{"id":36212,"date":"2017-01-26T06:06:05","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T06:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loopup.com\/resource-center\/\/finding-meeting-utopia-look-like\/"},"modified":"2021-08-06T16:52:33","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T15:52:33","slug":"finding-meeting-utopia-look-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loopup.com\/us\/resource-center\/blog\/finding-meeting-utopia-look-like\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding meeting utopia: what does it look like?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There it is again, that sinking feeling when yet another meeting request pops into our calendar, looming over you like impending jail time. Your sentence: a one-hour, all-hands planning session, 60+ people on the invite and the agenda doesn\u2019t arrive in your inbox until five minutes before the call starts, leaving you little time to prepare.<\/p>\n

You know all too well that hesitancy to \u201caccept,\u201d certain that as much time will go wasted as that spent on productive conversations.<\/p>\n

Picture it now:<\/p>\n

You arrive early to the boardroom to find a good seat, only to discover it\u2019s cold as the North Pole and you have no idea how to turn on the heating. The sole inhabitant of the room with one minute to go, you try to wrangle as many invitees as possible, only to arrive back to the venue amid a sea of laptops, charger cables, mobile devices and other distractions. People are still piling in at five past the hour, side conversations start to run wild, it all seems to be devolving into chaos and we haven\u2019t even dialled in yet.<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, able to get things rolling, you notice that half the team has their laptops open or mobile devices up, surely texting, emailing, shopping or getting a head start on that Deliveroo order for lunch.<\/em><\/p>\n

From here on out, a myriad of things go awry, from issues dialling in remote attendees to trouble projecting the meeting agenda. Side-tracking comments derail, off-topic remarks abound, many joiners are just trying to be heard contributing with the boss on the line \u2014 whether, or not, it\u2019s helpful is secondary.<\/em><\/p>\n

These all too common calamities of the contemporary meeting \u2013 remote or onsite \u2013 perpetuate a view of these vehicles of group productivity as often having an altogether opposite outcome. However, there\u2019s no denying that meetings are a crucial function of business, as they allow teams to collaborate, share and learn in real time \u2014 in or out of the workplace.<\/p>\n

A recent article, looks at the key contributing elements<\/a>\u00a0that affect each meeting\u2019s overall effectiveness \u2014 across the physical, procedural, temporal and personal. The alignment or mismanagement of any of these can either enhance a meeting or send it into disarray.<\/p>\n

Taking each of\u00a0these aspects into consideration, how can we prepare for optimal results? Well, we constructed our own “ideal meeting room” and here’s what we consider\u00a0the four foundational pieces\u00a0to the success or downfall of any meeting:<\/p>\n

The room <\/a><\/h3>\n

This is often the more overlooked of the four. Physical aspects such as the seating, room temperature, lighting and even access to refreshments, can influence meeting productivity.<\/p>\n

Find a room that fits the size of your crowd, has working air conditioning, good lighting, and the like. Will there be presentations? Make sure the room is set up to display and share with anyone joining remotely.\u00a0Even the type of seats you choose can affect comfort and therefore contributions.<\/p>\n

The people<\/a><\/h3>\n

Trying to calm a room of nattering co-workers can be a fruitless task \u2013 especially when the numbers grow. This is why Amazon has a \u201ctwo pizza rule<\/a>\u201d in their office. If that\u2019s not enough to feed the group, you\u2019ve got too many in attendance. The purpose: only invite the people who are essential.<\/p>\n

Inviting those that are most crucial, is a quick fix against meetings turning into free-for-all of idea lobbing, or other opinions and comments that don\u2019t materialise to much. Decide when it\u2019s best to have management joining junior staff, and vice versa. Pick your attendees\u00a0with a Moneyball mindset\u00a0\u2013 the best group\u00a0to achieve a winning outcome.<\/p>\n

The technology <\/a><\/h3>\n

In the room, or over the phone, this is an equally crucial element. Anything from charging ports, devices in use, software compatibility and more come into play.<\/p>\n

Remote meetings, in particular, are dependent on the tech used for bridging the gap created when you\u2019re not all able to join together in a physical space. If joining your remote meeting is anything less than a seamless experience,\u00a0it will create friction (and sometimes embarrassment) between local attendees\u00a0and virtual guests.<\/p>\n

The time <\/a><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s almost scary how much time we spend in meetings. When they are spent inefficiently, millions in resources and revenue<\/a> can go wasted.<\/p>\n

Build in a five-minute buffer to remind attendees of how long is left to ensure you don\u2019t overrun. If you find people going off topic, bring them back to the task at hand with phrases like \u201cThat\u2019s great and we\u2019ll pick it up offline, but let\u2019s continue to tackle our current discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may never experience a meeting that goes off without a single\u00a0hiccup or the occasional\u00a0fiasco. But by working to anticipate productivity interrupters, you can guide them to optimal output and results. Over the next few weeks we’ll look at each of these elements above in more detail, to help you do just that with tips and tricks to stay ahead of the game.<\/p>\n

For other posts in this series, read:<\/p>\n