The Virtues of Virtual Flexibility

By Michelle Hume, M.D., Ph.D.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a paradigm shift in the acceptability of virtual conferences, work meetings, and social gatherings. While many Americans have returned to the office full-time, a significant number still work remotely.

Although large companies such as Goldman Sachs, Meta, and JPMorgan Chase are insisting that employees return to the office, others like Microsoft, Citizens Bank, DoorDash, and BlueCross/Blue Shield offer hybrid jobs, and numerous others conduct hybrid meetings. According to ForbesAdvisor, 98% of workers expressed the desire to work remotely, at least part of the time.

Like businesses, banks and insurers, medical professional organizations and healthcare institutions have been weighing the benefits against the costs of in-person work and meetings. At the height of the pandemic, numerous professional organizations held virtual meetings. Later, some of the same organizations and some healthcare institutions adopted a hybrid format or returned to fully in-person work, with one large survey of healthcare practitioners supporting hybrid or virtual meetings. A large Accenture survey of healthcare practitioners showed that 46% preferred mixed meetings, while 38% preferred virtual meetings. Other surveys of medical conferees support hybrid formats to minimize travel costs and allow greater access to educational content.

Some of the social and professional benefits of in-person meetings may not be replicable in a virtual format. In-person meetings offer the opportunity for spontaneous encounters with colleagues, the chance to discuss collaborative opportunities and to meet prominent individuals one may have only read about. For many, there are gains in affective communication—a situational context that allows for more expression or sharing of emotions between individuals—that can improve engagement and build trust.

However, there are also substantial benefits to virtual formats. For example, people with various medical conditions that preclude travel or commuting can remain active contributors and continue to bring their wisdom and experience to meetings. Further, highly qualified participants, consultants, guests, and speakers for whom travel is impracticable can be recruited both nationally and internationally.

Virtual formats also facilitate the engagement of younger members with families, caregiving responsibilities, and relatively limited discretionary funds for travel. Some have even argued that virtual meetings can promote social justice by countering the systems of education, professional development, and guild membership that favor the wealthy, the unencumbered, and those without disabilities.

The Experience of the GAP Committee on Professionalism and Ethics

The Group for Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) is a U.S. think tank with more than a 75-year history of mental health scholarship and advocacy. During and after the pandemic, its Professionalism and Ethics (P&E) Committee continued its work in a virtual format with regularly scheduled meetings, shared online writing and editing, and telephone communication as needed. The GAP P&E Committee has both older members with medical conditions and disabilities as well as younger members with caregiving responsibilities at home. All of the committee members are energized by the virtual work they do together.

The virtual work experience was, to quote CNN commentator Peter Bergen, one of high “esprit de corps, creative energy, and collective willingness to help everyone else out.”

What About Financial Costs?

Many professional organizations have experienced financial losses associated with the pandemic, prompted variously by declines in membership, increased organizational expenses, and decreased revenue from educational events. While members of professional organizations may desire or require virtual or hybrid national meeting options, hybrid meetings may cost 150-200% more than their in-person counterparts, a sum that is prohibitive for all but the largest organizations and employers.

Future Directions

The continuing impact of pandemic distancing combined with the availability of modern communication technology has created a brave new world. It seems that an increase in virtual and hybrid work is here to stay. The desire for such an option remains strong among some individuals and organizations. Ideally, the option should foster flexible approaches that can take into account the needs of disadvantaged workers and professionals with family obligations.

Virtual meetings are not only a promising approach to the inequities of access, resources, and disability but also a positive opportunity for workforce development and evolution, plus a hard-won lesson of the pandemic. Of the many hard-won lessons of the pandemic, the virtue of virtual is a powerful one.

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Dr. Michelle Hume is a member of the Committee on Professionalism and Ethics of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry.