8 guidelines to optimize virtual meetings.
The number of companies that have implemented home office as a way of working and have changed face-to-face meetings for virtual ones has increased. A new way of communicating in the professional field is already the order of the day globally.
In fact, a large part of the working day takes place in telematic meetings and, surely, we are investing more time in them than necessary.
At Docuo, we work to increase team productivity, from the technological products and services we offer to the way we work. That’s why we want to share a set of guidelines with which we will save valuable time and make every time we meet through the screen as productive as possible.
8 guidelines to improve performance in telework meetings:
1. Set a daily limit.
One of the advantages of teleworking is that it is no longer necessary to travel to different locations to attend different meetings, so we will have more time to meet. But let’s not go crazy. It is preferable to establish a certain limit in the number of daily meetings, rather than fill the whole working day and end up with no time for anything else.
2. Use chat or collaborative online whiteboards.
For any team discussion, the first option is usually the virtual meeting. But in teleworking we also have complementary tools such as chat and collaborative online whiteboards. The key is to know when to use them to be more agile and avoid meetings that can be solved in a faster and more productive way.
3. Indicate the next steps.
Once the meeting is over, it is essential to indicate the points discussed as a conclusion and point out what the next steps will be. In this way, the entire team will know the purpose of the meeting and the next tasks they will have to perform. It is also important to take a minute to answer questions at this point.
4. Cancel unnecessary meetings.
Just because you have already created a meeting request does not mean that there is no way back. Analyze its objective and whether a meeting is really necessary to achieve it. If it is not, the best option is to cancel it and use that time for more necessary tasks.
5. Invite only the essential people.
Most of the time we tend to invite the whole team to very specific meetings, in which it is not necessary for them to participate fully. In fact, this is a common mistake that tends to lower the company’s performance. Therefore, we recommend inviting only those who can really contribute ideas or are affected by the content of the meeting. This will increase productivity, since the rest of the team will be able to move on to other functions.
6. Check that everything is working.
Investing a minute of time at the beginning of the day to check audio, video and internet connection will prevent problems from being discovered at the start of a meeting, with the consequent loss of time for all attendees.
7. Join on time.
Every second counts, and having to wait for the whole team to connect can lead to minutes of delay, which accumulate if we add up all the telematic meetings we may have throughout the day. For this reason, we recommend to join each meeting just at the time that it is called.
8. Use only the necessary time.
Less is more. It is not because the meeting is longer that we will get better results. In fact, the less time we manage to make it last, generally, the more concrete it will be and the better the conclusions will be. That is why we recommend setting a time limit, so that important points are not left out and we make the best use of the time we have.
In conclusion, these are the 8 tips that we apply at Docuo and recommend you to make telematic meetings as optimal as possible and achieve a more productive way of working.