How to Use Event Comments for More Productive Meetings
Last updated Aug 13, 2024
Meetings take up a large part of modern work-life. We need the communication and opportunity for discussion, but all too often meetings are disconnected from results. And, of course, meetings aren’t limited just to work situations. If you’re part of a hobby group, volunteer organization, or sports club, there are meetings involved. All those meetings add up, so it’s important to find ways to make meetings more productive.
Getting a meeting scheduled is the first step. It takes purposeful preparation and follow-up to keep each meeting focused, use the time well, exchange key information, and move toward the needed outcomes. Event comments are already built into your Teamup calendar, and they can be a great help to make meetings more productive from initial inputs to better results.
If you want to make comments available to all event participants, it’s easy to do so: on the event, enable comments and make them visible to all users. Then share the event page with participants. The comments will be included on the event page.
Before the meeting: Better preparation
Get input on the agenda
Share a tentative meeting agenda and get input before the meeting so the agenda is thorough and accurate.
Add the tentative agenda to the event, either in the description or as an attachment. Ask meeting participants to provide input or add their own agenda items in the event comments. This gives everyone a chance to contribute, in an organized and documented way, and avoids the frustration of last-minute updates or additions that make the meeting drag on. If you set a deadline for input, the automatic time-stamping on comments will come in handy.
Call attention to updates
When you change event details or update attachments, anyone who can access the event (or the event page) will get those updates automatically synced. But sometimes people don’t notice changes. Use an event comment to call attention to any updates, so everyone has time for better preparation. If you’ve uploaded a new version of the agenda, or changed the meeting location, make sure participants are aware of the update with a quick comment.
Event comments enabled for all users will be visible on the event page.
Share specific instructions
If there are specific instructions or details that meeting participants need, they can get lost in all the event information. Share these details in a comment, instead. You can even include images, if needed, without cluttering up the main description for the meeting.
Lay out a detailed timeline
Meetings are often more productive when there are clear limits. Allocate time to different agenda items or presenters to improve meetings and help everyone stay focused. Share the timeline in a comment so participants can follow along with the meeting’s structure.
During the meeting: Better input
Collect questions
Use event comments to gather input before, during, or after a meeting.
To keep meetings on track, you may want to limit the time given to discussion for any particular item on the agenda. But you don’t want to keep people from voicing concerns, offering suggestions, or otherwise participating. As the time for a certain discussion ends, point people to the comments so they can provide input which can be collected and responded to after the meeting.
Share links to resources
There are often things that come up during discussion that haven’t been identified or included in the meeting materials. If someone brings up a helpful resource, add a comment with a quick link or reminder about the resource.
Call out action items
Ideally, each meeting has a purpose and every participant has a reason to be there, which means they’re likely to leave with tasks and assignments. Comments can serve as a sort of “open” action item list. Anyone with access to the comments can add quick notes when a task is assigned, and after the meeting everyone has a record of who needs to be doing what.
After the meeting: Better results
Ask for feedback from participants
Use the Teamup app to add or view event comments quickly, even away from your desk.
Feedback is best collected in the moment. Otherwise, people get busy and their attention goes elsewhere. If you want to collect opinions on a particular issue raised, or gather feedback on a training seminar, for example, ask for that input before dismissing the participants. Point out the comments on the event or event page, and ask everyone to take a minute or two to provide feedback before leaving.
Provide follow-up materials
If you mentioned something during a presentation, provide details about it and a link in the comments after the meeting ends. Perhaps you promised a handout, reference chart, or other document. Upload it right in a comment with a reminder, so it’s visible and easy to find for participants.
Summarize decisions for better results
Provide a quick list of key decisions made within a meeting. If you have formal minutes or a recording, you can link to those in the same comment. Keeping track of the pertinent decisions, and making them visible, helps keep everyone focused on the meeting’s purpose and moving toward the desired outcomes.
Schedule and link to the next meeting
If there are subsequent meetings or related events, mention them in the comment with a link to the event page. If participants are already accessing handouts, leaving feedback, or otherwise engaged with the comments, they’ll see the info and can add it to their schedule immediately.
Try event comments for more productive meetings
Ready to try comments to make your meetings more productive? Make sure you’ve enabled comments on your calendar. Feel free to try things out with a live demo, then introduce comments to your team for better preparation, better input, and better results from each meeting.
How to Use Event Comments for More Productive Meetings
Last updated Aug 13, 2024
Meetings take up a large part of modern work-life. We need the communication and opportunity for discussion, but all too often meetings are disconnected from results. And, of course, meetings aren’t limited just to work situations. If you’re part of a hobby group, volunteer organization, or sports club, there are meetings involved. All those meetings add up, so it’s important to find ways to make meetings more productive.
Getting a meeting scheduled is the first step. It takes purposeful preparation and follow-up to keep each meeting focused, use the time well, exchange key information, and move toward the needed outcomes. Event comments are already built into your Teamup calendar, and they can be a great help to make meetings more productive from initial inputs to better results.
Table of contents
Make meetings more productive with comments
If you want to make comments available to all event participants, it’s easy to do so: on the event, enable comments and make them visible to all users. Then share the event page with participants. The comments will be included on the event page.
Before the meeting: Better preparation
Get input on the agenda
Add the tentative agenda to the event, either in the description or as an attachment. Ask meeting participants to provide input or add their own agenda items in the event comments. This gives everyone a chance to contribute, in an organized and documented way, and avoids the frustration of last-minute updates or additions that make the meeting drag on. If you set a deadline for input, the automatic time-stamping on comments will come in handy.
Call attention to updates
When you change event details or update attachments, anyone who can access the event (or the event page) will get those updates automatically synced. But sometimes people don’t notice changes. Use an event comment to call attention to any updates, so everyone has time for better preparation. If you’ve uploaded a new version of the agenda, or changed the meeting location, make sure participants are aware of the update with a quick comment.
Share specific instructions
If there are specific instructions or details that meeting participants need, they can get lost in all the event information. Share these details in a comment, instead. You can even include images, if needed, without cluttering up the main description for the meeting.
Lay out a detailed timeline
Meetings are often more productive when there are clear limits. Allocate time to different agenda items or presenters to improve meetings and help everyone stay focused. Share the timeline in a comment so participants can follow along with the meeting’s structure.
During the meeting: Better input
Collect questions
To keep meetings on track, you may want to limit the time given to discussion for any particular item on the agenda. But you don’t want to keep people from voicing concerns, offering suggestions, or otherwise participating. As the time for a certain discussion ends, point people to the comments so they can provide input which can be collected and responded to after the meeting.
Share links to resources
There are often things that come up during discussion that haven’t been identified or included in the meeting materials. If someone brings up a helpful resource, add a comment with a quick link or reminder about the resource.
Call out action items
Ideally, each meeting has a purpose and every participant has a reason to be there, which means they’re likely to leave with tasks and assignments. Comments can serve as a sort of “open” action item list. Anyone with access to the comments can add quick notes when a task is assigned, and after the meeting everyone has a record of who needs to be doing what.
After the meeting: Better results
Ask for feedback from participants
Feedback is best collected in the moment. Otherwise, people get busy and their attention goes elsewhere. If you want to collect opinions on a particular issue raised, or gather feedback on a training seminar, for example, ask for that input before dismissing the participants. Point out the comments on the event or event page, and ask everyone to take a minute or two to provide feedback before leaving.
Provide follow-up materials
If you mentioned something during a presentation, provide details about it and a link in the comments after the meeting ends. Perhaps you promised a handout, reference chart, or other document. Upload it right in a comment with a reminder, so it’s visible and easy to find for participants.
Summarize decisions for better results
Provide a quick list of key decisions made within a meeting. If you have formal minutes or a recording, you can link to those in the same comment. Keeping track of the pertinent decisions, and making them visible, helps keep everyone focused on the meeting’s purpose and moving toward the desired outcomes.
Schedule and link to the next meeting
If there are subsequent meetings or related events, mention them in the comment with a link to the event page. If participants are already accessing handouts, leaving feedback, or otherwise engaged with the comments, they’ll see the info and can add it to their schedule immediately.
Try event comments for more productive meetings
Ready to try comments to make your meetings more productive? Make sure you’ve enabled comments on your calendar. Feel free to try things out with a live demo, then introduce comments to your team for better preparation, better input, and better results from each meeting.