Essay 295 – Business meetings and training are increasingly taking place online

GT Writing Task 2 / Essay Sample # 295

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Research shows that many business meetings and training are increasingly taking place online.

Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer:

Studies show that many companies tend to convene conferences and do training on online platforms. This essay believes that the benefits of this trend outweigh the disadvantages because although lack of personal interaction and technical difficulties can spoil virtual meetings and training, the trend saves time and money while deepening understanding of learning content.

The main disadvantage of virtual official meetings is the lack of personal interaction. Humans are social beings, and face-to-face communication allows a more nuanced discussion in any business conference. Consequently, it is not always easy to understand the magnitude, when conversing online. The same goes for technology as technical issues – be it audio, visual, or internet speed- are the insidious problem when it comes down to online conferencing and training as well. They may cause waste of time, diminish the importance of content, and decrease engagement as a result.

On the contrary, the first benefit of online meetings is that they cut a substantial amount of costs. There may be some initial technological investment and service subscription costs so as to arrange virtual meetings, but after that, both travel and conference venue rent costs can be cut, thus saving a huge amount of money. Besides, it saves time as no commuting on the congested roads are required by the participants. Apart from that, information retention is another evident advantage of online training. In simple words, online courses are conducive to retain and remember information as legible fonts, attractive images, animated descriptions, and videos are provided to clarify concepts better. This means that displaying information in well-crafted fashions translates into better comprehension of learning content more than taking notes with pen and paper.

In conclusion, although online meetings and training programmes lack face-to-face communication and bring about technical difficulties, cheaper arrangement costs coupled with an interesting display of information make it far more beneficial.