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Tips for Team Success… 4 Types of Meetings You Want to Avoid in 2022

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Today, it seems like everyone is dialing in from their home office. Up to half of the workforce plans to work from home at least part-time, according to new research by Frost & Sullivan, so yet another evolution of meetings is on the horizon.

Given this new work environment, here are 4 types of meetings to avoid in 2022 – and tips to make your meetings more effective in our hybrid world.

1. The “Can Everyone See My Screen?” Meeting

The problem: Broken video and muted microphones may have been par for the course at the beginning of remote work, but with video usage 350% higher than pre-pandemic days according to Frost & Sullivan, meeting-goers expect more. Nobody wants to wait for their host to figure out how to share their screen or load their own presentation. Failed breakout rooms leave everyone feeling like their time has been wasted.

The fix: Make sure you’re using collaboration applications that effortlessly support the functions you need. Improvements like adaptive lighting, sound bars for better audio, and adjusted camera angles help make it feel like everyone is in the room together. It’s also important to ensure everyone involved can use these tools effectively. Spending time training your team means less precious time wasted during their actual meetings.

2. The “This Could Have Been an Email” Meeting

The problem: The entire team has gathered together to discuss the latest project, only to spend an excruciating hour going over a single document, line-by-line. Or the “update meeting” just to learn that there haven’t been any changes since the last time you met. If your meeting doesn’t require in-depth discussion and distracts people from their day, it probably could have been an email.

The fix: This might seem obvious, but sometimes emails really are better than meetings! Emails allow participants to respond at their own pace, provide complete records of the communication and give updates in real-time. Of course, nuance can sometimes be lost over text or ideas that need to be explained. In cases like these, having the right technology makes it easy to transition to a quick call, but only for long enough to clarify the point. Just be sure to follow up with an email to keep everyone on the same page.

3. The “What Are We Talking About Again?” Meeting

The problem: Absent agendas, rambling tangents, and discussions that are more like digressions – these are all signs that a meeting has gone off the rails. Without a focused plan and a dedicated leader to guide the discussion, the overall quality of work and satisfaction can suffer.

The fix: Unified communications technology makes it possible for a team leader to create and share an agenda ahead of time, along with any files needed for the discussion. Action items can be assigned and tracked in a collaborative workspace, so everyone is on the same page, during and after the meeting.

4. The “Gang’s All Here” Meeting

The problem: When too many people are required to attend a meeting that they have little practical involvement with, engagement rates plummet. Some studies show that less than 50% of meeting time is effective and engaging. The rate of engagement is even lower for remote participants, meaning that most meetings aren’t just boring, they’re ineffective.

The fix: The best meetings have a maximum of 5 or 6 participants, but the smaller the better. This allows everyone on the call to feel included in the discussion, leading to more innovative, productive dialogues. Make sure the collaboration tech for your meeting allows for each participant to easily communicate so that everyone’s voice can be heard.

Better Meetings in 2022

These are just four types of meetings we’d all like to put behind us this year, but there are so many ways to make meetings better. With hybrid work on the rise, it’s time to adjust our approach.

It’s time to embrace new ideas and technology to create an inclusive meeting culture that makes collaboration easy for everyone. TCI has the solutions. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Connecting Your Remote Workers with Proven, Easy-to-use Collaboration Tools & Meeting Apps

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In today’s workplace, office walls have dissolved. There are people on every team working from home or on the road, in coffee shops, or in flight. Their colleagues may live and work in another city, across borders or oceans away. Yet the pace of work continues to accelerate, which means collaboration and communication must be seamless and in real-time.

This is why many employees use their own mobile devices and gravitate toward standalone messaging and video conferencing apps. But this approach isn’t ideal and, in an effort to be more connected, we find ourselves endlessly switching between applications and logging in multiple times.

For a true collaboration experience, today’s workforce needs an all-in-one solution that lets them communicate and collaborate across time zones as if they were in the same room. Convenient Team Meeting apps provide this experience.

A Team Meeting app makes collaboration much more efficient and meetings increasingly productive. With all the information employees need available from a single workspace, team members find it easier to work, share and store project details.

Here’s how an all-in-one collaboration app will enable you to work better:

  • Connect to the office from anywhere. Team Meeting apps make all your contacts, data, and documents available from any mobile device or desktop computer. You’re no longer tethered to a physical location. Wherever you are, you have easy access to all the details about your latest project.
  • Do away with multiple tabs. With a piecemeal solution, it’s all too common to end up with multiple apps, browsers, and tabs open across your desktop or mobile device. Team Meetings eliminate that hassle. One window provides a comprehensive view of your work and access to all your communications.
  • Stay on point. A key benefit of all-in-one solutions is that meetings become more focused and more efficient. When you’re switching among windows, it’s easy to get distracted by unrelated items. But when you never leave the environment, it’s easy to stay on-point and on-task.
  • Close the conversation gaps. How often do you start a conversation in chat, then realize you’d accomplish more with a verbal discussion? With Team Meetings, you can seamlessly transition between talk, chat and even video.
  • Hop into a virtual meeting room. More than one person involved in resolving an escalating issue? You can also start instant meetings right from your chat thread or phone call.
  • Invite all experts. Many projects require input from a variety of professionals to move to the next level. With its multi-pane view, Team Meetings allows up to 16 of your colleagues to appear on video at once. If more voices are needed, you can invite up to 100 participants to gather on a single meeting bridge.
  • Always be in the right place at the right time. No matter where team members are (a conference room in the next building, a hotel room 400 miles away or a home office on the far coast), they’re able to collaborate seamlessly. Team Meetings allow you to communicate across time zones and geographies as though you were in the same room.
  • Keep everyone on the same page. When you want everyone’s input, passing around a key document by email or paper can be terribly inefficient. But with file and screen sharing capabilities, you and your team can collaborate in real-time. It’s faster and more efficient and ensures everyone is clear on key decisions and agrees on next steps.
  • Stay on top of work in progress. Some projects have an extended incubation period or are simply ongoing. Team Meetings provides you with a permanent virtual workspace where you can continue to collaborate on documents, in meetings, and through conversations.
  • Avoid losing track of ad-hoc decisions. Projects are often complex with many moving parts. With multiple team members contributing, it’s easy to lose the thread of a conversation. With a persistent chat log, you always have simple access to key decisions or important discussions.
  • Be confident you’re securely connected. As you update a team document from the road, the last thing you need to worry about is who’s snooping the airport lounge Internet connection. Mitel has you covered. MiTeam Meetings was developed specifically with mobility and security in mind, so you can be sure your work stays under wraps.

As personal and effective as working face to face, Team Meeting apps offer plenty of advantages. When you enable a true collaboration experience, not only will your team be more informed and reach decisions faster, but they’ll also set new productivity records for your business.

TCI’s experts are ready to ensure your team has all the voice, chat, and video capabilities they need to seamlessly connect with anyone, at any time, from anywhere. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.