Meetings are essential for team collaboration, but they can also be tedious, inefficient, and frustrating. How can you use tech to make your meetings more productive, engaging, and enjoyable? Here are some tips and tools to help you improve team collaboration during meetings using tech.
Depending on your meeting goals, audience, and format, you might need different platforms to facilitate your communication. For example, if you want to brainstorm ideas, you might use a virtual whiteboard tool like Miro or Jamboard. If you want to collect feedback, you might use a survey tool like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey. If you want to share documents, you might use a cloud-based service like Google Drive or Dropbox. Choose the platform that suits your needs and make sure everyone has access and familiarity with it.
Integarting technology in your team meeting encourage the team collaboration and performance. When the team agree on the plaforms and tools to use for their colaboration, this lead to optimized team interactions. My recommendations for tools; Online meetings Free: Google meet Paid: Microsoft teams Cloud and drives Free: Google Drive Paid: Microsoft Sharepoint Surveys and feedback Free: Mentimeter Free: Surveymoneky Paid: Microsft forms
Tailoring your platform to meeting goals is crucial. For brainstorming, virtual whiteboard tools like Miro or Jamboard foster creativity. Utilize survey tools like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey for efficient feedback collection. When sharing documents, the ease of a cloud-based service like Google Drive or Dropbox enhances collaboration. Ensure everyone’s accessibility and familiarity with the chosen platform for seamless and effective communication aligned with your meeting objectives ????
The right platform will lead to the right results? Without a doubt! But with that said, Any individual wanting to get more out of their team sessions needs to know and understand the platform they are using. The more you impact you can make, the more natural and comfortable humans feels the more they are willing to Collaborate. The better we connect the better we Collaborate!
Use live caption or transcription where possible. Making the meeting more accessible helps everyone. To gauge the capacity of those attending the meeting you could find out ahead of time what platform folks have used previously, whether they were hosts or attendees, whether there is a preference from the group and why.
I personally, love an interactive meeting. Keeping meeting attendees engaged, particularly in sessions longer than 15 minutes, can be challenging when they aren't actively contributing. To help with this, introducing a digital note-taking application (built into the online meeting platform) can be transformative. Often, attendees are so focused on jotting down notes that they're not truly immersed in the discussion. By removing this obstacle, everyone can participate more fully. Another method to elevate the meeting experience is through gamification. Incorporating elements like quizzes, interactive polls, and reward-based challenges not only maintains interest but also energizes the atmosphere.
Before the meeting, you should communicate the agenda, objectives, and expectations to your team. This will help them prepare and participate effectively. You should also establish some ground rules for the meeting, such as how to mute and unmute, when to speak and listen, how to use the chat and other features, and how to handle technical issues. You can use a tool like Doodle or Calendly to schedule the meeting and send reminders and links.
People do what is expected of them and what is monitored. These are time honored truths. If you want to improve collaboration, tell the team that is a desired goal. Then work together to develop solutions.
The SMART tool act like a lighthouse guiding the team along the journey of Collaboration. It show expectation and objectives to motivate and align the team ?? S- Specific - to keep team members focus on goals ?? M-Measurable - to make it easier to monitor and control the team performance ?? A- Achievable - Challenging but yet achievable to keep team motivated ?? R- Realistic - to be controlled and evaluated easily ?? T- Time framed - So it creates a road map along the way and its the best control tool.
Depending on the pace of agenda items or time limitations, consider using a timer ? on screen to ensure everyone is aware of the need to move forward. Share the agenda, objectives, and expectations in the chat so everyone can view them together in real time and is not distracted while navigating to them elsewhere.
A productive team knows how to prioritize, Team work makes the dream work and it all starts with Setting clear expectations. Giving meetings structure forces teams to focus on the important things. Not only does it help teams stay focused on the task at hand but can be a way to influence teams and create positive culture.
I agree with this perspective.. Ground rules are critical for any successful meeting. Sending all participants prior information to the meeting is important.. it not only specifies why the meeting but also forms a preparatory ground for the upcoming meeting. Enabling the members to know the the expectations before the meeting. As such, individuals with less usage skill say on a platform have chance to look ways to fit in before the engagement.. For quite unfamiliar user environments, sending the user manual,(guide) and ways to navigate through enhances confidence in the meeting..
During the meeting, you should try to keep your team engaged and involved. You can use tech to create interactive activities, such as polls, quizzes, games, or simulations. You can also use tech to facilitate group discussions, breakout sessions, or peer feedback. You can use tools like Kahoot, Mentimeter, or Slido to create and share interactive content. You can also use tools like Zoom, Teams, or Webex to create and manage breakout rooms.
?? Motivation is a key factor in empowering team collaboration. ?? Encourage your team-members to interact ?? Ask them to share their perspective openly ?? Build environment of trust and safety to share ?? Push team-members to communicate effectively ?? Reward members for their valuable contributions
Leveraging technology transforms meetings into dynamic, engaging experiences. Integrate interactive activities like polls, quizzes, and games to maintain team involvement. Platforms such as Kahoot, Mentimeter, or Slido elevate content interactivity. Foster collaboration through breakout rooms and group discussions facilitated by tools like Zoom, Teams, or Webex. By embracing these tech-driven strategies, you enhance participation, making meetings not just informative but interactive and collaborative.
Test out attendees knowledge of reaction buttons, chat entries/reactions/replies, and the raise/lower hand feature right at the beginning of the meeting by asking quick, easy questions for them to respond to with each interaction tool. Pause between agenda items. Ask for reactions or raised hands. Wait for a moment. People often need time to process. Be gracious and WILLING to back up a bit if someone wants to add or ask something.
Some team members may not be comfortable speaking at meetings or may be speech impaired. Adopt tech that will easily make others contribute via text. And also gives an avenue for afterthought that may spring up in members in their lightbulb moments even after the meeting is over.
I like to bring into the meetings interactive activities that are combined with the topics on the agenda to help get the message across
After the meeting, you should follow up with your team and share the outcomes and action items. You can use tech to record and transcribe the meeting, create and distribute notes and minutes, and assign and track tasks and deadlines. You can use tools like Otter, Rev, or Trint to record and transcribe the meeting. You can use tools like Evernote, OneNote, or Notion to create and share notes and minutes. You can use tools like Asana, Trello, or Monday to assign and track tasks and deadlines.
The core building block of a meeting is an agenda & minutes. Agenda is the focus tool to make the most benefits of the team. Act as a road map for topics and discussions. Members can prepare better before meeting. Minutes are the follow up guide after meeting and control for the actions required to honor the team collaboration.
Open either the minutes document/notes platform/message for follow up BEFORE the meeting starts. Make notes as you go or ask for help with this in the chat or designate a notetaker. Be clear about what the notes must include.
Finally, you should seek feedback from your team and evaluate the effectiveness of your meeting. You can use tech to collect and analyze feedback, identify strengths and weaknesses, and make improvements for future meetings. You can use tools like SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, or Typeform to collect and analyze feedback. You can also use tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, or Salesforce to measure and report on your meeting performance.
Quick feedback: Ask attendees to put an emoji in the chat signifying how they felt about the meeting. Indicator feedback: Ask attendees to type a few adjectives into the chat that describe the meeting. (If any indicate strong ?? feelings, check in with that attendee afterward to learn more.)
Using tech to improve team collaboration during meetings is not a one-time thing. It requires continuous learning and improvement. You should keep yourself updated on the latest trends and tools, experiment with different approaches and techniques, and adapt to the changing needs and preferences of your team. You can use tech to access and enroll in online courses, podcasts, webinars, or blogs that offer valuable insights and tips on how to use tech to improve team collaboration during meetings. You can also use tech to network and exchange ideas with other professionals and experts in your field.
Elevating team collaboration through tech is an ongoing journey. Stay current by exploring the latest trends and tools, continuously learning and refining your approach. Embrace online courses, podcasts, webinars, and blogs to glean insights into leveraging technology effectively. Networking with professionals and experts in your field through tech platforms fosters idea exchange. Adapting to evolving team needs ensures your collaboration strategies remain dynamic and aligned with the ever-changing landscape of technology and teamwork ????
Be open to trying different things including platforms and formats. Talk with attendees individually providing a safe opening for honest feedback. Ask for help. Be ready to have a take it or leave it attitude when trying things until you find what works for you and your attendees.
This is a two way approach.. Since we are in a dynamic generation, technology changes in minutes or so, revolving learning is key. Be open to ask whatever is not clear. Be willing to explore different available platforms to check what they offer for your solution. This is for both individuals and institutions.
Tech is very helpful IF attendees use it. Remember to check in with folks on why they interact as well as checking in with those who are not.