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You can't be a part of a company and not attend meetings. They are essential for discussing important matters, making collective decisions, and setting common goals. However, not all meetings are productive, and some can waste time and resources.

But that's rarely the case with collaboration meetings because they foster a culture of accountability, shared goals, and interactive and collective decisions. In this blog, we will explore the importance of collaborative meetings, the different types of meetings, and the best practices for holding productive meetings.

What is a collaborative meeting?

A collaborative meeting is a meeting where individuals come together to discuss and work towards a common goal. It's an interactive discussion that involves all meeting participants and fosters strong communication. These can either be physical meetings or between remote teams. 

The primary goal of collaborative meetings is to make collective decisions, that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. These meetings can be formal or informal, depending on the type of meeting and the meeting participants.

The importance of collaborative meetings

Collaborative meetings are essential for the success of any organization. They provide a platform for meeting participants to discuss issues, share ideas, and make collective decisions. These meetings foster a collaborative culture within the organization and promote a sense of shared responsibility. Following are some of the reasons why collaborative meetings are important:

Effective communication

Collaborative meetings facilitate strong communication among meeting participants. Participants can share ideas, ask questions, and provide feedback to each other, leading to a better understanding of the issue at hand.

Collective decisions

Collaborative meetings provide a platform for collective decision-making. All meeting participants have a say in the decision-making process, which leads to better decision-making and more buy-in from all stakeholders.

Improved project management

Source: Pexels

Collaborative meetings are very useful for project management and can be used to discuss project milestones, review progress, and identify areas that need improvement.

Consensus-based decision-making

Collaborative meetings provide a platform for consensus-based decision-making. Meeting participants can work together to find common ground and make decisions that benefit the organization as a whole.

Building trust

Collaborative meetings can also help to build trust within a team or organization. By encouraging open communication, active listening, and collective decision-making, collaborative meetings can help to create a sense of trust and mutual respect among team members. This can lead to more effective collaboration, improved productivity, and a more positive work environment.

Developing collective intelligence

Collaborative meetings can help to develop collective intelligence within a team or organization. Collective intelligence refers to the combined knowledge, skills, and expertise of a group of individuals.

By bringing together individuals with diverse backgrounds and expertise, collaborative meetings can help to develop a collective intelligence that is greater than the sum of its parts. This can lead to more effective problem-solving, decision-making, and innovation.

Encouraging accountability

Collaborative meetings can also help to encourage accountability within a team. By setting clear goals, timelines, and action items during collaborative meetings, team members can hold each other accountable for their contributions and progress.

This can help to ensure that everyone is working towards the same shared goal and that progress is being made toward achieving that goal.

Improving communication

Collaborative meetings can be an effective way to improve communication within a team or organization. By providing a forum for open discussion, collaborative meetings can help to identify communication challenges, misunderstandings, and areas for improvement.

This can lead to more effective communication strategies and practices, which can help to improve collaboration and productivity.

Promoting a collaborative culture

Source: Pexels

Collaborative meetings can help foster a good remote culture within a team or organization. By encouraging open communication, active listening, and collective decision-making, collaborative meetings can foster a sense of collaboration and teamwork.

This promotes a culture of collaboration, where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas, giving feedback, and working together towards a common goal.

Best practices for holding productive collaborative meetings

Productive collaborative meetings require careful planning and execution. The following are some best practices for holding productive collaborative meetings:

Clear agenda

Meetings should have an effective agenda with concise meeting topics. The meeting agenda should be shared with meeting participants prior to the meeting.

Meeting format

The meeting format should be designed to promote interactive discussion among meeting participants. Meeting participants should have the opportunity to share their ideas, ask questions, and provide feedback to each other.

Meeting participants

Meeting participants should be selected based on their expertise and knowledge related to the issue being discussed. It's important to have a diverse group of meeting participants to ensure a variety of perspectives are represented.

Meeting on time

Meetings should start and end on time to ensure that all meeting participants can attend and that the meeting is efficient. Latecomers can disrupt the flow of the meeting and waste valuable time.

Meeting attendees

Meeting attendees should be provided with meeting intelligence, such as background information on the topic being discussed, to ensure that they are prepared and can contribute to the discussion.

Respective meeting minutes

Meeting minutes should be taken and shared with meeting participants following the meeting. This ensures that all meeting participants have a record of what was discussed and what decisions were made.

Conflict management

Conflict can arise during meetings, and it's important to have conflict management processes in place to ensure that conflicts are resolved in a productive manner. Meeting participants should have conflict management skills and understand how to handle conflicts productively.

Approach to communication

The approach to communication during collaborative meetings should be open and inclusive. Meeting participants should feel comfortable sharing their ideas and providing feedback to each other.

Action items

Action items should be identified and assigned during the meeting to ensure that decisions made during the meeting are acted upon. This helps ensure that meetings are productive and lead to actionable insights.

Top tips to make your virtual collaboration meetings better

Use humor

Humor can be a powerful tool to break the ice, build rapport, and create a relaxed atmosphere during meetings. Using humor can help to reduce tension and stress, increase engagement and attention, and promote a positive attitude. It's important to use humor appropriately, of course, and not to offend or distract meeting participants.

Assign a devil's advocate

Assigning a devil's advocate can be an effective way to stimulate creative thinking and promote critical evaluation. The devil's advocate is responsible for questioning assumptions, challenging ideas, and proposing alternative perspectives.

Assigning a devil's advocate can help to promote lively debate, increase engagement and attention, and ensure that all perspectives are considered.

Use gamification

Gamification can be a powerful tool to promote engagement, motivation, and creativity during collaborative team meetings. Gamification involves incorporating game elements, such as competition, rewards, or challenges, into the meeting format. Gamification can help to promote collaboration, stimulate creativity, and increase engagement.

Encourage video participation

Encouraging video participation during virtual meetings can help to promote engagement and create a more personal and collaborative experience. Video conferences create a sense of presence and help to promote collaboration and encourage more participation.

Use virtual whiteboards

Virtual whiteboards can be used to promote collaboration and encourage participation during virtual meetings. Virtual whiteboards can be used to brainstorm ideas, share information, and collaborate on projects in real time. This can help to promote creativity, reduce misunderstandings, and create a more productive meeting experience.

Use virtual team-building activities

Virtual reality team-building activities can be used to create a more engaging and interactive virtual meeting experience. Virtual reality team-building activities can include games, puzzles, or challenges that require teamwork and collaboration. You can also use virtual Icebreakers as a team-building activity. All these can help to promote collaboration, foster a sense of community, and create a more positive meeting experience.

Conclusion

Collaboration meetings provide a platform for meeting participants to discuss issues, share ideas, and make collective decisions. Collaborative meetings foster a collaborative culture within the organization and promote a sense of shared responsibility.

To hold productive collaborative meetings, it's important to have a clear agenda, a well-designed meeting format, and meeting participants who are knowledgeable about the issue being discussed.

Conflict management processes should be in place to ensure that conflicts are resolved productively, and action items should be identified and assigned during the meeting to ensure that decisions made during the meeting are acted upon.

By following these best practices, organizations can hold productive collaborative meetings and work towards collective success. One more thing organizations can do to increase the productivity of their meetings is to use Dive. 

Dive is an AI-powered collaborative meeting platform that empowers managers to run effective, productive meetings that drive accountability & alignment.

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