Not to be dramatic but… ineffectual meetings were a huge problembeforecoronavirus.
Our work calendars are filling up with unwieldy video chats, which are actually slowing us down.
On March 31st, 2020 Microsoft Teams recorded a record-breaking2.7 billion meeting minutesin one single day.
Zoom downloadsincreased by 1330%from February to March.
On Slack the average number ofmessages sent per user per day is up 20%.
Zoom fatigue is now a trending search topic.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
But could this actually be a golden opportunity to finally evolve and get rid of ineffective meetings?
For example, you send an email; I open and respond to the email several hours later.
Instead, tech tools are used to align and coordinate across team members.
The great thing about this way of working is that people have genuine autonomy over their schedules.
They decide when its time to concentrate and when they need to check in on emails and messages.
By focusing on output, rather than synced time frames, people can more easily manage complicated work-life balances.
Check-in meetings can be (almost) eliminated by switching all check-ins over to text-based status updates.
This increases transparency and creates documented updates that can be referenced when needed.
Instead, they decided to test out different options to replace their virtual meetings.
Now theyre using a tool calledThreadsto self document their updates.
Is it time to ditch meetings altogether?
llija Studen, founder of team collaboration platformActiveCollab, doesnt think so.
Theres a strong push towards asynchronized communication.
The problem is, if you take it to the extreme, there is no team.
You cannot build trust with people without talking to them face-to-face.
We as a species like to share and gossip so we know what to expect from one another.
Thats hard to do if everyone has their own schedule.
The whole async thing is great, we should take good bits, but it cannot replace sync.
Lets start with what should be cut.
As long as theyre focused on finding a solution to a specific problem, ok. Retrospectives?
I know a lot of companies have daily standups… but really?
There are tools you might use to keep up-to-date on what everyone is working on virtually.
If you still feel a stand up is necessary, limit it to one or two times a week.
When you do have virtual meetings …
1.
End the sudden outbursts and awkward silences with a facilitator
Meetings can sometimes feel like a free-for-all.
You start off on one topic then someone hijacks the discussion and takes it in a different direction.
People should be trained in basic meeting facilitation techniques, Ilija said.
They should also double-check action items are written down and followed up afterward.
Otter.aiis a tool that can help facilitators easily transcribe meeting recordings.
Dont take automatic one hour time blocks for granted.
Instead, estimate how much time each meeting will actually take you and schedule accordingly.
Then we knew wed found the right balance.
One method for staying on schedule is timeboxing.
This technique is all about dedicating blocks of time in your schedule to a specific effort and thenstickingto it.
But what happens if youve gotten to the end of your meeting and youre still not done?
If the timebox ends and the goal is not achieved, dont automatically extend the meeting.
), schedule a new meeting, or decide to conclude via email, Ilija explained.
Lean Coffee Tableis a neat tool that allows people to suggest and vote on topics to discuss.
Sadly thats not going to fly when youre stuck at home.
Its ok to say no to a meeting when you dont need to be there.
Its ok to decline a call when youre deeply focused on a task.
The best way to politely decline these last-minute requests for your attention is to start timeboxing.
For example, Ilija explained, its also useful when you work on creative tasks.
Some sayusing videoand banning the mute button will make people pay more attention and avoid getting distracted.
Every team is different so there are no rules that work 100% of the time.
Experiment, analyze, and iterate until you find a meeting format that works best for your team.
Using polling tools likeSurveyMonkey,Typeform, and Google Forms can help.
Now they might be the first to drop the idea of offices altogether.
We still dont know how the pandemic will impact the world of work in the long term.
(Although I personally support Jacinda Arderns suggestion for afour-day workweek.)
