meeting.

This may be because it’s harder to decline an appeal made face to face. It may also be that once two people have put in the effort to meet in person, they both want to walk away feeling that something has been accomplished. Whatever the reason, when the goal of a meeting is to secure a commitment, it’s much more likely be successful if you meet in person.

4. Connecting face to face improves mental health.

Americans say they are happiest when they spend six to seven hours a day with other people. Multiple studies during the pandemic discovered higher rates of anxiety and depression that occurred because of social isolation. It increased feelings of hopelessness, loneliness, sadness and even suicidal ideation.

While it’s tempting to cut out the extra travel time of meeting in person, it’s not ideal to do so for every meeting. If you connect in person for a few meetings each week, you’re likely to feel better and be more productive. This can make up for any lost time traveling.

5. It’s easier to communicate in person.

It’s also easier to fully understand those we’re meeting with when we communicate in person. In fact, the top motivation cited for meeting in person rather than virtually in the Meetify study was that “It's easier to fully and accurately communicate.” While it's possible to read body language to a degree online, it’s still not the same level as people communicate nonverbally in face to face settings.

There also tend to be more distractions in online meetings, increasing the potential for us to miss valuable information. Avoiding distractions was actually the second most popular motivation for meeting in person from our study. There’s a temptation to multitask, pulling our attention out of the meeting and away from those who are part of it.

Plus, it’s mentally draining to stay focused on a screen longer than a few minutes, especially when we’re able to watch ourselves. The extra energy this takes can leave our brains looking for any distraction to get a break.

6. In person meetings encourage creativity and require less cognitive load.

Research shows that creativity flows better when brainstorming ideas face to face than online. Both the quantity and quality of ideas improves when people meet in person rather than online. Part of the reason may be that creativity flourishes when we allow our brains to wander. Being able to move about and look around when connecting in the same location provides the space for this to happen.

That’s not the case when meeting online, which requires more focus and often keeps us in one spot. Stanford researchers studying Zoom fatigue identified why video chats can be so exhausting. They found that the eye contact required to communicate we’re paying attention is highly intense.

That, along with staying in one place and staring at ourselves onscreen, requires an intense amount of brain power. So, if a meeting calls for creativity, it’s better to schedule it in person.

7. Adding in person meetings and decreasing virtual ones helps avoid meeting burnout.

Simply changing up our surroundings when we meet can help us to engage more. Connecting in person gives us greater variety in choosing where to meet, and the location of our meetings can provide the extra stimuli our brains need to avoid burnout. Try scheduling a few meetings a week at a local brewery, restaurant or coffee shop to get away from your typical work environment and your computer screen. You’re likely to find your virtual meetings are more productive when you have fewer scheduled.

8. Cultivating relationships is easier to do with face to face time.

A relaxed setting away from a computer screen is also a better place to develop a connection with another person. Consider the most meaningful relationships in your life. It’s likely that much of the time spent growing closer was when you were able to be together face to face. That’s the space where people tend to discover all they have in common, despite their differences, and find common ground.

Our study supported the importance of meeting in person to build relationships. The top three reasons to meet in person all had to do with developing relationships and communicating better.

9. Connecting over a meal leads to greater collaboration and productivity.

Meeting together over food and drinks makes our time more collaborative and productive together a Cornell University study found. Kevin Kniffin, Professor of Economics at Cornell University and author of the study, suggests that the intimacy of eating together flows over into our work. It’s also a tradition people associate with getting to know one another better and eating food while building relationships makes us feel good. This puts us in a state of being able to work better together.