This post was sponsored by Bicom Systems, a leading provider of VoIP phone systems and cloud services.
We have all seen the memes about being stuck in a meeting that could have been an email. And let’s admit, we have all felt like that! Especially, when you leave the meeting feeling like you accomplish nothing.
Once a week, the office next to ours has a meeting and they invite all their employees from different offices around the city. This weekly meeting not only causes an inconvenience for myself (because they steal all the good parking spots) but I’d imagine for all their employees. I can’t help but think, do they really need to have this meeting?
Instead of meeting in person, they could have a conference call! All the team members can join from wherever they are by using their desktop or mobile unified communications application. This will save time on travel, productivity loss, and overall costs.
But how personable can a conference call be?
The features that come with a conference call! UC features like screen share will make it easier for employees to see presentations on their own devices, rather than crowding around one screen. Users can take advantage of the drag-and-drop feature, so they aren’t stuck waiting for Jim to make it to the boardroom.
What if Jim is stuck in traffic? No problem! He can join the call from his mobile device using a UC mobile application.
Anther UC feature that will help you master meetings is integration. Imagine your contact center’s customer care team is looking over the complaints from last week. Instead of looking back at agent notes, the team can access the customer’s file through the integrated CRM system. They will save time accessing call recordings because archived storage to the cloud makes the search and retrieval aspect of getting data easy! Everything your team will need is right at their fingertips.
gloCOM, Bicom Systems’ unified communications desktop application, can save recurring meetings. This way, every Thursday at 9 a.m. all you must do to begin your marketing meeting is click start. gloCOM will automatically invite all the participants instead of you manually having to input them.
Other ways to make meetings more effective are to:
– Use a project management application for an agenda
– Take notes and make them available to all participants
– Address the important issues first
– Make sure your topic actually requires a meeting
Decrease the number of scheduled meetings, so your employees have time for more spontaneous work sessions in huddle rooms! Check out this blog post to learn more about huddle rooms.
Laura Kyle is a marketing assistant for Bicom Systems (www.bicomsystems.com).
