Virtual Versus Face-to-Face meetings: A study Regarding the Perceptions of the Romanian Managers during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

The new coronavirus disease was first observed in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. A couple of months later it was recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as SARS CoV-2 and nominally named COVID-19 (European Council, 2021). In just a few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced individuals all over the world to adapt their behavior, both personally and professionally, social distance becoming a necessity by reducing the spread of the virus (Tang, et al., 2020). These restrictions have resulted in a dramatic increase in the use of technology for remote meetings, including video conferencing tools. And although this process was happening in a mostly unfamiliar environment, due to its necessity and one's incapacity of replacing face-to-face interactions with anything else it has become a day-to-day activity in a matter of weeks. Although there are some particularities as a result of cultural diversity, in Romania the adoption of such tools was in line with what was happening all over the world, although because of the decreased level of digitalization in public administration it was more difficult for some part of the society to adapt. The present study has the objective to reveal what Romanian managers think about virtual conferences versus face-to-face conferences, taking into consideration the period before the COVID-19 pandemic (until March 2020), but also the pandemic period (from March 2020 until January 2022). Data has been collected using in depth interviews with Romanian managers who worked before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that there was a change in one's behavior when having to use only virtual conferences tools, becoming more aware of their time and in general making the most out of it by having a clear agenda for almost all types of virtual meetings. A hybrid solution is seen by most of the managers as being optimal by reducing time lost between face-to-face meetings, but the results also indicate that a full replacement of face-to-face meetings with virtual meetings is not a solution as direct interaction between individuals cannot be replaced with the use of virtual tools.