As we wrap our working lives around a new more flexible way of work, there’s a simple habit that can make life easier and more productive: Add the Call Details to a Meeting.
Things Change
The meeting may have been arranged to be exclusively face to face, but in a fast paced world things change. Now we have videoconferencing or audioconferencing at a push of a button in solutions like Microsoft Teams why not allow the option to cover surprise eventualities.
Adding the option prevents the need for last minute emails to bring people in who can’t make it. There’s lots of reasons why that might be the case:
- People might be running late or from a different location
- Someone may need to be at home or otherwise working flexibly (especially with illness rampant post-pandemic)
- Another person may need to attend to maximise the value of the meeting
- People can be called into the meeting as it progresses where something unexpected arises.
As host, you still control who attends the meeting and should be planning to shape how it runs. You can still be clear who should be in person. However, this simple step should reduce the amount of time spent fumbling around to add people or create a call at the last minute. Your meeting attendees will be grateful and your day will be more productive.
Now that Microsoft Teams and its peers have put calling at our fingertips, we can take advantage of the optionality it offers. Options have value.
