Meetings are one of the biggest forms of low-value shallow work going, swallowing about 15.5 hours of our weekly schedule. But while the usefulness of their content will always be up for discussion, what’s certain is that coordinating them will always unproductive. Scheduling meetings can involve a painful back-and-forth, and when they’re poorly planned they can completely carve up our day – creating small pockets of inter-meeting time which are too short for us to get stuck into anything.
The upshot of this is that we spend more time on needless admin, and have less time available for deep work. So in 2021, with so much automation at our fingertips, it makes sense to outsource the whole slog to intelligent tech. Here are four of the best meeting management software which help you do precisely that.
1. Dewo
When it comes to automating meeting scheduling and reducing the productive cost of the meetings themselves, Dewo is second-to-none. Beyond simply identifying the empty slots on your calendar, Dewo uses AI to suggest the times that have the minimal impact on everyone's deep work. It considers your team’s productive patterns, timing preferences and calendar event distributions to schedule meetings that actively protect space for focused working. By reducing trapped bubbles of inter-meeting time, it helps everyone enjoy a more focused working week and feel like they’ve actually achieved something meaningful. Result.
All you have to do is tell Dewo who you need a meeting with and it will handle the rest – finding the best time for everyone and dealing with all scheduling admin.It will also proactively identify any existing meetings that disrupt your schedule and suggest a better time for them. Ultimately, it helps you and your team keep collaboration thoughtful and productive.
2. X.ai
If scheduling meetings causes you the biggest headache, check out X.ai, which can save you hours of time by allowing you to master your schedule. Basic calendar sharingis often too simplistic for more complicated schedules, so X.ai’s powerful capabilities offer a degree of precision that makes meeting scheduling a pleasure, not a pain. Just let AI scheduling assistants Amy and Andrew know how you like your meetings and they’ll get to it. If you’re not a morning person, no biggie; X.ai will schedule meetings after lunch. Need to ensure your personal and professional calendars don’t coincide? Sorted. Want to have a meeting somewhere that serves food? Done.
X.ai’s personalization capabilities are unrivalled. You can add and remove colleague sas you please, set your own scheduling hours and break times, and specify that you’re only available for virtual meetings during certain periods. Amy and Andrew can book conference rooms, set up meetings for coworkers, plan for time zone differences, schedule with other team members, and send follow ups when guests don’t respond. All this means you barely have to lift a finger.
3. WebEx
WebEx has long been a popular meeting management software, and for good reason. This cloud-based software is known for its outstanding video conferencing and webinar-hosting features, so it’s hugely helpful for collaborative use. The Brainstorm & Chat tool allows you to communicate with team members in a private room, and the floating panels mean you can share your screen with coworkers all across the world – while running an online meeting at the same time. WebEx’s editing, recording, and playback capabilities are also super handy if you want to reassess the meeting later, or share insights with someone who wasn’t able to attend.
As for scheduling, there are two main options. If time is of the essence and you’re just looking to schedule a quick meeting, the Quick Scheduler can do it for you in a few clicks. If you’re planning an important meeting in advance, the Advanced Scheduler will ensure everyone saves the date; it sends email prompts out (you can choose how often these recur) and the ‘Call Me’ feature sends outa reminder call shortly before the meeting starts.
4. Meetin.gs
Meetin.gs is another flexible meeting management tool that can save you bags of time –and plenty of stress, too. Designed to coordinate, simplify and align your meeting management, the attractive interface makes using it is a breeze – which is great, considering how many features there are. You can easily create and edit meeting agendas for invitees, create action points for follow-ups sent out after the meeting, send reminders and ask participants to confirm availability, track the timeline of all scheduled meetings, create numerous meeting schedules for multiple different purposes, and integrate all meeting agenda, files and images on one main page for easy access.
If that wasn’t enough, Meetin.gs also effortlessly integrates with your calendar,CRMs, contacts, and some of the most popular social communication tools too, includingSkype, Google Hangouts and Microsoft Lync. This means you can schedule meetings from wherever you are, stay organized when you’re on the road, and use dead travel time to stay on top of your meeting management.
