Why do we get the sense that every meeting feels like groundhog day? 

Even when there is a magnitude of varying types of meetings, all driven by different goals, duration, attendees, or purposes. For virtual meetings, it comes down to the fact that most of us weren't adequately taught meeting etiquette prior to the pandemic. But enough time has passed, and we still use a cookie-cutter approach to meetings- wasting time and resources. 

What if, all it took for a meeting to be productive was to have objectives outlined- curating the perfect agenda specific to each meeting?

What are meeting goals?

Meeting goals or objectives are the outcomes you want to receive by the end of your meeting. Consider the project's overall essence and the likely outcome from your team - depending on the project stage. You can reach for the moon or reach for the roof with your goals- just as long as everyone adheres to the meeting's agenda and ends up on the same page.

Decision-making meetings

Decision-making meetings can be that exciting final step in securing commitment to act on a decision. Or, it could be an extended period of back and forth meetings with minimal changes.

So how do you break the cycle of conflicting opinions, how do you meet a balanced alignment? 

End not knowing, with the Notes by Dubber meeting agenda that keeps all attendees goal-orientated before and after the meeting. Created to end-hearsay and provide an effortless experience from kick-offs, right down to the final decisions. Cut down the in-between meetings by ensuring stakeholders and managers are across project updates and observing approval sign-offs.    

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Status Update meetings

Having a meeting based on project updates can be superfluous if there have been minimal changes or progress since the last meeting- which we know is not rare. 

Notes by Dubber can integrate with Asana to guide current or previous goals. Rather than creating a new goal-orientated agenda that accumulates hours every week, Notes by Dubber can reclaim two hours back into your workday.  

Team members, collaborators, and stakeholders can be observers or contributors to a task or project. 

For example:
John was assigned to write a draft detailing product prices in the last project meeting. A week later, he uploads the document into Asana and checks off the task as 'Complete'. Next, he assigns a 'Review' task for his manager, sending an additional comment tagging the manager and collaborators to ensure they see the progress update. 

The next meeting, the team can use the project board as a reference guide and enable a smooth and progressive meeting, meaning everyone can get aligned and get ahead! Read our blog on best practices for smoother project meetings.

Innovation / Sprint Retrospective meetings

Reflecting on sprints, quarters, or initial innovation meetings need to meet an outcome of high-level discussions stitched together by a sleek agenda. Storing a recollection of discussions, thoughts and ideas from these conversations is just as integral as having them - Notes by Dubber ensures that the value of the meeting isn’t lost, even when it ends.

A retrospective or innovation meeting agenda might look something like this using Notes to record and transcribe, then turn them into executive summarise and itemise actions:

1. Preparation (10 mins): Create a live collaborative board with reflection questions and sections for people to jot ideas down. Be sure your Asana or Jira is integrated to make the last step easier.
   

2. Set the stage (5 mins): Send out a recap of the previously discussed themes, actions and outcomes from the last meeting for everyone to be familiarised.
   
   

3. Greet team / introduction (5 mins): Acknowledge the team, and give them a rundown of the brainstorming activities.
   
   

4. What we did well (15 mins): In the collaboration board, ask the team to reflect on what they think they did well in (in regards to the project or sprint). Brainstorm collectively and expand on reflections.
   
   

5. What can we do better? (10 mins): Use the same formula as above to improve.
   
   

6. Actions (10 mins): Brainstorm actions and ways of working to improve. Discuss ideas and assign owners to these actions and due dates.
   
   

7. Conclude (5 mins): Summarise and distil all the findings. Ensure responsibilities are well defined and lay the groundwork to measure the results of your actions. 

Notes by Dubber will send a post-meeting summary and outline what the actions will be - plus notify who is responsible. 

Problem-solving meetings

Problem-solving meetings are a great source of value and mediating obstacles- but they can be disorganised. Setting and sticking to an agenda is crucial in achieving a new strategy designed to counter the current issue presented.

Before you set the meeting, pick your attendees carefully. You want people who will rightfully challenge you and generally yield creativity from bouncing ideas around. 

Upholding the goals of the agenda might look like this if you create your own template agenda using Notes by Dubber:

1. Problems to be addressed

2. Define solution requirements and restraints

3. Brainstorm possible solutions

4. Evaluate top solutions

5. Agree on a solution

This agenda structure can also be used for Information Sharing meetings to reach similar outcomes. With Info sharing meetings it’s crucial for attendees to come prepared with ideas and suggestions, and add them to the meeting agenda before the brainstorming session. 

Team building meetings

It’s important to remember that you will only get value from a team meeting if its experience is well executed. Notes by Dubber helps create a planned agenda with sections to aid structure for an environment that fosters creativity, communication and collaboration.

Using Notes by Dubber to execute a successful team meeting might look something like this:

• Before the meeting, send out an agenda orientating the team on the exercises/activities, topics of discussion, or general agenda. Doing this ensures that you’re giving your team enough time to prepare for the meeting.

• Choose your template and ensure recording is switched on.

• Set and allocate time dedicated for each section of the meeting. This obviously relies on starting and ending the meeting on time. Leave some wiggle room in case discussions get intensified, or off-track.

• The forming stage of the meeting addresses how to achieve a successful outcome; purpose, goals, mission plan, workflow and sometimes a space for teammates to voice their opinions, or concerns.

• Conclude the meeting with an overview of the tasks and actions. Notes by Dubber will capture and collect this information and through AI transforms it into viable summaries, sharing the key moments with colleagues. So if an attendee is running late, don’t feel obliged to wait.

The Notes by Dubber virtual assistant restores the value back in your meetings without duplicating meeting formats and with zero effort. 

Notes by Dubber enhances all types of meeting experiences and keeps the value transcending even after the meeting ends. 

To see how you can improve your team meetings and increase productivity, find out with Notes by Dubber.