How to Optimize Your Online Meetings for Maximum Productivity

One of the most essential business skills is understanding how to have effective meetings at all levels. This will help you and your career to grow, particularly in hybrid and remote workplaces.

The popularity of virtual meetings has grown immensely after the pandemic as the work-from-home culture has been used tremendously.

Despite tech advancements, many virtual limitations, such as a lack of trust between participants, technical glitches, or a lack of communication or physical interaction, can make conducting productive online meetings challenging. It is vital to harness the full potential of these virtual meetings to boost productivity, engagement, and meaningful outcomes.

In this blog, we have discussed ways of optimization of online meeting, which will improve the overall experience and yield better results.

Ways to optimize your online meetings for maximum productivity

Here are the best ways for optimization of online meeting that will aid in promoting active participation by all team members-

1) Make sure you actually need to have a meeting

Before booking a meeting, the first thing is to ask yourself if it will be helpful to meeting participants and, if so, who all should be the attendees. Asking this question every time before calling or joining a meeting will automatically improve the virtual meeting experience for you and your fellow members.

Reducing unnecessary meetings will automatically improve the ratio of productive meetings and make the overall experience better. You can do it in two ways-

• Do not accept or send meeting invites without context or agendas
• Only send invites to attendees who will benefit from the meeting.

2) Plan the virtual meeting agenda

Planning the meeting agenda and establishing a detailed program with all the major subjects to address is recommended. Here are a few things you should do while planning the agenda-

• The length of the session
• Prioritize agenda topics
• Analyze the time needed to discuss every topic
• Note down the names of attendees (who will benefit from it)
• Send meeting reminders

Planning is the core of any virtual meeting, as a meeting with no clear purpose can confuse the participants and waste their time. Also, remember to send the agenda to all the participants a minimum of 24 hours before and confirm if everyone has received it.

3) Assign Roles

It is recommended that roles be assigned beforehand so that participants can come to the meeting well-prepared and ready to share. Also, decide in advance who will be the facilitator. His major role would be to keep the meeting on track, help everyone stay focused, and keep things running smoothly.

Also, participants should ask for the facilitator’s permission before contributing to the discussion, as this will eliminate people speaking out of turn and making the meeting a mess.

While assigning roles, ask one of the members to take notes. This will ensure that you retain all important information discussed during the meeting.

4) Test your technology

Testing your technology is like a hygiene check. It is important to learn to use technology to run a meeting smoothly. Always connect your virtual meeting platform in advance, see how it works, and learn about its functionalities in detail to improve the overall meeting experience.

Check the audio and video settings and, most importantly, the internet speed. The more seamless the technology part on your end, the more prepared, confident, and engaged you will be during the meeting. In fact, you should ask every attendee to check if their cameras and microphones are working correctly.

When participants are unfamiliar with the tools used, it can cause confusion, delays, and panic. If possible, the meeting host can also include usage instructions or a tutorial video in the invitation email.

5) Eliminate Distractions

Distractions are one of the primary reasons for causing miscommunication in online meetings. Thus, for optimization of online meeting ensure that all the participants sit in a private area or meeting room with good lighting and a clean background.

Many attendees confess to doing numerous side tasks while attending virtual meetings, such as replying to emails, checking social media platforms, etc. Other distractions include pets, kids, unexpected delivery, and more. Therefore, it is essential to set meeting guidelines, such as-

• Turn off your microphone when you are not communicating
• Keep your video on
• Do not surf the internet while on call
• Ask participants to use headphones instead of their computer’s speakers to ensure clear communication.

The best thing about video calls is that everyone will have to get dressed, plus they will concentrate on the meeting as you will be able to see everyone. Also, to avoid distraction, before commencing the meeting, ask everyone to close all the unnecessary tabs on the desktop and apply them to yourself. Make sure you only have the necessary applications open during your video meeting.

6) Engage the participants

If you want the meeting to be successful, it is important to engage the participants. The first thing to do is ask everyone to keep their videos on. Another vital way to engage participants is to make meetings more inclusive. Boring and dull meetings are every employer’s greatest fear. Therefore, start your meeting with positive thoughts or show some colorful images related to the topic.

Also, in the middle of the meeting, ask riddles, chat with them, ask for their opinions and encourage them to participate. Make sure everyone feels equal and confident in your meeting so they can contribute their ideas without hesitation.

Other ways to keep the participants engaged are-

• Ask them to take notes
• Tell them to write down any questions they have related to any topic
• Break people into groups and ask them to complete a task
• You can also divide the meeting into sections and ask different person to lead each section.

7) Mind the Clock

Ensure that all the participants join the meeting as per the schedule and each has sufficient time to speak or share their thoughts. Being a host, it is vital for you as well to respect your team’s time by adhering to the scheduled meeting time. The facilitator should ensure that the meeting is on track, as only then is it likely to fulfil its objectives.

Do not discuss unrelated topics. Try to make the meeting as productive as possible to keep the participants interested. In fact, try to keep the meeting short and crisp. You can do this by limiting the number of attendees and prioritizing specific topics. This will help keep your meetings efficient and to the point.

Also, ensure that you do not extend the meeting. Time is the most valuable resource, so do not waste it.

8) Encourage active breaks

A lengthy meeting can lead to boredom, fatigue, and loss of interest. Therefore, it is recommended that you take short breaks to recharge your attendee’s minds. Incorporate icebreakers or small fun activities to keep the zeal going. Giving breaks will increase productivity, prevent decision fatigue, reduce stress, and improve attention span and focus.

9) End meeting with clear next steps

Virtual meetings must end with actionable outcomes. No one will remember all the details of the meeting; therefore, in the end, sum up the important takeaways, decisions made, and actions. Furthermore, it is vital to share all the minutes of the meeting with the participants. Also, assign responsibilities and deadlines to ensure accountability.

Therefore, for maximum optimization of online meeting it is important to-

• End the meeting with notes and action items
• Specify the critical steps for each agenda item
• Assign specific roles and responsibilities with deadlines to individuals
• Make follow-ups to ensure the assigned task is completed on time.

You need to ensure that the follow-up you send also comprises a request for feedback on the meeting’s effectiveness so you can make sure you’re driving as much value as possible.

10) Practice self –reflection

This step is for your growth and improvement. Once the meeting ends, ask yourself a few questions, such as-

• What went well?
• What could have been done in a better way?
• What was the major learning as a host?
• What are the things to include when planning the next meeting to make it better?

The answers to these questions will help you improve, become a better host, and bring more productivity to your meetings. Running a meeting is not rocket science, but you need to plan it in a way that brings maximum output and keeps everyone engaged.

Conclusion

Maximizing optimization of online meeting should be the primary objective when you plan any meeting, whether online or offline. Thus, it is important to integrate team-building activities to bolster connections among remote members and unlock the full potential of your meetings.

By communicating with all the participants and inculcating a sense of belonging, team-building activities can help create a comfortable virtual meeting environment.

FAQs

Does scheduling the next meeting at the end help bring more productivity?

Setting the date for the next meeting can help maintain momentum and allow participants to address any issues related to the current discussion.

What is the best practice for making the virtual meeting effective?

The best practice for making a virtual meeting more effective is to share the agenda and objectives in advance.

How do you conduct yourself as a host in a virtual meeting?

As a host, it is essential to check all the connections, arrive early, wear professional attire, and stay focused on the meeting’s agenda.