Written by: Savian Boroanca, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I recently had a chat with Radu, the founder of the company where I work, Sessions. He just came back from holiday with friends. Between the banter and tequila, they started talking about meetings. His friend, a VP of Operations in the aerospace industry, summed it up best, “F*ck meetings! Why do 20 people need to jump into a Zoom when we could have just sent an email? It’s the 21st century; we can do so much better.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself, and as the Head of Community at Sessions, I’m in the meetings business. Why do so many professionals waste so much time on meetings on a daily basis?
According to Forbes, a staggering 55 million meetings occur daily, and at least half of them don’t accomplish much. So how can we improve this?
My colleagues and I spend all our waking hours obsessing over how people can get the most out of their online meetings and make them really worth it. Before planning your next meeting, ask yourself these five questions:
1. Is a meeting the best way to go?
Sometimes, jumping into an online meeting to solve a problem, make a decision, or present something is quick and helpful. But, often, the same results could have been achieved by sending an email, a group message, or a voice note. So the first step is to decide whether it’s actually necessary to meet, and then invite only the key people. Why is this so important?
Because meetings are expensive. Think about what each employee costs per hour. Inviting five of them into an unnecessary meeting that lasts one hour is not one hour wasted, but five.
2. Do I really need a dozen different apps to get the job done?
Our app-heavy lifestyles require us to have different apps for different tasks. When it comes to meetings, we generally end up having an app for scheduling, one for creating an agenda, one for the actual video conference, one for noise reduction, one for taking transcripts, another one for note-taking, and one for storing recordings. Whilst each of these apps is useful, our work becomes fragmented and hard to keep track of. Try opting for a meeting app that brings all this onto one streamlined platform, like Sessions.
3. Did I do enough planning?
There’s nothing worse than an unstructured meeting with no clear outcomes. We’ve all had them: a meeting for the sake of meeting, a colossal waste of time. A simple solution is to set an agenda. Now, you might think that it’s too time-consuming to do this, but taking five minutes to plan can save you loads of time later on. Plus, modern meeting platforms, like Sessions, allow you to create a meeting structure in seconds with the help of AI.
4. How will I grab my attendees’ attention and keep it?
It seems so easy, but it’s actually one of the most challenging aspects of online meetings. You need to compete with background noise, email notifications, social media, and a host of other distractions. At the same time, you must ensure that some individuals do not overpower the conversation whilst others fade into the background. That’s why running interactive sessions is a lifesaver. Instead of trying to get people to listen to a talking head, involve them. Let them vote in polls, brainstorm on whiteboards, type out ideas together on a Google doc, and actively participate by sharing their thoughts and questions. Choose a meeting platform that can facilitate this type of collaboration.
5. Can my attendees revisit important information easily?
When meetings are crammed with important information, it can put quite a lot of pressure on participants. They must take notes while listening and then depend on half-memories and scribblings after the meeting ends. Take the pressure off by investing in a meeting platform that can take transcripts, has cloud storage, and can send out notes and meeting takeaways to participants. It’s also vital that people can easily access a meeting after it has ended, not just the recording but also chat messages, notes, the transcript, and the agenda. A perfect example is Sessions’ Memory function.
What can you, as an individual, do to help make meetings better?
1. Become part of the solution
We need to change and co-create the way we conduct meetings. Start by reviewing how you plan and run your own meetings, but then move on to the bigger picture. Join the conversation, share your ideas, and support a video conferencing platform that facilitates change.
2. Join like-minded people
I am proud to say that the platform my colleagues and I are building is community-first. That means we work with our users when making big decisions, developing new features, and more. You can join us too! We are always looking for talented individuals to collaborate with us. It’s easy: sign up for a free Sessions account and join our Slack community. This is a safe space to air your meeting frustrations, share your wishlist, and inspire real change.
3. Spread the word
As humans, we quickly get stuck in a rut. And that makes it way more difficult to see solutions, even if they are right before us. So, when you find a better way to work, run meetings, be more productive, or keep people engaged, share it with others. As a bonus, you might even get rewarded for your efforts. At Sessions, our affiliate and referral programs have just launched, and we would love for you to share in our success.
So, to conclude: f*ck traditional, boring, unnecessary, snooze-fest meetings. Let’s streamline our communication and make it truly worth our time and attention. We can do this, together!
Savian Boroanca, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
I am passionate about praxeology, entrepreneurship, politics, diplomacy, cinema, and sports.
