Using Effective Agendas for Video Meetings

Today most of us are facing a difficult challenge. Our work lives have been altered and most if not all our work now happens at home via video conferencing.

Video conferencing was something we had to every “once in a while” but now it is part of our everyday communication with our fellow employees. This can cultivate distractions and lead conversations off topic which impacts the efficiency of the meeting.

This situation can be especially troublesome for people who have many other things to get done and need quick and efficient meetings. The best way is to create and stick to an effective agenda. Say there is 3-5 people on the next call, there should always be one person who is designated to create an agenda.

1.     Jot down a rough outline of topics

2.     Give each topic a time constraint

3.     Assign a person to be the call leader to hold everyone in the call accountable

4.     If the call/meeting goes of topic, the leader has to bring everyone back into focus

5.     This is not to be a “negative nelly” but to keep moving forward and accomplish the goals

The benefit to this is that everyone has a basic scope of what is to come and can prepare accordingly.

Additionally, if absolutely necessary for your own sanity, to talk about anything non-work related, the faster the agenda is completed the more time there is to chat.