Reasons why you have too many meetings at work and how to avoid it
During quarantine, most work and non-work issues had to be resolved with a phone call and an effective virtual meeting. And although life with rest is returning to its usual course, acquired quarantine habits are still preserved in work. Let's talk about why you have too many calls and meetings at work and how to avoid them.
What do virtual meetings mean in modern communication?
With the beginning of quarantine, business organizations and companies faced the problem of not only effectively organizing meetings in the virtual space, but also obtaining a specific, applied result from the joint work of virtual meetings.
Online learning, online meetings, remote webinars and other virtual events are taking place during the quarantine on various platforms, including the free iMind communication app.
The ability to easily and seamlessly communicate on the Internet is one of the most distinctive features of modernity. Thanks to the World Wide Web, today you can find many like-minded people and even friends not only somewhere nearby, but also in the farthest corners of the planet, receive various information from them and instantly respond to it.
There is an illusion that the world is getting smaller, the boundaries are blurring, and people are getting closer, and this, of course, has completely changed the principles of communication in the modern world.
Now you do not need to spend time and money on a trip just to conduct face-to-face negotiations in the company. It is enough to download the application or platform, send the link to the interlocutor and start the video dialogue.
However, people often forget about time management and efficient workload, and all their work ends up with calls and too many meetings. How to optimize meetings and avoid problems? Read on.
How to understand that you are attending too many calls?
However, meetings can be very useful and even necessary to get meaningful work done. To cancel all appointments and see what happens is an intriguing experiment. What will we miss? What adverse effects can we expect?
Too much to say, not enough to do
Ineffective meetings spawn other ineffective activities, including sending junk emails. “I'm not sure what was discussed at the project meeting about how we will move forward. Can someone explain this to me?" Effective meetings are the result of bad emails. We need to meet again to discuss the details of our last conversation, including who will do what and when. The more you succumb to this behavior, the deeper you sink into quicksand.
Calendar overload
The main purpose of planning is to appropriately break down a large job into smaller tasks that can be completed to achieve the goal.
The plan may change throughout the day depending on additional tasks and changing priorities. The list of vacancies should be updated as often as possible. If this is not done, we will have an overloaded calendar and too much work. This situation leads to the fact that we do not have time for anything at all.
Higher stress levels
The state of information overload occurs when the amount of incoming information exceeds the ability to perceive it, and our consciousness is not able to cope with such an information flow. When there is too much information, the brain will no longer be able to perceive real knowledge, there is a glut.
How to reduce the number of meetings?
Having to answer calls or attend online meetings instead of "real work" is a common problem for managers and other professionals. This is where you need strong time management skills. We have put together some basic tips to help you avoid this problem.
Require an agenda
If the organization of the workspace was a mandatory, but preparatory action, then the immediate start of the implementation of time management will be the preparation of a plan of work tasks (for a year, for a month and for every day) - they can be written down in a notebook, entered into the phone, using special programs, but important goals should be recorded. This list should be reviewed and checked for relevance, edited in accordance with emerging new tasks, and possible changes in priority should be monitored.
Book free time for meetings
Do not forget to rest - plan your rest as one of the main tasks. The quality and speed of the work performed in the future depends on how well you restore your strength.
In particular, do not neglect sleep - it should be 7-8 hours a day, and drink enough water.
Use asynchronous meetings
When no immediate action is required, asynchronous, non-real-time (synchronous) meetings are held. They are organized, but communication is slow.
Schedule shorter meetings
You can always shorten your meetings by noting the time you have for the meeting at the beginning and sticking to the agenda strictly. This will definitely save you time and help you avoid working on calls only.
Time management is created not only for managers, business people and office workers - it will be useful to everyone. After all, if you plan and allocate resources correctly, you will reach your goal faster, and the time saved can be spent on loved ones or on the fulfillment of your own desires.