Research says more and more business training and business meeting are taking place online. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantage?

There has been an increasing trend in which businesses have been transferring their training sessions and meetings from the physical workplace to an online environment.

Although

there might be concerns over

this

change, I would argue that

this

transformation tends to be positive with more benefits than drawbacks. Concerns over the rising popularity of online professional development and forums are generally around the increased difficulty in management and the possible declined staff performance. For managers in a company, carrying out their administration routines without the conventional visual and auditory proximity adds complexity to their tasks. To illustrate, it is more difficult for them to gauge whether trainees or meeting attendants have gained the key information as having been expected with the lack of authentic in-person interactions. Another problem partially incurred by

this

concern is that a person might be undertrained or work slackly when the conventional in-house training and debrief routines are carried out under a less supervised circumstance.

Although

it might be true that some new recruits and older members of a company could get away with being slack, I would argue that they are unlikely to behave that way considering most people value their working performance in

this

dynamic and competitive social context. Contrary to being less productive, I believe that making professional preparation materials and routine meetings available digitally will, in fact, promote the efficiency and effectiveness of both administrators and their subordinates. For the former, managing reports from employees will be less arduous as all materials will have been presented digitally and would

thus

be organised quickly with the assistance of applications

such

as EXCEL and Python. For the latter, engaging in professional development or attending discussions online allow them a greater level of flexibility to take control of their learning and work at their own pace.

As a result

of

this

greater level of autonomy, these staffs are likely to be more motivated and competent professionals who proactively improve their work-related knowledge and skills in order to maintain their competitiveness. In conclusion, while the developing trend towards an online working environment could

initially

caution people about administration and accountability issues, I firmly believe that

this

development will be beneficial in the long term with a more efficient way of managing companies and more motivated and productive employees.