Productive Virtual Meetings How To Ensure Your Virtual Meetings Are Productive?

Many of us were forced to change the way we work due to COVID-19. The remote model that was not previously allowed for many companies became the one and only solution during a pandemic. For many organizations, operating 100% online and communicating largely via virtual meetings is a completely new experience.

If you’re asking yourself how to effectively adapt to a changing reality so that your business does not suffer, how to organize remote work wisely and support your employees in this process, or what kind of tools may help you, this content is for you.

In fact, it may turn out that the challenges you’re now facing can actually help your company, and the new process can take it to a higher level.

This is a part of an article series we created to help you implement a remote-first work environment with the help of MS Teams and Azure. Here you’ll find valuable tips to keep your business secure and efficient. See the additional articles here:

1. 1. How to boost and measure remote work productivity?
   2. How to use Microsoft Teams for crisis communication?
   3. Azure AD WAP: How to set up secure remote access in two hours
   4. How to run a delivery team in the era of remote work?

According to research by Global Workplace Analytics, the number of people who work from home, not counting the self-employed, has increased by 103% since 2005 (source). Predica belongs to this group. We’re certainly no strangers to remote work. So, how to manage the change?

Find the right tool

If you are completely new to remote work tools, start with asking an open question on LinkedIn, joining one of the remote work-themed groups there, or checking the offer of the most trusted suppliers such as Microsoft, Slack or Zoom. Research the costs and features, and don’t hesitate to gather user opinions.

Focus also on the capability of holding virtual meetings which are key in the remote-first model. They will largely aid keeping your company operational. Through this functionality, employees can contact each other, hold video conferences and share screens when they need to collaborate on something.

You can also use virtual meetings to communicate externally. For instance, you may want to use them for calling your clients – by showing a presentation on your screen you can still deliver that sales pitch you scheduled some time ago! You can also hold external conferences and webinars to keep in touch with your contacts.

There are a lot of different services for remote work on the market, each featuring different functionalities, e.g. video recording, real-time collaboration or calendar integration. Choose the service that’s most suitable for you and adjust it to your needs.

OUR RECOMMENDATION

Based on our experience, we suggest adopting Microsoft Teams. The service is a hub for teamwork, bringing together the best of Office 365 to empower customers to chat, meet, share files, and work together with business apps.

In the second week of March 2020, the number of users was 38 million, and in the next, it increased to 44 million and is still growing. These numbers alone show that it’s the service of choice for many, and rightly so.

With Microsoft Teams, your employees can remain productive. They don’t have to switch between applications, but instead, they’ll work in one space. Collaborating on the same file, quickly exchanging information and knowledge, saves a lot of time. In addition, Microsoft Teams provides great remote work experience for virtual meetings which is extremely important right now.

A great tool for collaboration, or to say hello when you can’t meet face to face!

Why are online meetings with Teams so effective?

There are several benefits to holding meetings online using Teams. Here are some of the key ones:

• With a single click, you can set up a face to face meeting thanks to video features. It is possible directly from the chat, or within a Teams channel. Additionally, you can blur your background and let the caller focus on you, and not the surroundings you work from.
• You can stay in touch with people from inside and outside your organization. When you’re setting up a meeting in Outlook or directly in Microsoft Teams, just type the email address of your external guest. Your recipient will get the invitation with a Teams meeting link and instructions on how to join the call.
• During online meetings, you can share the content on your screen and choose which elements you wish to share (e.g. a whole desktop, a window, or an application).
• Your meetings can be recorded and shared after. The recording happens in the cloud and is saved in Microsoft Stream.
• You can take notes before, during and after the call. In private chat meetings, you can access your notes from the chat window (they will open in Wiki), and in a channel meeting, the notes will be placed in its tab.
• The maximum number of people in a Teams call is 250. If you wish to organize a meeting for more people, you can set up a live event, then the limit is 10k attendees. You’ll find more about Microsoft Teams live events here.

Quick start guide to MS Teams (image source)

Discover more Microsoft Teams’ capabilities here.

It’s time to get started!

Once you’ve decided that Microsoft Teams is the solution for you and it can bring advantages to your business, what should you do next?

• Check your licenses. If you already have Office 365 in your company, find out what kind of plan you own. Then, connect with a trusted Microsoft solution provider to assist you in finding the right application and support you with configuration.
• If you have never touched Microsoft solutions but you wish to start – good news! Currently, there are various types of Office 365 licenses that can be installed for free with tools that let you work remotely. Take advantage of modern teamwork and start using Microsoft Teams. We will happily assist you in this process.