As we all know, working remote is now part of the “new normal” in almost all industries, including event planning. Indeed, event organisers spend more hours on virtual calls instead of meeting in person, discussing for hours in the same room.
How can you manage all this the best way possible, when it’s now the standard way of working? How can you manage teams remotely and plan virtual meetings with enough time without taking advantage of their availability? How can you avoid the unproductive and tiring effect of too many online calls?
Rox Event Staff is the only event staffing agency in the UK that helps you take the headache out of staffing and event marketing in one place.
All our Event Staff took the mass gathering course by WHO, which is now mandatory for them to work with us.
HIRING A PROFESSIONAL EVENT STAFFING AGENCY LEAVES YOU FREE TO FOCUS ON YOUR BUSINESS!
People work longer than 48 hours a week
After a year of working from home or remotely, these are all legitimate questions. A Harvard University study examined emails and virtual meetings of more than 3.1 million people in 16 cities worldwide, revealing that smart working takes 48.5 extra minutes per day.
Based on Eurofound data, those working from home or remote have double the chance to go over 48 weekly working hours compared to working from the office.
When to schedule the meeting: why not choosing the hour together?
When working remotely with a team, you should take into considerations everything we just mentioned. For example, setting a meeting on Monday at 9 AM may not be a great idea. We can all agree that less social interaction and free time increases stress levels.
If you need to set a meeting on Monday, it may be good practice to do so in the late morning or afternoon. Or even better, discuss the best meeting time with your team. Sure, you may not find an agreement, but after a year of working from home, you should make this effort, especially if your team is less than five people.
Besides, there is a lot of value in asking your colleagues what they think and helping them manage their daily lives, increasing everyone’s productivity. Those feeling considered and respected show more gratitude and care at work. Try it yourself.
Avoid time waste
Another significant influence is time. If live meetings were boring, remote ones are even worst. Many companies are taking plank meetings instead: meetings held while everyone is in a plank position, strengthening all body muscles, with forearms on the floor. This format works because you can sustain such a position only for a few minutes; therefore, communication should be direct and to the point.
Of course, this set-up or stand up meetings may not be ideal for meeting planners, but let’s learn what’s good from it: no time waste. How often do you find yourself in a meeting thinking, “I didn’t have anything better to do anyway” or “I need to solve everything now because I’ve got another call next” or even “At least this is social time”. These are all affirmations that consume people’s energies and decrease productivity.
Antwerp Management School’s study calculated that every business in Belgium loses 2,500 euros per year for each employee because of useless meetings. The total amount looks somewhat like 10,3 billion euros. That’s a lot!
That’s why it’s essential to have a moderator for each meeting and set the discussion’s objectives and goals before it happens. You could send them via email or write them in the calendar invite when scheduling the appointment.
After deciding the meeting’s length and not going overtime (even better if finishing a bit earlier), try to share what discussed in a short email—assigning “who’s going to do what” immediately translates the meeting from words to facts.
And what happens if time was not enough? In that case, the moderator interrupts the meeting and lets everyone know if further consultation is needed or if what discussed can be done already.
The importance of timing
Here are a few suggestions on timings to avoid. Don’t choose meetings around lunch unless they are very short, as that is a righteous time, and you should never reduce it or skip it. Besides, when working from home, consider that people will have to cook. If you plan a meeting at lunch break, participants won’t have time to cook nor to eat. Studies suggest after lunch is not a great time either when our parasympathetic system needs more energies to digest and rest.
And finally, try to avoid meetings past 5 PM: tiredness can bring people to take the wrong decisions instead of thinking and reflect on situations.
Call only necessary people
Another important factor not to give for granted is to involve only strictly necessary people. For example, if you are still deciding the event content, inviting who’s dealing with the press won’t make any sense. It may be more efficient to set a future meeting with the PR team later.
Assigning meetings and their objectives this way can be even more productive from remote.
About Rox Event Staff, Event Staffing Agency in London
Rox Event Staff is the only event staffing agency in London that helps you take the headache out of event staffing and event marketing in one place.
We operate nationwide across the UK, with over 2,000 dynamic COVID-19 trained events staff on our growing roster. We have dedicated account management, event marketers, staff’s right-to-work checks, training and skills tests on all workers, taking care of payroll too.
HIRING A PROFESSIONAL EVENT STAFFING AGENCY LEAVES YOU FREE TO FOCUS ON YOUR BUSINESS!
Get in touch to let us know your requirements. We will let you know how we can make that happen.
