Meetings all around the world be you in Costa Rica, the USA or anywhere else have a common denominator: plenty of them are glorious wastes of time. But no matter how much evidence piles up to support this, a lot of management leads still insist on incorporating meetings into the daily schedule. With the popularity of video meetings, though, there’s an entirely new playing field to explore. Here’s a handy guide to hitting those meetings out of the park:
Prepare ahead
For companies, unproductive meetings are the stuff of nightmares. But you can change that by simply coming in prepared for your meetings. Your online discussions and huddle sessions are going to be much more effective if you come in for each session all set and ready, says Primer Magazine.
Pick out the right site
Whether you’re conducting a meeting that involves half of your small team or a webinar for your entire IT department, you want to make sure you pick out the right venue. So don’t just randomly set up your laptop in a corner, hit that video button and start rolling.
Get a reliable system
The number one thing you should worry about is the quality of your video conferencing system. Industry names like BlueJeans offer cloud based video conference for IT teams. So if you want to bring your video meetings to the next level, look into investing in a good video system first thing. Make sure it’s got collaborative-ready features. If you have remote IT teams scattered across the globe, a good video conferencing unit can help you improve the way your remote staff work together. It’s not only going to reduce your costs, it’s also going to help you build a stronger team.
Simple is good
Go for units that are simple and easy to use, says Network World. More people go for simpler units. If you want your staff to adapt to the technology, keep things simple and easy to understand. A system, no matter how many bells and whistles it has, if it’s too complex, will only drive your employees away. Don’t let that happen. User adoption matters. So go for a simple design.
Ask your staff to test it
Better yet, ask for feedback from your team. Teamwork makes teams work, right? So put that to good use by asking them to test drive the system. Give them a day or two to find their way around the system. Did they like it? Do they see themselves using the technology every day, in the same way they do email, chat or messaging apps?
Don’t forget about the visual element
A lot of people tend to make the mistake of forgetting they’re on video. Don’t let it slip your mind. You’re essentially being watched. So keep your expressions, gestures and behavior on a professional keel. Don’t move around too much, eat or talk to someone in the background. All these actions smack of rudeness and unprofessionalism, two qualities you wouldn’t want your superiors or colleagues at work to associate with you. Use prompts to remind you if you have to, like sticking a note to the side of your laptop. Just be sure to keep it out of view from everyone else on your screen.
Keep it short
Don’t drag the meeting on. If it says it ends at 2 p.m., then do your best to end the discussion right on the dot. That way, you can avoid wasting time on unproductively long meetings.
Pick out the right time
Schedule your meetings right. Too early or too late in the day aren’t the best times. And while video conferencing eliminates travel so you won’t have to be worried about getting to your meetings late anymore—you can, after all, connect to anywhere with a good video solutions software—setting an early online meet can net you grumpy people. Some of them might even be half- asleep on their feet. The same thing happens when you book the meeting in that last hour of the day. People are ready to go home or log off. They will have a hard time focusing on what you’re trying to say, which means you’ll have to waste more time getting your point across. And if the meeting runs over 5 p.m.? You can expect your employees to start looking at their watches, their minds already elsewhere.
So don’t let your meeting quality fall to the wayside. Use these tips to improve the quality of your interactions online. With better meetings, you can improve productivity levels at work. That also means better job satisfaction levels and happier employees. If you want to start improving collaboration and communication at work, there’s no better time to do it than now. Or no better way to do it than to install a communication tool that helps everyone on your IT team to reach communicate and work together with less hassles and stress.
