Online Meeting: 5 Tips for Effective and Efficient One

Nowadays, everyone seems to be doing their work from home or the local café and one of the fastest growing trends in this environment is online meeting tools. A web-based video meeting has several advantages over traditional face-to-face meetings, including the ability to save money on office space and travel, but just because you’re not in the same room doesn’t mean you can’t conduct an effective meeting.

As the business world becomes increasingly global, online meetings are more common than ever before. Not only do they save time, but also help create stronger bonds and relationships with team members and clients around the world and with the help of  these five tips to design effective and efficient online meetings, you can reduce wasted time and stay productive while still getting the best out of your team members and your company in general.

As the business world becomes increasingly global, online meetings are more common than ever before. Not only do they save time, but also help create stronger bonds and relationships with team members and clients around the world and with the help of  these five tips to design effective and efficient online meetings, you can reduce wasted time and stay productive while still getting the best out of your team members and your company in general.

1- Plan in Advance

Online meetings can be an excellent alternative to face-to-face meetings, but they don’t automatically translate into more efficient meetings that reach their goals in less time. To design effective and efficient online meetings you must start with deciding that the online meeting is the best choice for you, for the people around you and for the topic/issue in hand.

You also need to be clear about the goal of your meeting from the beginning do not over step the purpose of the meeting or let the main ideas slip. Afterwards you should create a plan for the meeting including topics, time frame and by doing so you can start with a strong agenda of items to cover. Remember to take advantage of all tools available like video chat or shared document editing. Rest assured that if you plan well enough you will definitely get the most out of your next online meeting!

2- Invite on the Right Time

Make sure that you let people know early enough to leave them some room for adjusting themselves. They may adjust their schedule and gather questions and topics to mention at the meeting. If you make it a habit, your coworkers will feel more involved in the meetings. A couple of days before the meeting, remind everyone about its date so they don't forget about it entirely.

On the day of the online meeting, be available on time and provide instructions on how to join online (e.g.,sharing the link for the meeting). Send an agenda ahead of time with all the details about what participants need to do or know before joining the online meeting.

After participants have joined, greet them warmly with welcome messages. Introduce yourself first as moderator or facilitator and then introduce others who are joining. State clearly what is expected from all participants during the online meeting: This is an online meeting or We'll be using an online platform. When presenting ideas, share your thoughts and encourage others to participate too.

3- Start on the time you have promised

Online meetings are an efficient and effective way to communicate with people all over the world, so if you're used to working in this way, why not take it further? Showing up early to online meetings is a good way of getting your points across without coming off as pushy. It also allows you to save time by making sure everyone is on-time too. Do not be late to meetings and respect the attendants by being on time.

The main reason for starting a meeting on time is that it shows professionalism and respect. Not only does it get important points across without coming off as bossy, but starting on time can save people's valuable time. The best way to be punctual is to respect others' time by being on time yourself.

If you want a specific topic covered, don’t be afraid to speak up: You may want your online meeting attendees stay focused and stick to their agenda, but if there are topics you need discussed, say so! If a certain aspect of your project requires more information or clarification, speaking up is key. If you'd like your team members' thoughts on an idea before moving forward with it, voice them during an online meeting.

4- Make sure everyone can join

Keep in mind that inclusion is one of the key components when it comes to designing an efficient online meeting. If everyone isn’t able to participate, then you are missing out on valuable ideas and opinions that could potentially improve your business processes or product quality. You should guarantee an inclusive environment where everyone can partake in the discussion. However, running an effective online meeting can be tricky without knowing the right steps to take in advance. To create a fully inclusive environment that everyone can join, you may use some helpful tips such as:

Providing a phone number or chat window for people who don't have access to Zoom or other online meeting software and if you're having trouble with audio or video quality during your online meetings, have participants test their connection by sending a short message before they dial into the call or enter into the chatroom.  Consider adding conference-calling capabilities so that more than two people can speak at once without being on the software at the same time if necessary. makes sure that everyone is able to share their thoughts in the online meeting.

Remember that if you are still not using an office/remote office software that answers many problems such as productivity, performance and time management look for one that is highly flexible when it comes to integration of other software. In this case it is online meeting software. You'll see that PeerBie allows its users to integrate for online meetings as well. That means it gives an all-in-one service which saves you time, energy and effort by creating a single platform for you to manage all you need. You can easily try out PeerBie's integration opportunities by requesting a demo now!

5- Take notes during meeting

To keep the conversation productive and on track, avoiding common mistakes and problems with online meetings of all types. Make sure to have people take notes and have your notes too. This is an important step to not miss out details and easily catch the core decisions that are made and actions that are needed.  Even if taking notes isn't natural at first, it's worth practicing before going into a meeting. In addition to taking notes during the meeting, reflect after each meeting and record your notes in writing so you can review what was discussed.

Digital tools can be used to help avoid running out of paper or pens. Try typing your notes on screen as opposed to scribbling with a pen. Digital note-taking software also makes collaboration easy because you can type directly into a document and share it across screens via chat windows, video calls, screenshare presentations and virtual whiteboards and its also much more sustainable.

If Digital Tools and collaboration products intrigue your interests, check out Peerbie, an all in one collaboration tool specifically designed to boost your company's efficiency and productivity!

Stay in the loop with your company at all times, foster collaboration and begin your path towards success and maximum productivity!