3 Ways to Make Online Meetings Fun and Productive
Meetings - whether you love them or dread them, you have to admit that they do have their uses. Whether it’s keeping people updated on progress, showing people how their contributions matter, or making sure that projects are on schedule, meetings have a lot to offer.
That is if they’re handled well. Otherwise, problems start to arise.
They become tiring sessions of forced interaction and nothing of value ever gets done. People spend more time trying to avoid them than anything else. It’s become the subject of memes, sarcastic comments, and tongue-in-cheek merchandise. Seriously: when was the last time you remembered saying the words “productive” and “meeting” in the same sentence?
Fortunately, we’re here to help with a few tips to keep things interesting (and organized) for your next call!
Make an agenda
Believe it or not, the first order of business is making sure you have an order of business. An agenda - properly enforced - will keep participants focused on the important items. It doesn’t have to be too detailed, but it does help to have the key items down.
Keep these pointers in mind when drafting your agenda:
What is the meeting for? Is it a pre-mortem, a presentation, a project snapshot, or something else? And is a meeting the best venue for it?
Who is invited? What platform will everyone be using?
When will it take place? How long is the discussion expected to take?
Are there key issues/reminders that need to be tackled?
How about relevant notes?
An agenda with these items helps set expectations on the discussion, and also reminds people that time is a valuable resource. Of course, making sure that everyone’s devices are ready to go is just as important. You don’t want the entire room missing a vital point because the speaker’s mic was off. It happens, but can be avoided.
Keep it short and sweet
As we’ve mentioned, everyone’s hours are important. So minimizing the fuss and staying within the agenda is key to making the most out of every meeting. Whether it’s keeping track of time, ensuring things are moving properly, or knowing who said what and why, the entire room should make it as productive as possible.
Unless the meeting has many high-level stakeholders or matters to pursue, keeping the discussion at a maximum of 30 minutes is more than enough time. If the discussion is centered around a few individuals, checking in with everyone every 10 minutes or so is recommended to keep people engaged. Some degree of casual conversation can help break the ice without being too formal.
Always remember to ask those involved in the meeting about their opinion from time to time to keep them involved. No one likes to be left out!
Take notes
Believe it or not, recording the vital points of the discussion is the key for a successful meeting. So always make sure that someone is keeping notes updated during the meeting - and be as accurate as possible! It helps avoid the he-said, she-said problem down the road.
Remember to have the meeting minutes sent out afterwards!