(Even when Zoom would be easier)
Someone in the CREA United group mentioned recently, half jokingly and half seriously, that there’s just no substitute for being there. Turns out the science backs him up more than he may have realized.
We’ve all gotten used to Zoom. It’s fast, it’s free, and it’s saved many of us a long, and even inconvenient, round trip more often than we might want to admit. But there’s a growing body of research suggesting that when it comes to meetings that matter — those where you’re trying to cultivate a relationship, solve a thorny problem, or close a deal — being in the same room wins.
It isn’t because video calls are bad. They’re just built for a different job.
What the research shows
Start with your brain. Yale researchers used eye-tracking, EEG, and a brain imaging technique to compare two people’s neural activity simultaneously. Researchers found that when people talk face-to-face, their brains show more synchrony and stronger signaling than when the same two people talk on Zoom — even in a lab setting with none of the usual video-call distractions.
The lead researcher’s summary was pretty blunt. He said that Zoom is “an impoverished social communication system relative to in-person conditions.” Translation: Your brain isn’t as switched on when you’re staring at a screen.
We should consider the creativity angle, too. A Stanford study had pairs of people (some face-to-face and some over video) brainstorm alternative uses for everyday objects. The in-person pairs generated 15-20% more ideas, and those ideas were more varied.
Jonathan Levy, the researcher behind this study, called it a “double penalty” — fewer ideas and a narrower range of them. His theory is that video shrinks your visual field to a 13-inch rectangle, and that physical narrowing translates into narrower thinking. Whether you buy the mechanism or not, it’s hard to argue with the result.
Video calls affect relationships, too. A Harvard Business Review survey found that 95% of professionals consider in-person meetings essential for building long-term business relationships. And a Gallup study found only 28% of fully remote employees feel connected to their company’s mission, compared to 39% of those who work on-site. It’s a definite gap in how engaged people feel depending on where they typically work. Another study found that full-time remote workers report 33% fewer close friendships than people working in an office. For a business reliant on relationships and referrals, those numbers hold weight.
None of this data discounts the value of video calls. People use them regularly — and with good success — for status updates, quick check-ins, and information transfer. But your goal is trust, creativity, or decision-making, the research keeps pointing in the same direction.
When to Zoom vs. when to meet in person
Here’s a general guide for setting up your meeting calendar.
| Meet in person when… | Zoom is fine for… |
| You’re building a new relationship or closing a deal | You’re giving a quick status update |
| The conversation is sensitive, difficult, or emotionally loaded | You’re syncing on something routine or transactional |
| You need to do some serious brainstorming or creative problem-solving | You need a yes/no decision on something you’ve already discussed |
| It’s a first meeting with a client, partner, or referral source | You’re checking in with someone you already know well |
| You’re trying to read the room (not just hear it) | Travel time/scheduling would outweigh the value of being there |
A good rule of thumb: the more the meeting depends on trust, nuance, or new ideas, the more it benefits from being in person. A meeting more focused on efficiency can absolutely happen via Zoom, Meet, or Teams.
What about distributed teams?
Here’s the catch — and it’s a big one. Not everyone can always meet in the same room. Perhaps someone’s traveling, or you have a distributed team spread across multiple states. Or schedules are such that it’s not practical for them to make a trip into the office that day.
You don’t necessarily have to default the meeting to a video conference for everyone. You do, however, need to consider those who can’t meet in person so they don’t become afterthoughts floating digitally on a screen in the corner. If your meeting includes a mix of in-person and virtual participants, try the following:
- Give the remote people a seat. If everyone else is sitting around a table, put the screen at the table, not off to the side, so eye lines feel more natural, and it’s not the room plus a TV.
- Assign someone in the room as their advocate. It’s easy for a remote voice to get talked over. Having one person keep half an eye on the chat or screen — and actively pull remote folks into the conversation — makes a big difference.
- Upgrade your hardware. A dedicated conference camera with wide-angle framing and decent audio pickup (like the VibeBot or Owl-style 360-degree camera, or a soundbar-camera combo) makes it easier for someone dialing in to track who’s talking and follow the room.
- Send materials to all participants before the meeting. Whiteboard sketches and passed-around documents are the first things a remote participant loses. A shared digital whiteboard (like Miro, FigJam, or even a live Google doc) keeps them involved in the creative process rather than passive observers.
- Recap aloud before moving on. Take a minute or two for a quick, “so to summarize, we decided X,” when switching topics. This recap confirms alignment for the in-person and virtual participants and gives people a chance to speak up or ask for further clarification.
The goal here isn’t to make the video feel exactly like being in the room. Even with today’s tech, that’s probably not possible — yet. But these steps can ensure that people who can’t be there aren’t quietly losing influence over an outcome or being unintentionally silenced because of where they’re sitting.
The takeaway
Commercial real estate is highly dependent on relationships. A deal sometimes touches a dozen people or more, like brokers, lenders, attorneys, architects, contractors, title companies, owners, and investment committees, for example. People in this vertical would likely agree that those relationships grow faster and hold up better when they begin with a handshake.
Perhaps you’re working with a lender you’re working with for the first time on a multimillion-dollar deal, or a landlord who must decide whether to trust you with an exclusive. These meetings and moments include sharing of information, but they also involve getting the measure of one another — an area where face-to-face meetings earn their keep.
The next time you’re weighing whether a conversation should happen on the phone, in a conference room, or over a round of golf instead of on a screen, think about who that conversation involves. If it’s someone whose trust you’re trying to earn — or a decision with complex angles to consider — the research says to get in the room.
Are you a commercial real estate investor or seeking a specific property to meet your company’s needs? We invite you to talk to the professionals at CREA United, an organization of CRE professionals from over 65 firms representing all disciplines within the CRE industry, from brokers to subcontractors, financial services to security systems, interior designers to architects, movers to IT, and more.
