Much of the UK workforce takes part in more meetings than they would have done 10 years. With the shift to remote working, what would once have been a quick catchup in the office has turned into a full-blown meeting, leading to a greater level of meeting fatigue than ever before.
To get the most out of remote meetings, here are our 10 tips on how you can stay productive and continue collaborating – whether you’re an attendee or meeting host.
How to Manage Remote Meetings: Before the Meeting
Remote meeting tip #1: Share your agenda
Before any meeting, whether remote or in-person, everybody needs to be on the same page so all attendees can get as much out of the meeting as possible. Preparing an agenda with clearly defined meeting goals will help the meeting stay on track, and let attendees know if there are particular parts of the meeting that are more or less relevant to them.
Be sure to share the meeting agenda in advance – ideally 24 to 48 hours ahead of the meeting. As an attendee, be sure to read it before the meeting!
Remote meeting tip #2: Invite internal and external partners to join your meeting
Be sure to share meeting invites with your attendees. Make sure it is easy for them to join the meeting. If you’re using Microsoft Teams, you can invite anyone to a meeting, provided they have a valid email address. They don’t need to use Teams or have the app installed on their computer to join, unlike other video conferencing apps.
Remote meeting tip #3: Access previous meeting notes and recordings
If you’re dealing with a recurring meeting, you can easily access previous meeting notes and recordings from the same Teams meeting thread. You’ve also got access to previous chat messages, so you can see all previous actions and tasks to be completed following previous meetings. With everything in one central place, managing recurring meetings couldn’t be easier.
How to Manage Remote Meetings: During the Meeting
Remote meeting tip #4: Use Microsoft Teams Rooms to start your meeting right away
Microsoft Teams Rooms helps to provide a consistent user experience for all your spaces. From small huddles to large conference rooms, you can start your meetings on time with just one touch.
Keep remote and in-person attendees engaged, and you can easily share your content wirelessly.
Remote meeting tip #5: Record the meeting
Recording a meeting is perfect if there are people who couldn’t attend, and need to catch up later. It can also keep everyone accountable for follow up tasks. Recording a meeting can give you the option of automatically creating closed captions of the transcript that appears on screen, making it easier to search for important parts of the meeting by keyword.
Remote meeting tip #6: Sort your settings before joining
Remote working offers a number of challenges you wouldn’t have even considered working from the office. Having your video on for meetings adds a personal touch, that can enhance a meeting’s effectiveness. But it can be distracting – especially if there’s a lot going on behind you. Consider:
- Blurring your background if there are a lot of distractions
- Muting your microphone when not actively communicating
- Turning off video and microphone if you need to step away from your screen
Remote meeting tip #7: Share content to enhance collaboration
Integrate your Microsoft 365 applications in meetings to collaborate and communicate in real-time. Once you’ve shared a document from your desktop or Teams files, high-fidelity screen sharing ensures a great viewing experience for everyone. Co-editing in Word means they can all weigh-in, helping streamline approvals
Remote meeting tip #8: Use integrated audio conferencing for attendees without Internet
Not all attendees will have a high-quality internet connection. Having the ability to dial into a meeting offers more flexibility for your participants – especially useful if some are working away from either the office or their home office.
How to Manage Remote Meetings: After the Meeting
Remote meeting tip #9: Share recordings and meeting notes
Recapping a meeting is a useful way to reengage participants. You can follow up by sharing notes and recordings of the meeting, so that everyone is aware of next steps, and can review previous catchups if they need to. This is particularly useful if some participants cannot attend and need to get an idea of what happened without them.
Remote meeting tip #10: Schedule any follow-ups
A meeting’s effectiveness is best measured by the follow-up and outcome. Before the meeting is over, schedule another, if necessary, to answer any outstanding questions and clarify next steps.
Having more productive meetings will help everyone’s day to flow much smoother. Thinking of changing your meeting platform? Have you considered Teams? Speak to one of our consultants to see how your organisation could benefit.
