Meetings themselves aren’t obsolete – but live in-person meetings are. Today’s employee, from an entry-level position to senior management, is inundated with work and expectations. Stopping what you need to do throughout the day to go and attend an often futile meeting not only depletes morale and dwarfs creativity, it also is an incredible time waster.
Meetings are inefficient time wasters. Most meeting content can be shared virtually through email content, slideshow presentations, webinars, videos and more. Allowing employees to access such content at their own leisure and within a reasonable time frame ensures that employees aren’t manipulating their schedule or stopping in mid-project to drag themselves to a watering hole.
In a digitally-equipped mobile world, is there still room for the in-person meeting? In-person meetings are designed to meet emotional needs, where rhetoric is matched with non-verbal cues like expression, tone, rate of speech and gestures. These expressive methods are best reserved for when emotional components are needed, i.e. for sales and outreach/partnership efforts. Establishing an emotional connection is not a requirement for communicating with your existing team. Your staff recognizes the workplace dynamics. They’re aware of their responsibilities and expectations and would rather be left to meet them than be obligated to interject their efforts in yet another meeting.
In-person meetings need to become the exception rather than the rule. To do this right, your company has to have the right tools in place so your staff is equipped with networking and communication capabilities.
A lot companies are also valuing remote teams. Remote teams risk being disconnected from the core office, or the “mothership.” It’s important for these employees to feel just as connected, and for in-office employees to have to opportunity to connect with them – especially if there’s a need for information exchange or room to gain more knowledge and share resources. The perfect software will let employees feel connected through a familiar and useful and mobile portal.
Any must-have meetings can now happen over video conference or presentation slides. With a mobile work force, which is emphasized in sales, meetings really are an outdated method of communication. A company interested in being able to flex and grow should take on software that can meet everyone’s needs. They especially need to consider the needs of in-field agents and remote team collaborations. The best software will offer:
- An information archive, so team members get access to instant custom-created sales and marketing sheets/case studies.
- Alerts and pings so team members can stay on top of developments.
- Social business template or a private social network that mimics popular social media communication tools.
The modern company knows that none of its team members need to be in the same room at the same time to get the job done. Less meetings means employees can spend time actually getting things done.
