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We have all felt ourselves zoning out during a meeting. Especially recently. It has been over a year since many of us went to remote work and suddenly found ourselves on call (or video) after call. We’re tired, and understandably so! But the reality is: meetings are here to stay. And for good reason. They play an important role in business success, whether we like it or not. So, what can we all do to help fight the meeting fatigue in order to be productive? Below are three tips we’ve used and know will help you also:
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Be Purposeful
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We dedicated a recent blog to how you can make meetings effective and purposeful which has tips you can use. Why? Because one of the best ways to fight fatigue is making sure every meeting you set, and attend has a real purpose. Do not overuse meetings – if something can be an email, let it be an email. To be purposeful, set agendas, and more importantly, set specific goals the meeting is achieving.
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Move Around
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“In-person…conversations allow humans to walk around and move. But with videoconferencing…a person has to generally stay in the same spot.” (nextgov.com). While this is truer of video conference calls, it is also true if you’re having to show a screen, etc. on a phone meeting. The human body is meant to move and the more we feel stuck in one place for prolonged time, the less attentive and productive we become. Make sure to schedule breaks in meetings for movement. Especially if you know you’ll be having a long meeting. Breaks can be 3-5 minutes with the goal to just let people move.
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Have Action Items
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Just as a meeting needs to have a real goal and purpose to avoid causing fatigue, it also needs to have clear action items at the end. Why? Action items (and specific owners for them) make sure everyone is prepared for your next meeting. It also helps make sure a meeting does not run too long. The reality is that sometimes you won’t come up with an answer in a meeting. You need to give people time and space to think. Hence, action items. Don’t try and force an idea to be created in a meeting if it is clearly not happening. Instead, give people a day or two to come up with a solution and then set another meeting. This creates accountability and avoids meeting fatigue. A win-win.
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The bottom line is simple: meetings are important, and they are here to stay. Given this and given the reality that remote work is not going anywhere, we have to adjust how we run them and how we think about them. The three examples above are a few tips that can help you fight meeting fatigue, both for yourself and your company. Overall, you must make sure that the meetings you are having or participating in are impactful. Impactful on your business, on your employees, and most importantly, on your clients. This will make sure you get engaged participation, not zoned out meeting fatigued zombies.
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Interested in learning more about combating meeting fatigue? Contact our team at Kim@QuantumMark.com today!
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