Efficient Meetings

We know that people spend far too much time in meetings and that quite often the time spend in travelling to and from a meeting can be greater than the actual meeting itself.

A great way to save time spent on meetings is to set up a meeting using either group conference call facilities or a call over the internet. Rapid changes in technology mean that people across different locations, countries and continents don’t have to travel to take part in the same meeting. Saves huge amount of time for everyone involved if you multiply up the travel time involved in traditional face-to-face meetings.

Teleclasses, workshops and teleseminars can all be presented online with notes displayed in an online ‘classroom’ format with a trainer holding the call and students calling in.

Group conference calls enable people to meet, communicate and discuss key objectives without having to be in the same room. Because there are no visual cues these need to be handled carefully to ensure that everyone is allowed to participate, key points and actions are documented and communication is clear.

Video conferencing – were you can see people at the other end of the phone line – can be useful but can also be distracting and the quality of the technology can make an impact on it’s effectiveness.

If you’re going to use this technology, test it out ahead of time or as a dry run to make sure it works and iron out any hiccups before the actual meeting. There’s nothing worse than trying to sort out the volume and picture signals at the start of the meeting.

Save you and your colleagues time and money and think about the most efficient way to hold your meeting.