Scheduling a meeting can be difficult, especially while everyone is working from home.
I and my colleagues have been working from home since the lockdown started in March 2020. I must admit working from home was a bit strange and difficult back then. We were placed in an awkward situation where we had to do our office works from a place of comfort.
The first few days have been like those hectic Sundays. We found ourselves working while spending time with our family.
Among all the teams at Intandemly, our sales teams were the most unaffected. Sales and Business Development Executives managed to maintain the same level of enthusiasm. In fact, they were able to grow their results.
Learning from our sales team, by talking to them I have learned their secret. They had perfected the skill of arranging and attending regular Meetings!
I have compiled this blog post with all tips and tricks they used to stay efficient. Here’s how they did it. The end goal is to learn how they managed to have the same level of engagement during online meetings as meeting in a conference hall
How to Get Most Out Of Meetings
Plan The Day vs Plan The Meeting
There’s a huge spike in efficiency when you plan the day, instead of just planning the meeting. By that, it means to have a task scheduled Every hour of the day. If it doesn’t exist on the Calendar, it doesn’t exist at all.
Depending on the Agenda of the meeting, planning the day helps visualize a forecast of energy exhaustion. Some people prefer to have high-energy exhausting meetings early in the morning and end the day stress-free. Others prefer to start the day on a positive note and build up the momentum as the day progresses. They usually prefer attending high exhausting meetings using the momentum they’ve built thought out the day.
Give both a try.
NOTE: When you plan the day, you end up sticking to it throughout the day. Getting more work done, and having a schedule to stick with.
Sufficient Time To Prepare
Everyone’s living situation can be different. There’s no way everyone can start their day sharp at 9 AM. Some people have Children to take care of, and some have a spouse who is more active during the day. Life can be complicated.
That being said, Everyone invited to the meeting needs to be informed 3 – 4 days before the meeting.
Meet During The Common Active Time
Shifting from office to work from home, many professionals are not used to the principles of asynchronous messaging. It’s when the two or more people participating in a conversation are not active at the same time. The back and forth of messages take place over a long time.
While arranging a meeting, finding a common online time can be difficult. Working Especially when your team consists of participants from overseas.
This is why most remote teams are embracing asynchronous messages.
For the important meetings, you can divide teams based on their availability and have two leads driving both the meeting. Syncing later.
Make the Meetings Reoccuring
Many people might be opposed to this. And It’s understandable. “If it can be emailed, don’t call me” and here we are suggesting you have a meeting every week. There’s a reason for this. A Rhythm.
When the meetings are reoccurring, everyone gets accustomed to being accountable to each other. The urge to show progress throughout the week, motivates people to start work every day.
Having someone to be accountable towards, create an environment of growth.
Conclusion
Meetings with colleagues and peers are one of the most common human interactions at every office. When we started working from home, we were entering uncharted territory. Half a year later, we have figured out what is the importance of working from an office.
The more quick conversations you have with your fellow workmates, the faster you can grow!