Meetings are –– for most professionals –– a necessary inconvenience. Indeed, while meetings can be extremely productive, more often than not they act as a waste of time. After all, professionals who spend most of their day involved in meetings don’t have time to address their actual “workload.” Given that fact, it’s imperative that business leaders look for solutions to both improve the quality of business meetings and cut down on their length. Here then are five tech tools that will do just that:
Planning Apps
The efficacy of any given business meeting is determined before it starts. As anyone who’s ever sat through a meeting they didn’t need to attend or that meandered aimlessly can attest, planning a meeting properly is key.
The good news here is that there are a number of software like SavvyCal that enable professionals to schedule meetings, set agendas, and invite participants on a case-by-case basis. By utilizing one of these applications, pros can avoid unneeded meetings and eliminate miscommunications.
Skype, Screen Share, and Video Chats
Need to have a meeting with an employee working at a remote location? Then consider using a video chat platform like Skype to break a problem down face-to-face. Plus, tools like screen share let professionals separated by thousands of miles collaborate as if they were in the same room. Embracing tech like this will help businesses save time and money.
Portable Microphone
Depending on the size of your company, you may require a microphone to effectively communicate with your team during an event or conference. However, there’s a difference between holding a meeting with a run-of-the-mill mic, and using a cutting-edge microphone that boosts collaboration and engagement. Amazingly, tech companies are beginning to pioneer microphones that you can actually toss around the room! Visit buyqball.com for more information.
Sit-to-Stand Desks
One big complaint that many professionals voice about meetings is that they simply last too long. Yet, it’s easy to get caught up on a subject and lose track of time. Businesses leaders that hold meetings where everyone stands up, conversely, rarely stray off topic and get more done when they do decide to gather. Purchasing a few sit-to-stand desks for your office, then, can help you facilitate this change. Plus, these desks provide a number of other health and productivity benefits as well!
Stopwatch
There’s nothing fancy about a stopwatch, but abiding by a strict time limit for your meetings will help you prioritize the most pressing issues and stay on course. It may not be the most innovative solution on this list, but it’s highly effective all the same.
