Luckily, there is an easy way to display vital information about meeting and conference rooms and eliminate any stress. 

Meet Joan. 

What is Joan?

Joan is a simple, yet brilliant, solution for managing meeting rooms and optimizing room use. What sets their room booking software apart are the touch-screen display devices Joan offers. You can mount the devices right outside the meeting room door. They not only show meeting room information, but also let you see open time slots and book them on the spot. 

If you would rather use a larger screen, consider using Joan on displays together with Airtame’s digital signage capabilities to prominently display the latest meeting information. Joan on displays lets you see current and future meetings and their attendees, as well as any available rooms and their seating capacity. 

Let’s go over a couple of reasons why Airtame and Joan are the perfect cable-free pairing for more engaging meetings. 

Effortless meetings  

Joan integrates seamlessly with standard calendar systems. This means you only have to update meeting information in one place and the information will sync automatically to all your displays. Now you are freed up to prepare for your meeting. 

When you need to present, you can quickly share your computer screen using Airtame’s simple app. Since there are no cables plugged into your laptop, it’s also easy to switch between presenters. With hands-free presentations, you can get more hands-on collaboration done.  

No hassle installation

The huge benefit of wireless technology is that it fits in seamlessly with any office design. Since Joan device is battery-powered, you can install it pretty much anywhere. 

The Airtame device is designed to sit on the wall, behind a TV screen, or fit in a projector’s cable tray. And with the option to power the device using Power over Ethernet, Airtame is not tethered to a power outlet either. The connection between your computer and TV screen is completely wireless, meaning you’re not tied to the table either. 

The perfect match for better meetings

Joan brings you peace of mind that your meeting rooms are being optimally used. Together with Airtame’s user-friendly screen sharing and digital signage, you can have more distraction-free meetings and reach maximum productivity. 

To explore more of the Joan solution for better meetings, visit their website. 

The post Building the ultimate wireless meeting room for stress-free meetings appeared first on Airtame.

Now, why would we include this oddball in our collection of office essentials? It’s simple. Walk and talks can help break down barriers between upper management and regular employees, they have great health benefits, and they’re easy to do. To sum up: they’re everything a modern office should incorporate, even if it isn’t in an enclosed or specific space.

The walk and talk essentials:

• Walk and talks are for everyone; small companies, big companies, regular employees and managers alike
• They are probably the most informal way to conduct a meeting
• Everyone can benefit from a walk and talk. Yes, everyone

Want to know more about the other spaces and rooms that are recommendable in an office setting? Take a look at the office pod, huddle rooms, reception, conference room, and the all-hands room.

What is a “walk and talk”?

We don’t mean to seem dense, but a walk and talk is exactly that: talking while you’re walking. It’s a smart and healthy way to get some exercise while at the same time being in a business state of mind. In other words, it’s moving a meeting from a stuffy meeting room or loud office space to the fresh outdoors.

Walk and talks are mostly beneficial for no more than two or three people – simply because a sidewalk or pathway can’t accommodate more without them being left out of the conversation. That’s not to say that larger groups can’t do walk and talks at all. We’ll get back to this a little later.

Any brainstorm, collaborative spit-balling or discussion can be done on the go. That being said, there are still some meeting situations that can’t be done while walking such as when the presentation requires visual aids.

The big three factors of walk and talks

Whether you walk, limp, wheel or push yourself around, breaking up the office-based work routine can be a great way to reboot your brain and at the same time connect with your co-worker in an untraditional manner.

Informal

This really is the big keyword. Walk and talks are not for executive decision-making that should be recorded or stay private. Nor are they for meetings where detailed documentation is provided, nor meeting minutes need to be logged. Walk and talks are all of those smaller assemblies that you would normally book a meeting room for, chat about in the hallway or maybe even do at your desk.

Dynamic

Breaking away from your regular work cycle and office surroundings prove very positive for most employees. Because the smartphone stays at the desk and you don’t have to stare directly into another person’s eyes, walk and talks provide a more dynamic and relaxed setting that makes employees more focused and creative in the discussions. It also frees up meeting room space for those get-togethers where a room, visual aids, and a table are required.

Healthy

Sitting is the new smoking! Or so we’ve heard a lot the past few years. If that’s true, then most traditional desk workers are in big trouble. One way to get over this is to set up more walking meetings. That way, you force yourself and your coworkers to get closer to the daily amount of recommended steps – all while still doing the work you’re supposed to.

Getting started with walk and talks

For one-on-ones, there’s almost no excuse and it’s the easiest in the world to decide to go for a walk rather than book and find a location for the discussion. For larger groups, however, walking meetings would require much more preparation, but they aren’t impossible to conduct.

For example, the leader of the meeting could send an agenda or video material ahead of the walk and talk and ask all attendees to carefully look it over before the walk. On the walk, it would be easy to discuss the same topic or brainstorm on the project. If you want, you can leave in a few minutes before the meeting is officially over for attendees to take notes.

Are walk and talks for you?

For employees with predominantly desk-based work, walk and talks could have serious health benefits. We’ve seen many health professionals stress the fact that sitting down all day is harmful, and that employees should aim for several hours a day where they stand instead of sit. We’ve got a better suggestion. Standing is better than sitting, but walking is even better than standing – so get out there!

But there’s actually more. Studies show that walking can decrease or even prevent stress and anxiety, whereas sitting down all day does the opposite.

Now, not all meetings can or should be conducted on the go. More formal meetings that require presentation equipment, note-taking or even just a larger crowd will not benefit from being done walking style. Smaller tête-à-têtes, quick get-togethers, one-on-one meetings, and other informal discussions are perfect, though.

Who knows? You might even experience an extra surge of inspiration as you stroll new surroundings.

Any meeting rooms we or you would like us to cover? We’ll be happy to indulge!

The post Office essentials: walk and talk appeared first on Airtame.

• It is an excellent way to define obstacles in your team’s way and find the right way to overcome them.
• The absence of the distractions and open conversation help you to get to know your direct reports better and nurture the culture of transparency within the team.
• Last but not least, one-on-one chats are the best time to provide constructive feedback and help your team grow professionally.

At Airtame we value working smarter. We have discovered a few tricks and tips that improve the experience of our one-on-ones, and we would like to share them with you.

Regular and well-structured one-on-one meetings

One of the keys to successful one-on-one sessions is regularity. There is no mandatory schedule for the chats, and we recommend to choose the one that works the best for you and your team members. But it is crucial to keep them as regular meetings: weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.

We have people working across the world at Airtame, and this can make digital forms of communication not only ideal but often a necessity. But believe us nothing can be better than good old face-to-face meetings where you can get the feeling of the current mood and see the body language of your team members. In-person communication helps to hold an open dialog and get a better outcome from the chat.

If you have direct reports sitting elsewhere in the world, you need to go the extra mile to make sure they are heard and that you, as manager, are there for them. Once in a while, this might mean traveling to wherever they may be and taking that one-on-one session in person.

Above all, one-on-ones are important just like other meetings, and you shouldn’t sacrifice them in favor of different arrangements. If you always reschedule your chats, it becomes more challenging to build a habit of regularity, and you are losing the value of these meetings.

Structure doesn’t mean fixed, especially in terms of location. It can often be effective to schedule your one-on-ones outside of the typical working environment, so your team members can relax and let loose. Once in a while, try out a walk and talk in the park, or treat your employee to a coffee in a nearby cafe.

A loose agenda is better than no agenda

As for the one-on-one itself, we always recommend having an agenda that you can follow. It depends on what you want to cover during the meeting, but we usually follow these key points:

• Quick status of the ongoing projects.
• Challenges and roadblocks.
• Action plan to overcome existing challenges.
• Feedback.

Of course, you get the best outcome from one-on-one if your direct reports are well-prepared and follow the agenda. Needless to say, you should share it with your team members in advance.

And last, keep the right direction of your conversation: don’t dive into the project details but discuss all important questions and make an action plan that you and your reports can follow. We also recommend to make notes during the conversation, so you can get back to the agreements and action points later.

Support and coach

Most of the one-on-ones start with the regular update, and it is the easiest part. It becomes more challenging when you discuss the obstacles and way to overcome them. Sometimes, you need to dive deeper into the problem, find a cause of it and build an action plan.

In many ways, you can consider a manager as a coach for the team; figuring out how the team can play well together while also encouraging individual growth. To do that, you need to fully get to know the team and ask the right questions in these sessions. Questions that highlight the main roadblocks and find the right solution. Here are a few examples:

• Why did we move a deadline for a project?
• Did you have any constraints that affected the deadline of a project?
• Do you think we are missing any other risks that can affect the result?
• Are you reaching your full potential? If not, why not?
• What blind spots have you detected within the team, or on a project?
• Can the team or I help you?

Remember, it is crucial to keep it relaxed. Make sure your direct reports are not intimidated by your questions. You should explain that you want to help them to find all constraints and improve an approach to a particular situation. And, crucially, let them take the floor and do the majority of the talking.

Time for feedback

The action plan is ready? It is time to move forward with the most challenging part of your one-on-one meeting, feedback session. Here at Airtame, we believe that transparency helps us build a strong team of professionals and improve our ways of working. That’s why we always encourage our employees to keep an open conversation and share feedback.

We think the best starting point for the feedback session is a recognition of the results and positive feedback. It will help you to steer the discussion in a positive direction. And if there is room for improvements, you should provide your recommendations.

We recommend applying the burger model – lacing your initial feedback with something positive, followed by a more constructively critical middle, and finishing up with something positive once again.

Furthermore, the feedback should go both ways. Managers also should be open to criticism and listen to their direct reports.

The flip-side: One-on-ones with your manager

Preparation goes both ways, and you need to think ahead of your next one-on-one with your own manager. They probably aren’t mind-readers, so it’s important you communicate verbally what is on your mind, or at least write it down. Do your homework and go into these meetings with confidence – it’s the one main time you can be heard without interruption.

Here is a short list of what you need to prepare for your next one-on-one:

• Make a list of assignments that you have been working on to highlight the main focus and results.
• Take notes, focus on the headlines, and don’t get too lost in the minutiae.
• Think of the challenges that you have been facing since the last one-on-one, and try to define the main roadblocks.
• If there is something that bothers you and raises anxiety, feels free to share your concerns with your manager.
• Reflect on the past week and see if your current projects align with your annual goals and you have enough tasks that help you grow professionally.
• Keep it short and straight to the point.

• Always ask for feedback and talk about the improvements that you can make.
• Schedule the next one-on-one at the end of the concurrent one. It will make your action points tangible.

So, get started today with more effective one-on-one meetings. It’s good for the health of your company, and the individuals that help make it special.

Looking for more business tips? Check out our rundown of the best tools for unlocking better time management and the office trends of 2019

The post Tips for better one-on-one meetings appeared first on Airtame.

1) You’re awaiting an urgent call from a client, and your colleagues are loudly discussing today’s lunch nearby.

2) An upcoming deadline is nagging you while your co-workers are coming at you from all fronts with other requests.

3) You need to prepare a verbal presentation and want to go over how it sounds – aloud. Where do you see yourself performing such tasks?

Office pods. That’s your answer. 

The essentials:

• They allow for sharp focus in otherwise noisy surroundings
• They are affordable for most companies
• They help remove distractions
• They provide solace in a hectic open office environment

If you haven’t heard of office pods yet, it’s time you familiarized yourself with the term; they are all the rage. Here’s our take on what office pods are, who they’re for and how to set them up.

Don’t forget to check out our rundown of the much-hyped and misunderstood “huddle room“

What is an office pod?

Pods are almost entirely self-contained spaces that give the solitary worker a private area to concentrate, away from the office’s distractions and noises. Essentially, they’re a “room within a room” – many of them can even be moved around.

A lot of the time, they look like advanced phone booths with all four walls (often glass), a ceiling, seating for a single person and the necessary gear to get work done. They provide a quiet, private area for all kinds of workers, no matter the department. It sounds like a simple setup, but we’ll get back to what’s in them a little later.

An ever-growing number of companies are literally tearing down walls in favor of open office plans, as well as sharing their workspaces with other companies.

While the open office plan breeds socialization and collaboration, it’s not the best environment for introverts, noise-sensitive people, those who spend a lot of their work hours on the phone, or those who are looking for a secluded, private area to focus.

Where do you go to get “in the zone”? The solution to that could very well be the budget-friendly pods. And why is that? Well, a sound-resistant, distraction-free area is a bonus in all open floor plans where secluded areas are few and far between. A pod can be used as space for:

• Making private calls
• Solo productivity
• Virtual meetings
• Study areas
• Quiet time

The key elements of office pods

There are several types of ‘pods’ or ‘privacy pods’, and some of them are just rearranged furniture. To us, the office pod is a little bit more advanced. If you’re still trying to picture a phone booth on wheels, you’ve pretty much got the idea. This is how we classify them:

Space-efficient

Here’s the deal with office pods; they’re not only smaller than any type of room you’re likely to find in any office besides a bathroom stall, but they’re also easy to move too (Inc describes the miniature work zones here).

Even if you change your office plan or need the office pods to help out in a different area of your organization, it’s not like you have to build them from scratch somewhere else. Many pods can be moved around as you wish, giving you much more flexibility than regular rooms.

Quiet

Fully sealed, sound-proof, distraction-free. Sounds like the perfect place for you to focus. Noise is inevitable in any place of work. Your office pod is your chance to take a breather and work without distractions.

Easy

Instead of having to build an extra room for the people who want a little extra concentration, you get an office pod. It’s streamlined, aesthetically pleasing, and easy to install and move around.

Affordable

A standard phone booth-sized pod will cost anything from $4,500-8,000 depending on location, materials and gadgetry (the beautiful one below – which is nearing the top end of the price bracket – is from the design-conscious Finnish company Framery).  Pods with room enough for more people are of course more expensive too. Getting a customized pod is cheaper than constructing a new conference room, and doing so is prohibitive. Pods have the advantage of being mobile whereas rooms and walls usually stay where they are.

Versatile

Office pods shouldn’t just be for clacking away on your keyboard. Put in a screen, and you’ve got video conferencing in a private area plus idea visualization for the team member in the pod.

Pods are versatile in regards to the kind of work you can do in them, but definitely also the way of working itself. The best office pods allow both seated and standing work, making them a great ergonomic choice.

Glass

Office pods are often enclosed with translucent glass. Why? Just because the worker in the pod is shielded from the surrounding chaos doesn’t mean you should exclude them entirely. A glass panel will help open up the layout and make the pod feel like less of an intrusive force.

The “open” setup makes it less claustrophobic and allows for the individual to look out on the rest of the team, and for the team to quickly identify where a colleague is and/or when the pod is pre-occupied.

How to set up successful office pods

Office pods are for solo productivity and concentrated work. They should be used by many types of employees, so, much like with huddle rooms, keep the decorative efforts to a minimum and let the pod’s purpose shine instead.

Office pods can come in many sizes, some only fit to hold one standing worker, while others fit two people. We think you’ll get the most out of a medium-sized pod for just one worker to sit or stand while the focus on their tasks.

Find a pod that’s outfitted with a desk, chair, and at least one glass door. Get an office pod with wheels. Your workspace is sure to change over time, and you don’t want to discard the pod just because you moved around the rest. Think of the pod as part of the furniture, use it as a divider or even a decorative element (seriously, some of them look very elegant).

Office pods should be easy to occupy, but seeing as they’ll be popular among all types of workers, there should be an option to book them on a company’s shared calendar instead of on a first come, first served basis. Make sure there’s a display outside the pod so that people can see when/if the pod is booked next.

Office pod technology

Motion-activated ventilation system and a skylight sound impressive, but it’s okay if you go for a less fancy option. Just make sure there are numerous electrical outlets, natural lighting and an ergonomic setup for laptops. Additional displays to connect to probably won’t be necessary either.

The great news is that office pods come fully equipped when you buy them from the manufacturer (Samsung, Lyft and Meetup use Zenbooth, an eco-friendly and readymade solution), so all you have to worry about is assembling it in a jiffy and then reaping the benefits.

Are office pods for you?

Do you have a problem with people occupying the conference rooms just to take a phone call? No private areas to go? Working in an open office plan? Then office pods could be for you.

If you already have areas focused on privacy, then maybe you don’t need the pods in your office.

While the open office plan is great for transparency and inclusive, it’s also a more distracted way of working because every conversation and decision is public.

It comes down to productivity versus socializing, and in our opinion, you need both things to lead a successful business. Your work area should be flexible enough to accommodate both things as well as the different types of employees you’re likely to encounter; both introverts and extroverts.

The post Office essentials: the pod appeared first on Airtame.

We’ve listed all the business meeting apps and tools that we find helpful. They are compiled into the following categories: Planning, Communication, Virtual meetings, Feedback – and Everything else.

There is some overlap in functionalities for some of the apps, just as some apps have similar features. They won’t all fit your needs, but some might solve the most obvious problems you face in a business meeting – both before, during and after the meeting occurs.

Apps, like many other digital tools, should support your work instead of creating more clutter. We think this list contains many suggestions that will help with exactly that. Consider this list a grab bag of possible choices where you can mix and match to your specific needs.

Jump straight to each category by clicking one of these links:

• Planning
• Communication
• Virtual meetings
• Feedback
• Everything else

Set yourself up to be a business meeting A-player and check out our 50 golden rules for better meeting etiquette.

Planning

This is the organizing phase of any meeting. It’s where you ask yourself how much time you need to set aside, who should join and what you’ll be discussing. Take note of these handy planning apps:

Zapier

Note-taking, calendar bookings, virtual meetings… Not Zapier. This is the app that connects all your other apps, and it’s awesome because you can automate workflows and routine tasks.

For example: If you get an email prior to a meeting in Gmail with an agenda attached, Zapier is triggered and copies the attachment from that email to your Dropbox folder while immediately alerting you in, say, Slack. Alternatively, you could set it up to trigger a video conference when your meeting appointment is about to begin. The possibilities are endless.

Source: Zapier

Zapier is a killer automation software, and when we say killer, we mean it. Because it kills all that time-consuming, annoying legwork you’d typically have to do yourself, leaving you with extra time and a smoother workflow.

Calendly

No matter what software your team or people outside of your organization are using, Calendly is embracing them. It makes it easy for you to organize meetings and let others pick available times because they’re not restricted to one calendar system.

It’s also the system that we use to process demo and support calls, and it’s invaluable for our Sales team. With it, all of our customers or potential customers can book a time to get an introduction to Airtame or get help with an issue.

Pick

Set your availability, share a custom URL with the people you want to meet with and have them book a time slot that fits your schedule. Pick is hassle-free and straightforward, and that’s something you can’t have enough of in business meeting settings.

FirstAgenda

If you’ve ever dreamt of having your own secretary, you can stop now. Assistant by FirstAgenda is basically like your personal assistant in an app.

Even cooler, Assistant uses speech recognition and machine learning to record your meeting and send out a summary afterward with the most important keywords from the meeting. Important decisions are archived, and you don’t have to worry about losing the minutes ever again.

Hypercontext

Streamline your meetings, whether they’re one-on-ones or include the entire team. Hypercontext allows users to create shared agendas anyone can contribute to, take notes you can automatically email out at the end of the meeting, and create post-meeting next steps to follow along with whose responsible for what.

JotForm

We love JotForm. This easy to use form builder will help you communicate more effectively across larger teams. Need to align on meeting availability? Use JotForm. Looking for team feedback on your last sales sync-up? Use Jotform. The no-frills UI makes the tool easy to use and and intuitive.

Communication

Communication is more about collaboration and teamwork than anything else. Even with the right amount of prep, your meeting isn’t destined to succeed unless you know how to stay in touch with the key people around you.

Great communication tools won’t just help you stay focused; it will help up productivity levels as well. Why? Well, good communication is a guard against missing any critical steps, omitting others or losing track of your purpose.

Slack

We’ve mentioned Slack earlier as a great time management tool, and we have to add it to the top of our list of useful tools for better meetings. If your inbox is always cluttered, how will you know what to focus on?

Slack is the best internal communications tool out there, and with its many app integrations, you never have to worry about things getting lost again. Set up meetings, forward agendas, remind invitees to attend and keep track of follow-ups. It’s also applicable for 1:1 video calling/screen sharing, something we often use when working remote.

Slido

Business meetings are not only about agendas and project assignments. More than anything, they’re about the people attending, the audience.

Slido is an audience interaction tool for meetings and events, where attendees can help drive the conversation with questions during the meetings or engage with live polls.

Comments and questions can be presented with a name, or anonymously. The anonymity will help bring forward more honest answers.

Dropbox Paper

None of us are strangers to Dropbox, the cloud storage service. Not all are aware that it’s a useful tool for more effective meetings. How? With files and folders online, you can share it with other team members and visitors, and you can even collaborate directly with others in Dropbox Paper, a document type designed for team collaboration.

It’s a useful tool for brainstorming or project-based meetings, where team members all need to contribute to one document.

It looks a bit different than Google Docs, maybe even refreshingly so. Many online collaboration tools are based on old-school paper formats, something only necessary if you have to print it afterward. It’s nice to see a format that isn’t tied to the past.

iBrainstorm

What’s better than a creative collaboration tool? A creative collaboration tool app! All your sticky notes and fancy ideas all have a place in iBrainstorm, just better organized and more accessible. It aims to replace the whiteboard, and because of its user-friendly interface, we can see how that could happen.

Evernote

Evernote has been called the best note-taking tool by many. We’re fans too. The platform provides several smart templates that make business meetings more productive, such as Meeting Agenda, Project plans, Timelines, and many more.

Share notes with your teammates, tick off items as the meeting advances and present your documents in slide mode. For individuals, Evernote is a great help. For teams, it’s a time-saving productivity boost.

Virtual meetings

More and more people are connecting to conferences and meetings online. For that to happen as smoothly as possible, you need a video connection that works and tools that drive your presentation.

Smart and simple apps for virtual meetings are especially helpful for blending in-house employees with remote workers when meetings are scheduled so as to not to leave anyone out.

Skype

Skype is quite probably the biggest competitor on the video conferencing market.

Because Skype is a Microsoft product, security is a big issue. So if you’re keen on that plus excellent integration with other Microsoft packages, then Skype could be what you’re looking for.

Skype for Business is free for up to 25 people to use. For larger corporations, Skype for Business has various plans that unlock more features and the capability of hosting bigger meetings, for example as a part of the Office 365 business essentials package.

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts, a free HD video call service with instant messaging features and great conferencing options for up to 10 people and group chat for up to 100.

As it’s a Google product, it easily integrates with Gmail. Using machine learning, the Hangouts Meet service in Google Hangouts gets better at suggesting meeting times and booking meetings over time, which is a pretty cool feature.

GoToMeeting

We also want to mention GoToMeeting, a web conferencing software for conference calls. GoToMeeting hosts up to 100 callers.

It’s especially convenient for organizations that have colleagues all over because conferencing and even demonstrations are easy. You can share or turn over the control of the meeting if more than one is in charge and record important meetings for playback later.

join.me

Lastly, there’s join.me. join.me works directly from the web, meaning business meeting guests or remote workers don’t have to download external applications or the like.

It’s quick to host and join meetings with join.me’s simple interface. It removes the hassle of having to download cumbersome software, and there are lots of opportunities to personalize and work together.

We could have slack here for internal meetings as well

Feedback

Sure, meetings can be valuable without follow-ups and feedback, but we don’t believe they’re truly great if you’re not listening to inputs on how to improve.

Continuous feedback should be easy to track, follow up on and plan accordingly to afterward. These apps all help with the process of reaching organizational as well as individual employee goals.

Taplause

Taplause is a feedback management app. It’s designed for managers and business owners who aren’t in regular contact with customers or users. Taplause gives you all the negative and positive feedback instantly so you can focus on solving the issues that come up.

Duuoo

Besides team development and feedback, you want to focus on individual performances as well. Duuoo helps you secure actionable results through a performance management tool that keeps track of 1-on-1s, feedback, goals, and performance.

TruQu

You can’t reach your organizational goals without continuous feedback. TruQu is an easy feedback solution where you can ask and receive real-time performance feedback as an employee or customer.

This will help encourage employees and help them identify areas that might need improving, as well as tracking their progress.

Everything else

Team building isn’t just a Friday Bar exercise or something you do because HR said so. Regular team building exercises can increase productivity and higher job satisfaction, simply because you know who you have in your corner every day.

Even for regular-based business meetings, small teambuilding exercises such as survey questions before a meeting can help your team work more effectively and respectfully.

Kahoot!

Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform. You can administer quizzes, discussions and surveys, all in a game-based, mobile environment that grabs the attention of meeting attendees in a fun way while everyone gets to know each other.

Conclusion

It doesn’t have to be a hassle planning a meeting and following up. Find the right solution that’s going to keep you and your team motivated and more productive about setting up meetings, communication with your team and improving your business meeting structure with the right feedback.

Let us know if any of these apps work for you or if there are any other awesome apps out there you’d like to see on the list.

The post 19 must-have apps for better business meetings appeared first on Airtame.

If you have ever worked together with others, chances are you’ve attended a meeting or two. Even people who do freelance work in a remote location will need to have some level of communication with the outside world, such as virtual meetings with clients. So whether you’re a CEO or an introverted artist meeting only occasionally with a manager, meetings are a part of your professional life.

Maybe you are the one who tends to lead the meetings at work. Or maybe you just show up and try to stay awake. Either way, it’s important to understand how much of your salary, time, and energy is being dedicated to attending meetings.

Being aware of this can be a help in taking back control over your responsibilities, and becoming more aligned with your fellow colleagues. Not to mention saving some serious cash for the hand that helps feed you. When it comes down to it, meetings can take a toll in terms of time, money, and energy spent.

In the United States alone, unproductive meetings are said to cost (in terms of salary) a staggering $37 billion annually

In this article, I’ll go over meetings in terms of the expenses, followed by a discussion of how they can also represent solid investments. What’s the difference between a cost and an investment? While a cost is purely an expenditure of money, time, or resources, and investment is an expenditure that has the possibility of a substantial return (e.g., additional revenue, new skills, knowledge, etc.).

Let’s first look at meetings as costs

Money

Publications such as the Harvard Business Review have outlined the monetary cost of meetings by taking into account how many attendees there are, what they earn, and how long the meeting is.

Let’s consider some examples based on their online calculator:

While the above table outlines just a few combinations for potential meetings, a bit of mental math shows that something like taking 15 extra minutes to get a meeting started can increase annual expenses by thousands of dollars. Also, a decision to host a meeting less regularly – say, twice a month instead of one a week – can more than halve the resource cost.

According to a Verizon White Paper on meetings in the USA, the bigger the company, the more money spent per meeting. This makes sense if we assume that, as a company grows, so will the number of high-paid managers, and the amount of time that different departments and branches need to spend on coordination and alignment (i.e., more meetings).

Another factor to take into account is how the meeting is being carried out. Verizon also reported that “a five-person meeting conducted in-person (involving plane travel for four of the attendees) is over seven times more expensive than a meeting conducted by audio conference, and nearly three times as expensive as a video conference”. In other words, if possible, conduct the meeting digitally.

Time

In addition to the financial implications of unnecessary meetings, additional costs can be considered in terms of wasted time, productivity, and morale.

One key way to cut down on wasted time and energy is to check in advance that your setup is working in cases where documents need to be presented, and people in remote locations need to join over the phone or a video conference.

CBTS report that within the span on a 38-minute call, eight minutes go to just getting set up, and a further thirteen on interruptions. With that in mind, getting better solutions, and testing them in advance, is essential to wasting additional time, money, and energy.

Other factors that companies around the world have been battling with include how much employees attend to their social media accounts, personal email, etc. during a meeting. The cause of these distractions may arguably have something to do with the fact that, according to a study by STL – around 47% of people feel that they have to attend too many meetings.

Different summaries on the exact amount of time spent in meetings offer different figures. One study suggested that office workers spend an average of four hours per week in meetings, and feel that more than half of that time is wasted.

Another study suggests that the “average” employee spends closer to a third of their work hours in meetings, with this percentage increasing to 35% and 50% for middle and upper management, respectively. A Forbes article stated that executives can spend upwards of 18 hours per week in meetings, highlighting the fact that leadership roles require more time spent in meetings.

Attending meetings is rarely a requirement written into our work contracts. But attendance is still considered mandatory. And although the total hours spent may vary depending on the person’s role, and the type/size of the company, a common trend is that employees feel they need to work overtime or otherwise compensate for the time meetings take away from fulfilling other duties.

Morale

Perhaps as a result of our concerns that meetings will have a negative impact on our productivity, we decide to multitask. Bringing a smartphone, tablet, or laptop to a meeting is fairly commonplace, and 73% of attendees report doing other work during meetings.

It’s fair to say that multitasking happens when we feel our engagement is not really necessary for a meeting. So, while our physical presence is demanded, our thoughts and focus go elsewhere. Either to checking emails, or daydreaming about what’s for dinner.

While it may not be outwardly expressed, meetings very often have the reverse effect as intended – they demotivate people

Attitudes and behaviors can arguably vary across cultures, either on a national, international, or organizational level. For example, the extent to which power hierarchies and inequalities are accepted (or rejected), may have an impact on participation. That said, there is research suggesting that the frequency and length of meetings are not significantly different, even when taking specific regions into account.

So, although the monetary cost of meetings may differ in terms of amount and currency depending on your location, the percentage of company-wide resources spent on meetings can eat up the same proportion of resources.

Productivity

Maybe you’re someone who feels that it takes an effort to hit a good stride during your workday. It might take first answering recent emails and making the perfect cup of coffee before you feel you can get down to the core of the big project you’re working on.

Once those boxes are checked, you’re feeling ready to put your head down and focus. But then you get a reminder about the meeting starting in 10 minutes, and it kills your momentum.

You passively attend the meeting, not saying much if anything at all. It ends, and you go back to your desk and stare at the screen for 10 minutes or so. You make another cup of coffee, hoping it’ll kick you back into gear.

If this sounds familiar, then know that you’re not alone. In a summary published by STL, they report that around half of meetings are considered to be wasteful or unproductive. And more than 60% of employees worry about being able to take care of other work responsibilities when spending time in meetings.

Now, let’s consider meetings as investments

Okay, so we know that meetings will definitely take up at least some time and money. But this, as well as how attendees end up feeling at the end of a meeting, can significantly vary.

If we start thinking of meetings as investments – opportunities to align on goals, tasks, and organizational values, the positive outcome can be that we make more effort to make the most of them. Attendees may just end up feeling inspired and enthusiastic after a meeting, rather than exhausted and frustrated.

When considering the ROI (return on investment) of a meeting, it can get complicated if the ground covered does not have a clear or direct financial benefit. For example, if the discussion focuses on aesthetic choices for a company’s logo design, use of terminology, etc., the impact can seem more abstract than, say, having a sales meeting that focuses on how to bring in more customers.

The 80/20 rule is a statistical observation that suggests that 80% of wealth is generated by only 20% of people and/or activities within a company. Some people interpret this rule as an instruction to cut out anything that does not bring in a direct financial benefit (including many meetings).

Here’s the thing though: While 20% of your company (e.g., the sales team), are likely responsible for 80% of revenue, the reaming 80% of people and activities serve as an essential support structure.

So, while we should be critical and eliminate activities that are completely unproductive, a strong company culture also comes from feeling unified on all fronts. And meetings are necessary for when things are better said in person, especially when communicating important developments and decisions.

Everything from technical improvements to artistic choices is sometimes necessary to hash out in meetings. The perception that a large proportion of input is wasteful isn’t always applicable when the nature of the work is taken into account. Not everything that lacks a direct financial benefit should be eliminated.

That said, you should always remain aware of what you are willing to invest in a meeting in terms of money, time, productivity, morale, etc.

Whether a meeting should be viewed as a cost or investment comes down to how it’s run and what the outcome is.

Want more tips on how to turn meetings into investments? Check out the 50 golden rules of business meeting etiquette.

The post The real cost of business meetings appeared first on Airtame.