Plan Your Next Videoconference in 10 Minutes or Less

Quick question about your next online meeting: why are you having it? If you don’t have a good answer to that question (and a few others) don’t despair. Inside is a handy checklist to make your meeting worthwhile. 

The next time you’re in a meeting — online or in-person — look around the room and do a quick estimate of the hourly payroll cost of bringing all those busy people together.

Even if your big-bucks C-suite execs aren’t there, it’s still a pretty hefty sum.

To make sure your meeting is a worthwhile investment of time and resources, come up with solid answers to these questions.

1. Why are you having the meeting?

“Because we always have a weekly meeting,” isn’t a good answer. True, there’s value in getting the team together regularly — good for morale and good for helping everyone keep current.

But if you dig a little deeper, you may come up with a more compelling business reason. If not, maybe you should meet a little less often.

2. Who really needs to attend?

Pay attention to who speaks up at meetings, who takes notes, who seems engaged and — most important — who follows up with action after the meeting.

If you notice that certain people aren’t engaged, maybe they don’t need to be included, and their time could be better spent.

3. What do you need to discuss?

Asking “What’s going on?” is a terrible way to begin a meeting. As the organizer, it’s your responsibility to line up topics in advance then keep discussions on track.

Not that you have to go it alone. If you need to know “what’s going on” in a particular area of the business, ask someone before the meeting, so you can identify issues to bring to the table.

4. When is the best time to have the meeting?

Maybe you traditionally have your meeting on Monday morning (an energizing way to start the week). Or Friday afternoon (too cruel during summer months).

Try experimenting with other times. Maybe participants would like to have the meeting early in the day, so it’s out of the way before the business day begins. Or perhaps just before lunch (hunger it good motivation to keep the meeting short and sweet).

5. How do things need to change?

Too often, people have a natural inclination to foresee the down-side of things. You can turn that around and ask yourself, “How do things need to change . . . for the better?”

If you ask a better question, you might get a better answer. And a better answer may inspire you to reach for bigger, more significant goal.

Bonus question

There’s one more key question. But with ClickMeeting, it’s becoming less relevant?

Here it is:

Where should you have the meeting?

Here’s the easy answer: “Anywhere you (and your participants) happen to be!”  With ClickMeeting, geographical limitations are a thing of the past.

And soon meeting-on-the-go will be even easier, thanks to . . . well, not just yet. But stay tuned for new developments — SOON!

Grab a pencil and paper

OK, I know we’re all computer geeks these days, but surely you have a pencil and paper somewhere.

So take 10 minutes to answer those questions about your upcoming meeting. You never know what surprising answers might pop up. And in those answers, perhaps an exciting new direction. Let us know how it helps. Your comments are always welcome!