Meetings are an important part of any business's operations, but they can often feel like time wasters if they are not conducted properly. For a remote workplace like StormFree, meetings are a daily necessity, and we have developed several strategies to make meetings less dreaded and more meaningful to everyone involved. Here we outline some of the strategies we use to help ensure our meetings are productive and engaging even when facing those days that are packed with back-to-back meetings.
The first step to a productive meeting is preparation. Ad-hoc meetings with little or no time to prepare do happen and they are necessary, but meetings should typically be planned far enough in advance that any necessary preparation work can be completed beforehand. This means that more comprehensive meetings should be planned further in advance than simple ones to accommodate more preparation.
Proper preparation requires that participants are aware of any relevant materials to be consumed prior to the meeting. A meeting invitation should include references or links to any pre-reading materials, along with a note about what to read. It is also helpful to provide guided pre-reading materials by including a list of questions for participants to consider while they are reading, or by asking participants to write down their thoughts as they do so. These practices ensure that everyone is up to speed and it gives them a chance to consider what they bring to the discussion prior to meeting.
Along with preparation materials, a meeting invitation should include a detailed agenda. The agenda explains the purpose of the meeting and establishes the progression of the discussion if multiple topics are to be covered. This allows participants to plan their own notes accordingly, which will help to keep the conversation on track and flowing without major interruptions. The agenda should be clear and concise and only needs to explain the high-level topics being discussed. If significant detail about any of the agenda topics is required, include it with the pre-reading materials for participants to consume beforehand.
The time allotment of a meeting is just as important as the agenda, and the two should be planned in accordance with one another. When considering the amount of time required for a meeting, be realistic in your estimates and remember that it is always better for a meeting to end early than to run late. It is good practice to always leave a little buffer time in your agenda; if you think a meeting will take about 20 minutes, schedule 30 minutes so that divergences can occur without messing up everyone's schedule. Your participants will appreciate when meetings end on or before time, and they will be able to maintain their own schedules better if the meetings they attend don't spill over into adjacent time slots.
If a meeting does go over its allotted time, be conscious of your participants' schedules. Instead of simply continuing a meeting that is extending beyond its timeframe, acknowledge that you have run out of time and ask whether it's okay to go overtime. By asking, you show the participants that you respect their time and that you recognize the need to maintain accurate meeting times and estimates. If no one has the availability to stay overtime, then it is up to the meeting facilitator to find another time slot to continue the discussion.
The best meeting practices in the world won't help you if you don't use the right tools to facilitate your meetings. Especially in a remote workplace, the best technologies must be harnessed to make meetings seamless and productive experiences for everyone.
A shared or collaborative calendaring tool is the first tool needed to run a successful meeting. StormFree trialled several email and calendar tools and eventually chose to use the Zimbra Collaboration Suite. Zimbra includes a calendar and an email account for each user, both of which can be accessed via a web browser interface. When a user creates a calendar event for a meeting in Zimbra, they can view other users' schedules alongside their own allowing them to coordinate a time slot that works for everyone. When the event is set, an invitation email is sent out automatically to the selected meeting invitees where they can select to accept or decline the invitation. Both responses automatically trigger a response email indicating the invitee's selection. If an invitee accepts an invitation, the event will be placed in their calendar without requiring any manual input from the user. This system allows our team to set meetings with full knowledge of participants' schedules and ensures that everyone's calendar displays the same information. The same functionality can also be accessed from a desktop interface by linking Zimbra to Mozilla's Thunderbird email client using CalDAV.
A meeting invitation in Zimbra also contains spaces to add a lengthy description - this is where the meeting's agenda would be written along with any pre-read materials referenced or linked. StormFree's team members also include a task code in this space for tracking time and a video conference code so that it is easy to find.
StormFree relies on Zoom for video conferencing. Zoom offers free plans which include unlimited one-to-one VoIP calls and 40-minute conference calls. If a single member of a conference call is using a paid Zoom plan, they will be the meeting host and their unlimited conference calling will be extended to all participants. At StormFree, team leads and Project Managers have access to paid Zoom plans as they are usually the ones running conference calls. By distributing these paid accounts in such a way, a large team can benefit from the improved functionality they bring without paying exorbitant prices.
Cost is not the only aspect of a conferencing tool that should be considered when choosing the technology to drive your meetings. One of the most valuable functions for our teams is the ability to share a user's screen with other meeting participants. This permits a more collaborative approach to meetings and adds an important visual element that can help participants better understand the discussion. This feature also saves time by making it easier to demonstrate processes to other individuals, which is especially important for administering IT advice or teaching team members about new tools.
Another important tool for anyone participating in remote meetings is a notepad, whether physical or digital. If using a digital notepad, it should be something that can be accessed without covering an entire computer screen so that notes can be taken without exiting out of the VoIP call window. Notes are only helpful if you can use them to recall information later, so when choosing a note-taking application you should also look for organizational features and a competent search function that will help you find the information you need in the future. An organizational schema should also be used if you are taking handwritten notes, though finding notes from previous meetings can be more difficult with this method.
In a remote work environment, where a box of doughnuts or cookies can't be used to bolster support, these suggested processes along with making use of the best available technology will help make your meetings more productive and engaging for all of your team members.
