Email vs Face-to-Face Meetings

Electronic or Face-to-Face Meetings?

Key principle: Connect Decision-Making Approach to Meeting Format

Discuss during first committee meeting:

• What kinds of challenges have you or a committee you’re on faced when using electronic methods to hold meetings, make decisions, share information? When using face-to-face methods?

Review the department’s policy on how to conduct department business.

• Typically, bylaws will include language about how frequently committees should meet, whether the meeting should be announced, when minutes are required to be taken, who can attend beyond committee members, and the scope and responsibilities of the committee(s).

Guidelines for Choosing Face-to-Face or Electronic Meetings

What kinds of committee business can best be taken care via email? In person?

• Advantages to electronic meetings
  • Off-site participants can attend
  • Easier scheduling
  • More time to consider issues
  • Other activities continue concurrently
  • Minutes less time-consuming (generated from email messages)
  • Unrestricted communication
• Disadvantages of electronic meetings
  • Voting is more cumbersome (unless use a poll or survey)
  • No enforceable confidentiality (emails can be saved)
  • Lack of nonverbal communication
  • Longer meetings/more time spent writing and responding than might be spent face-to-face
  • Difficult to discuss issues that are complicated

Email is most effective for:

• Providing information
• Requesting information
• Requesting action

Face-to-face meetings, phone calls, etc. most effective for:

• Convincing
• Clarifying
• Building consensus
• Congratulating
• Discussing
• Creating
• Problem-solving
• Resolving controversies
• Conveying or receiving emotion

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