How to run a short and productive virtual meeting

Faith Ocampo Published on August 3, 2016

business executives in meeting on tablet header

Virtual meetings are becoming popular in outsourcing environments for a lot of reasons, including low cost, high efficiency, and ease of setting up.

For outsourcing companies and their clients, online meetings are revolutionary. They’re cheap and easy to set up, requiring only an internet-enabled computer, a webcam and headset, and a video conferencing software.
The problem, however, is that although they’re useful, meetings are often seen as a huge waste of time. Most employees think that meetings rob them of the time they could spend for something much more important.

laptop with business team in virtual meeting

This sentiment may not be unreasonable at all. A Harvard Business Review article revealed that one large company used up 300,000 hours every year just for weekly executive meetings. This only reveals that time, an extremely precious resource, is also one of the most misused commodities among organizations.
If you don’t make the necessary preparations before a meeting, it can quickly turn into another needlessly time-consuming ordeal, which is the last thing you want. We compiled some tips for keeping your virtual meetings short but productive.

Before the meeting

laptop with letter envelope flying paper airplanes across world map

Email your team. As much as possible, let everyone know in advance when and how you’ll be holding the meeting. Together with the announcement, give them a heads-up on the agendas to be discussed. This levels off people’s expectations and also lets them gather their thoughts.

Reach out to key people. To save time during the meeting, you must get to the agendas right away. So if you need to gather information from other leaders, do it beforehand. Once the meeting starts, make sure everyone’s prepared to contribute ideas.

 

During the meeting

business partners handshake through computer monitors

Set a relaxed atmosphere. Your job as the leader is to connect people by making introductions and asking everyone how they’re doing. When you make everyone feel comfortable with one another, they can more freely communicate, and this leads to higher productivity.

Let everyone pitch in. Most employees think that meetings are a waste of time because they don’t feel involved. The key is to reach out to each person and ask for their suggestions or opinions.

Don’t press mute. In face-to-face meetings, hitting the mute button would be equivalent to walking out the room, a gesture considered rude. Observe the same courtesy during virtual meetings. Don’t press mute during the video conference to reply to an email or talk to someone else who’s not really included in the meeting.

Assign someone to lead. Meetings often take up a lot of time because the discussion branches away from the topic at hand. To avoid this, someone must keep tabs on the conversation and check whether it’s still related to the pre-established agendas.

 

After the meeting

businessman in glasses using laptop on office table

Summarize the discussion. Have a quick wrap-up of everything that’s been discussed during the online meeting. You may also send everyone an email containing the summary of the main ideas that were brought up and what the group has agreed upon.

Find ways to improve future meetings. Through a short survey, ask your team what they liked and what they didn’t like about the meeting. Was the video conferencing tool you used efficient, or do they prefer another platform? Did they experience technical glitches? Did they think the flow was organized? Keep a record of employees’ feedback so you can improve future meetings and make them more productive.

 

Faith is a digital media enthusiast aiming to become an active part of the tech world by sharing her insights. She likes to blog about everything digimarketing, technology, and social media.
Join us on facebook
Open Access BPO 18 hours ago
Compared to most industries, #CallCenters are known for providing a fun and positive workplace for their employees.
But more than just making daily ops light and dynamic, the agents, the contact center, and the clients benefit from this: https://buff.ly/3NiWbEB

----------
Let's create a program hyper-customized for your brand's goals, needs, budget, and customer demands: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerService #EmployeeEngagement
Open Access BPO 21 hours ago
Efficiency in #CallCenters involves enhancing agents' #productivity and #satisfaction.

Check out these 5 tips to boost #EmployeeEngagement and productivity in #ContactCenters: https://buff.ly/46H48KE

----------
Learn how our training, employee engagement, and culture of diversity contribute to our high-quality #CustomerExperience: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CSat #CustomerSupport #CX
#CustomerService #CustomerSupport
Open Access BPO Yesterday
#CallCenters are made up of people from different cultures or backgrounds.
Each one is likely to have differing workplace habits and values, all of which can result in conflicts.

Here are the top 10 causes of conflicts in the call center: https://buff.ly/3GsT0GL

----------
Connect with an #outsourcing firm that provides great employee training and management programs: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CompanyCulture #EmployeeManagement
Open Access BPO Yesterday
As more consumers turn toward online channels, businesses are struggling to provide quality #CustomerSupport for their international customers.
Partnering with a reliable #MultilingualCallCenter has, thus, become a valuable strategy.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 businesses must offer to remain competitive in global markets: https://buff.ly/4a7ocZp

----------
For #CustomerService and #BackOffice support in over 30 languages, contact Open Access BPO today: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
Open Access BPO Yesterday
𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐲.

Luckily for you, #outsourcing can back you up in this battle.
Here's how call centers protect your customers from ecommerce fraud: https://buff.ly/47GJvPX

----------
Partner with an #outsourcing partner that keeps #InfoSec a top priority alongside great #CustomerSupport: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerExperience #DataSecurity
#outsourcing #FraudProtection #FraudDetection
Open Access BPO Yesterday
In celebration of 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 this December, Open Access BPO Davao collaborated with the Philippine Red Cross - Davao City Chapter for a blood donation drive held last December 1, 2023.

Our collective efforts turned moments of compassion into life-saving contributions.

Thank you to all our OABPO Davao heroes who rolled up their sleeves–you've proven that a small act of giving can have a monumental impact.

----------
Open Access BPO actively promotes community involvement in the workplace by supporting the annual blood donation activity among other causes.

𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘈𝘉𝘗𝘖 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦.

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#OneWithHealth Philippine Red Cross
Open Access BPO