It’s been over a year into remote working for me, not generalising most of them would have gone remote during this pandemic . Meetings have become virtual; Life has become virtual; we can work from anywhere, but we missed one thing, Mental health is gone for a toss. The Burnout was real; overwhelming work becomes audacious; sounds familiar, Right? Hear me out; the worst part was to gel with people have fun at work. So a specially curated meeting for this specific purpose was a dedicated meeting for this peculiar purpose. Facepalm, right?
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The worst time at work is when I have to attend the company meetings, most of which are about the projects I wasn’t involved in due to my location and skillset. It’s like a cake with no icing at all. I’m the icing, but everyone else is the cake. So I’m relegated to the marginal status of cake and icing. Whenever I attend meetings, I used to be so nervous and annoyed.
Back to the issue, I was in desperate need of a detox. So any idea may be helpful; I searched and found one on distance learning which looks like it fits this, the Online meetings detox technique.
On the method, what’s an excellent way to save time, involved no follow up, help to focus, for online meetings, a safe way to save time.
The technique
1. Taken the online meeting to a minimum, a few months.
2. Enjoying meeting people regularly.
3. Setting up the meetings daily.
4. Being reasonably connected with my remote teammates.
5. Making the meetings not more than an hour.
6. Having fun.
7. Raising the quality of the meetings.
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Sounds great; Not sure about the efficency.
With a lot of effort, trial and errors I have been successfully implementing this technique in my work life too. Let me share stuffs that worked out for me
The principles I implemented are to reduce the number of meetings I attend and participate to a minimum. Nevertheless, I join in the discussions that require my skill set and expertise. Taking part in the meetings is high on my priority list. I have been taking briefs too.
Let’s look at the steps I followed to have a meeting
Step 1: Here, I follow the steps that would enhance the virtual meetings in remote working.
Receiving the invite from the team: Receiving the invite and Working on the invite: Here is the time to work. The remote team members will likely accept the invite when they see that I have worked on it vigorously.
Agreeing on the timing: We should set up a mutually convenient time for remote team members.
Agreeing on the venue: Remote team members may accept the platform, too, right? But, again, this is important to put location details in the invitation.
Agreeing on the agenda: Schedule agenda, set individual steps.
Agreeing on the essential action item: It’s not necessary to say all of them, right? We should follow this; thanks to this technique, I have gotten rid of the same to-do items.
Attending the meeting now comes the tricky part. I have been looking out for the meeting with my travel planning buddies. I have been scheduling both personal and business. I have been tracking the upcoming conference in my calendar. I have been setting up all the meetings I plan to attend on my assistant schedule.
During the meeting, I have been having fun, participated actively and took part in discussions. Moreover, I have contributed my ideas on the outcome of these meetings, which makes me feel glad.
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Noteworthy mentions !!
1. I have been saving my time. I have been successful in it. Taking part in meetings, I have also been ticking all the to-do items in my inbox. It is my time-saving technique. If you get to work on your inbox, it will save you time.
2. Save time on the meeting, and you will end up saving time in remote working.
3. Getting rid of the same old to-do items will help you save time and get more out of working on the company.
4. Meetings are the most crucial part of remote working. Make sure you have fun and enjoy the job.
5. Being there, being in the team is excellent. I like the team. I like the project. I love working. My time has just flown by. It has been excellent.
Conclusion
The technique works as promised, and I am pleased to say it is doing its part. It pulls me closer to the people, interacts with them well and gives me loads of ideas. Precisely what I needed. So if you’re going to speed up the remote working, This might be helpful. In a few months to a year, this profit will turn to be your best project yet.
The story ends now. The virtual meeting will be over soon, In person meeting are coming