Why Companies Are Losing Productivity
Many companies are experiencing difficulties staying productive and efficient, especially after the advent of COVID-19 and the work-from-home boom and in the current economic recession.
However, these events outside of our control are not the only things limiting productivity: lack of clear goals, outdated processes, and insufficient communication between teams are frequently responsible for inefficiencies.
The good news is that it is well within a business’s power to reign in those factors through a number of great tools on the market today.
In this article, we’ll briefly break down the bare essentials of a great meeting process. Then, we’ll give you our top 5 suggestions for scheduling and meeting tools that we know will bring you the most success.
How to Streamline Your Meeting Scheduling and Avoid Being Declined
Meetings, both with clients as well as internal meetings with your team, are one of the most common aspects of businesses today and yet there still seems to be many hiccups and awkwardness around scheduling them.
Constant workday interruptions are neither fun nor good for productivity, regardless of how important it is to keep everyone on the same page.
For effective meetings, the path to walk is a balance of both worlds. Here are our tips on how to have great, efficient meetings and minimize the headaches that come along.
1. Start Early
Be in the meeting at least 10 minutes before the meeting starts if your schedule allows for it. This way, in the event that your lead or whomever you’re meeting with wants to take the meeting earlier than scheduled, you allow them the flexibility to do so.
Not only will this get meetings done faster, freeing up your client, but it will leave them with a great impression of your company and make them more likely to convert into a customer!
For internal meetings, make sure to have everything ready to go before the meeting starts so you can keep everything to its scheduled time and free your employees as soon as possible so they can get back to work.
2. Send Reminders
We’re no longer in the era of cubicles and typewriters and hordes of secretaries to remind us of our commitments… at least most of us, anyway.
Multiple online notifications (email, calendar, Slack) ensure each and every participant is aware of the meeting and attends it. More important meetings should have more notifications. Online tools like When2Meet and its alternatives allow you to automate reminders, making it easy.
3. Have an Agenda
Having an agenda helps to ensure that the meeting is organized, efficient, and productive. It helps to keep the discussion on track and prevents the meeting from getting sidetracked or going off on tangents, all of which helps keep the meeting within its allotted time.
An agenda also helps participants to prepare for the meeting and understand what will be discussed. This is especially important for meetings that involve a large number of people or that are being held remotely, as it helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page and can contribute to the discussion in an informed and meaningful way.
Best Event Scheduling Polls & Meeting Survey Tools
1. Front
If you’re looking for an all-in-one customer communication hub, it’s hard to do better than Front. It connects all your communication channels – email, SMS, WhatsApp, social media, live chat, and more – to your team inbox.
Powerful no-code automation and integration capabilities allow you to respond to clients faster, loop in teammates, and streamline every aspect of communication all while eliminating browser tabs thanks to the centralization that Front offers.
2. When2Meet
When2Meet is a simple yet effective service that helps you find the best time for a group to meet. Its compact nature allows for events to be created and accessed quickly.
Everyone plugs in their calendars and When2Meet automatically calculates the best times for meetings. Best of all, it’s totally free.
3. QikChat
QikChat offers a wide variety of tools for inbound marketing by accelerating the sales engagement process through distributing leads and setting up meetings automatically. One-click scheduling makes it easy to meet with and manage leads while easy-to-use integrations with video conferencing software are totally free.
Automation is taken one step further with automated sharing of your availability calendar with leads as they come in, no matter what channel your lead comes from, drastically reducing non-completion rates of booking forms.
4. SavvyCal
One of the premiere When2Meet alternatives, SaavyCal allows customers and team members to easily compare their calendars to your own to determine the best time to meet.
The interactive interface allows calendar overlaying so there’s no need to switch back-and-forth between screens. Ranked availability windows to encourage recipients to pick the optimal time while remaining flexible.
Meeting buffers allow you to block off time and limit your meetings to allow yourself to get your work done.
5. Doodle
Doodle is an online scheduling tool that allows users to schedule events and meetings by finding the best time for everyone involved.
It works by sending out a survey or poll to the participants, who can then indicate their availability for different time slots. Doodle then helps to identify the best time for the meeting based on the responses received.
Doodle can be especially useful for companies that have employees in different locations or time zones, as it makes it easier to schedule meetings and events that work for everyone. It can also be useful for companies that have a lot of meetings and need a tool to help manage their schedules.
Conclusion
Meetings don’t have to be the interruptive waste of time that many are. By using the modern tools that are available to us, we can drastically reduce the time and effort spent scheduling, preparing, and conducting our meetings both internally and with clients.
When considering a solution for your own business, be sure to note the features, integrations, and price packages for your company’s needs and budget.
