Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Modern Marketing Today and explains the benefits of implementing “huddles” which increases concentration among team members while embracing the power of video and setting teams up for success. The webinar referenced in this article can be found here.

Any employee or business leader, in almost any industry, will agree that meetings should be efficient and productive to make the most out of time and resources. However, evidence  shows that the way meetings are typically operated – via traditional meeting formats – are incompatible with today’s open office plans and put a halt to productivity while lessening quality work time.  To make meetings more productive and useful, experts are urging businesses and organizations to improve meetings by focusing on three key components.

EMPOWERING CONCENTRATION

Those who find traditional meeting formats most useful are usually those leading the meetings. However, just because the leader is fully-engaged, and employees are present, doesn’t stop team members from losing concentration in long and time-consuming meetings. To empower concentration, leaders must determine the importance of the conversation, for whom it’ll be most beneficial, and what needs to be shared among other key factors according to Dean Brenner for Forbes.

EMBRACING THE POWER OF VIDEO

Today, over 18% of meetings make use of video conferencing and this number is expected to rise to 73% in just three more years. To keep meetings engaging, while connecting both remote and traditional in-house employees, businesses and organizations must invest in quality video. Experts at Forbes agree that the power of video for meetings is immeasurable. Some even argue that using video is better than in-person meetings for the purposes of increased communication and learning and more overall efficiency.

SETTING TEAM MEMBERS UP FOR SUCCESS WITH QUALITY EQUIPMENT

To embrace the power of video, companies must arm their teams with the necessary equipment — quality conferencing systems. When looking for a suitable system “there are three important factors that should be considered [including] scalability, [the] quality of audio and video, and cost-effectiveness,” explained Poly’s Brian Phillips. Not only should these products be affordable, they should also be scalable – in terms of both deployment and maintenance – with the capabilities to see and hear all participants without lagging, poor network connection, or a lack of bandwidth.

To better empower concentration among team members, embrace the capabilities of video conferencing, and set teams up for success Phillips suggested a simple solution in a recent webinar – the implementation of huddles, groups of 3-6 people, holding a short, often ad hoc meetings around a highly-focused issue. Phillips further explained the inception of huddles in reaction to open office settings and the impact they’ve make in turning useless and time-consuming meetings into organized and strategically-focused conversations. With huddles, teams can stay centralized through the use of video, voice, and content solutions to drive positive outcomes and make meetings meaningful.

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