Hugo on How to Change Your Meeting Culture and Move Fast

Check out any recent research about the merits of meetings for business professionals today, and chances are you’ll discover workers’ frustrations with them only continue to grow. More often than not, these surveys and studies position meetings as the archenemy of productivity for the modern workforce — a major deterrent to employees’ progress with both their core, day-to-day responsibilities and even critical, long-term business objectives. In fact, meetings are commonly cited as the activity employees of all levels and roles love to hate the most:

• 71%​ of business pros indicated they lose valuable work hours each week due to unnecessary or canceled meetings. — ​Doodle “State of Meetings Report 2019”
• Workers waste roughly ​13 days​ per year on unproductive meetings, with ​56%​ of them deemed ineffective by employees. — ​2018 Crowne Plaza Hotel & Resorts research
• More than half of employees (​51%​) noted they are invited to meetings that are irrelevant to them and their respective organizational roles. — ​2018 Barco survey

Whatever your particular views on meetings — and despite the slew of anti-meeting content and sentiment among employees the world over — the truth is the most successful companies today don’t necessarily meet​ less​. Rather, they meet ​better​. If you fall under the “We need to drastically decrease our meeting total” camp, here’s why you — and others across your organization — should rethink your stance in 2020 and learn how to meet better.

• On one end, you have old-school, increasingly antiquated, asynchronous text-based communication (e.g., email) —​ the lowest-bandwidth form of communication.
• On the other end, you have in-person and real-time video chats using best-in-class video conferencing technology —​ the highest-bandwidth flavor of communication.

There’s a good reason why customer-facing teams are quick to fly across the country to meet with prospects and clients or conduct video-based calls with their highest-value customers: People, ​including and especially your customer base​, both appreciate and desire regular interactions with other people — even brand representatives. Meeting one-on-one with colleagues, partners, leads, and clientele live — whether in the actual flesh or via real-time video conference feeds — has always been the best way to develop, maintain, and enhance crucial business relationships. In the age of (gradually improving) artificial intelligence — in other words, the era of chatbots, automated emails, and “self-serve” technology — making time to meet individuals with whom you have a professional relationship has become the ultimate competitive differentiator. Whether you’re a B2C customer service agent aiming to provide top-tier support to existing subscribers or a B2B sales rep demoing your company’s software to potential clients, face-to-face communication is your best bet for building and sustaining personal relationships with buyers and prospects alike and, in turn, achieving your principal business goals. Given ​how convincing face-to-face business communications​ is for brands of all types today compared with approaches like AI-powered chatbots and semi-personalized emails, it’s easy to see why so many professionals continue to turn to in-person and video meetings to nurture interested leads, maintain contact with customers, and re-engage cold clients. Live, face-to-face conversations aren’t just a differentiator with customers and competitors, though. They’re also helpful in streamlining internal communications across your organization. More than half of employee respondents in a recent Nextiva survey (53%) cited ​face-to-face communications as the most effective method​ for colleague interactions, outranking email. Some workers are trying to talk less to lean on low-bandwidth communication for their teams. But what many of these workers don’t understand is that by scheduling the ​right ​meetings at the​ right ​cadence and with ​clearly outlined expectations and objectives​ for each meeting — one-offs and recurring discussions alike — they can more easily remain in sync with and on the same page as their colleagues and ensure they get the most value from said meetings.

One of the most significant changes in our generation is the dramatic reduction in meeting costs.  Just a handful of years ago, a meeting with a new prospect or customer involved hopping on a cross-country or international flight, thus requiring ​substantial amounts of your money and time​. In short, we set most of our meeting budgets with this type of travel and related logistics in mind. But with the advent of reliable, next-gen video conferencing solutions like Zoom and ​intuitive, collaborative meeting note platforms​ like Hugo, the average meeting cost has fallen appreciably. Today, the man-hours and expenses necessary to close a deal with a valuable lead or onboard a customer have greatly diminished, saving you (and your C-suite) precious dollars and days. What’s more, the time savings for professionals who take advantage of video conferencing tools are robust as well. Zoom discovered ​70% of its users saved at least four minutes per meeting​, while an additional 25% saved roughly 10 minutes per meeting. Factor in the myriad meetings employees have with remote colleagues weekly and monthly, and those minutes add up. While saving substantial amounts of time and money is obviously a big plus for companies, that doesn’t necessarily mean there ought to be a cutback in the number of meetings held. In fact, that savings should allow for a greater volume of more efficient and fruitful meanings.