Companies are looking for new ways to improve their efficiency, productivity, and profits each day. The essential variables that make up this equation of enhancing a company are time, money, and employees. For the company to operate smoothly, it is necessary to know that all of these resources are put to good use. One of the ways to ensure this is to look at how company meetings are conducted. 

However, it so happens that not all of the meetings, especially online meetings, are conducted in the best way possible. Sometimes this type of meeting can be useless, with no objectives being set, including the wrong people, and, in general, without staying on the right track. 

How to prepare for an online meeting? 

With the growth of hybrid work opportunities, online meetings have become an inevitable part of one’s working day. With little planning, your team can hold online meetings that are as productive and collaborative as having everyone in the same room. There are a few essential steps to prepare for an online meeting.  

Firstly, creating an agenda is a necessary element of meeting preparation. With the agenda present, all attendees come to the meeting while being on the same page. In addition, it helps the participants to be focused on the objectives. 

Secondly, due to the limitations of technology and everyone’s capacity to contribute to the discourse, holding a remote meeting with many participants is challenging. Begin with smaller groups of employees and gradually raise the number as you gain success with remote management. 

Also, it would be beneficial to prepare the right tools before each meeting. Even the slightest errors with the communication platform or other devices used can distract the participants from the main objectives and thus result in less productivity. 

Meeting Types

There are four main business meeting types that we will analyze in this post. We will look into the characteristics, issues and the opportunities to implement AI meeting assistants into those meetings.  

Project Kick-off meetings 

A project kick-off meeting is the first meeting with the management team and, if applicable, the customer. This meeting is designed to outline the project’s purpose and shared objectives. It is an introductory meeting to every project, as it sets the roadmap for a project.  

There are a few characteristics of a project kick-off meeting – a leader who takes up the task of driving goals, a cross-functional team present, and the drive of the meeting comes from multiple initiatives or tasks. These points are essential since this meeting is the first of a series of regular meetings about updates and check-ins. 

However, there could be a few issues. Manual note-taking might be overwhelming in such a flow of information, and some key details might get lost. This can lead to some loopholes in the project and contribute to misunderstanding some tasks or even missing them.  

Implementing an AI meeting assistant could only improve this sort of meeting because it is a tool that is simple for everyone. There would be no misinterpretation because the entire conversation would be transcribed and accessible for later review. Furthermore, an online meeting assistant would notify the project leader to update all tasks based on meeting talks word by word. This method would save a lot of time and result in more manageable work distribution, honesty, and responsibility. 

Ad Hoc Meetings  

Ad hoc meetings are an important aspect of a company’s meeting environment. While lengthier, scheduled meetings may include a plan with several issues that need addressing and resolving, the emphasis of ad hoc meetings is frequently much more focused. Ad hoc gatherings are also excellent for generating new ideas and brainstorming, as usually they are unplanned, include only a few people, and may not require follow-up. 

On the other hand, a company could easily forget Ad Hoc meetings. Usually, in the shorter sessions, note-taking is not considered necessary; thus, the ideas generated could be easily lost. Also, the tasks are distributed throughout the meeting, not only at the end of it. As a result, some disagreements could take place. 

For Ad Hoc meetings, an AI meeting assistant could be a perfect match. This type of assistance would take up transcribing even the shortest conversations. There would be no misunderstandings, as the complete transcription is accessible after the meeting and can be shared with others. In addition, as tasks can be constantly distributed, with the help of AI, meeting assistants can recognize potential tasks or mark the essential details. 

Regular team meetings 

A team meeting’s primary goal is to efficiently exchange information while also allowing for debate about what is delivered. An intense team meeting helps teams agree on the discussion themes, express any issues or roadblocks, and establish clear next steps. A regular team meeting might usually include project sprints, and each group member is typically updating their status and monitoring themselves. 

However, as the leader in such a meeting, one must keep up with all developments and update project management before establishing deadlines. Typically, the leader takes notes, which is inefficient, as the leader might miss out on some critical details. Furthermore, there is a need for the leader to know the exact information and not interpretations. 

In such a situation, AI meeting assistants offer to be the single source of truth for all meeting assignments, keep track of attendees and lift the leader’s workload. Also, it allows everyone to be present since the note-taking is done automatically, with accessible follow-up opportunities as the meeting can be reviewed in the future. 

Client Meetings 

The value of a client meeting can never be overlooked; they give an essential chance to establish long-term relationships, gain a thorough grasp of how each side functions, and identify the best method to collaborate in the future. Such meetings can vary drastically since their contents depend on the field of work.  

In client meetings, transcription and note-taking are crucial. But, keeping accurate minutes can be costly, necessitating a skilled stenographer. The meeting participants must still assign the tasks to the host and the client, and sometimes, accessing the collected information and meeting details might be difficult.  

However, the use of meeting assistants can make client meetings way easier. Meeting minutes are accurate and come at no extra cost. There is always the possibility of returning to a single meeting point rather than listening to the entire recorded meeting, which also resolves a potential risk of having a misunderstanding. Every task can be efficiently allocated without the need for extra discussions and more time. In addition, searchable key phrases enable extensive search capabilities for archival meetings. 

AI meeting assistants  

Artificial intelligence (AI) is used in various technologies to optimize jobs and prevent mistakes. Meeting assistant technologies are not an exception. AI-powered meeting assistant apps are handy for more than just meetings. These also contribute significantly to the automation of the post-meeting process. 

isLucid is an excellent example of such applications. isLucid is an AI online meeting assistant, created with Microsoft and available on MS Teams. isLucid not only captures all of the meetings and transcribes them but allows the participants to create actionable items, such as bookmarks or tasks, during or after the meeting. In addition, isLucid offers an excellent opportunity to link all of the information with other applications used in a company. As an example, each participant can add created actionable items to their planners or link with other systems. 

If you are interested in enhancing your productivity during online meetings and would want to try an AI meeting assistant.

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