In the era of digital meetings, the challenge of maintaining meeting productivity remains as pressing as it is in traditional meetings in conference rooms. Executives are putting a lot of effort into finding strategies that will help keep meeting participants productive and effective even when they are working remotely. There are many workflow strategies and approaches that can help you have a more productive business meeting in any work environment. Take a look at a few of them.
Reliable software and characteristics of director: how to make the online meeting productive?
It’s no secret that the chairman and secretary play an important role in meetings. The meeting secretary performs administrative duties, but it’s often the activity of the director that determines the outcome of the meeting. A director who presides over a meeting should be proactive, attentive, and fully informed about the issues at hand.
But the success of a meeting, especially online, depends on more than just the qualities of the director. To make the meeting more productive, we suggest using some simple tips.
Take time to prepare
The success of meetings largely depends on the quality of preliminary preparation. We recommend gathering all documents needed for the meeting, making them available to all interested parties, creating an agenda, and sending it out to meeting participants well in advance. This way you can prepare participants and stay focused on the substance of the meeting.
Think about the agenda
How well thought through the agenda of a future meeting will affect the quality and outcome of the meeting. Think carefully about what issues should be on the agenda for the meeting and what issues can be addressed in the meeting’s core business duties.
Choose speakers in advance
For each issue on the agenda, you need to select speakers in advance. This way you can intensify the meeting, make its rhythm more varied, and can make the discussion more actively. This will also help to instill a sense of responsibility in meeting participants and motivate them to take more responsibility for their duties.
Keep track of time
There is always a risk in meetings to divert focus from the issues at hand and, in the process, cause meetings to drag on for a long time. To avoid this it is important to set time limits in advance for the whole meeting and for discussion of particular items on the agenda. The secretary should make sure that participants stick to the time limit and do not deviate too much from the topic being discussed.
Choose a good time
Many experts say that important business meetings and meetings are best held in the morning when the employees’ capacity for work is at its highest. Of course, not everyone is productive in the morning, so try to choose a time for the meeting that works for most participants.
Streamline the meeting process
At a meeting, not only do you need to discuss the agenda, but you also need to take the necessary work notes. With today’s software, taking work notes has become much easier – you can use the options of virtual platforms that automatically take notes and minutes of the meeting.
Don’t forget to support communication
You need to maintain a friendly working relationship with meeting participants, not only during meetings but at other times as well. Don’t forget to communicate with board members outside of the virtual meeting room so you can show interest in working with them and get them more involved in the life of the company.