November 13, 2023 · 6 min read

The Future of Meetings: Get the Report from 490+ Experts

Avatar of Shaimaa Badawi

Shaimaa Badawi

The future of meetings report from real-life experts

What are the main challenges of online meetings?

1. Poor meeting preparation

  • Unclear agenda: when meetings lack a well-defined agenda, participants may not know what to expect, leading to confusion and inefficiency.
  • Scheduling conflicts: poorly scheduled meetings can result in conflicts with participants' prior commitments, causing frustration and reduced attendance.
  • Unclear objectives: meetings without clearly defined objectives can devolve into aimless discussions, wasting time and leaving participants disoriented.

2. Time mismanagement

  • No timed agenda: failing to adhere to a timed agenda can lead to meetings running overtime, disrupting participants' schedules and diminishing their enthusiasm.
  • Unnecessary meetings: inefficient time management may result in scheduling unnecessary meetings, causing fatigue and decreased engagement among participants.

3. Lack of engagement

  • Host dominance: in virtual meetings, hosts often dominate the conversation, leaving limited room for participant interaction. This one-sided communication can lead to disengagement.
  • Limited interactive features: virtual meetings may lack interactive features, such as real-time polling or breakout sessions, which can contribute to passive participation.

4. Communication gaps

  • Technical glitches: technical issues like poor internet connectivity, audio problems, or screen freezes can disrupt the flow of communication, causing frustration and misunderstanding.
  • Body language limitations: online meetings make it challenging to interpret body language and non-verbal cues, which are crucial for effective communication and understanding.
  • Interruption challenges: in virtual settings, participants may hesitate to interrupt the speaker or may not have the opportunity to do so, leading to missed opportunities for clarifications.

5. Lack of follow-up

  • Undefined action items: meetings often conclude without clearly defined action items or responsibilities, leaving participants uncertain about their post-meeting tasks.
  • Ambiguous outcomes: participants may lack clarity regarding the meeting's outcomes and what steps need to be taken next, resulting in a lack of accountability.
  • 50% highlighted the lack of action follow-ups as one of the main challenges of online meetings.
  • 46% think not setting clear meeting objectives contributes to ineffective meetings.
  • 43% acknowledge that low engagement is a major problem.
  • 37% believe that time mismanagement leads to unnecessary meetings.

How can AI improve virtual meetings?

1. Enhanced meeting organization

2. Increased participant engagement

3. Effective time management

4. Transcription and meeting summaries

5. Efficient post-meeting follow-up

adam.ai for true all-in-one meeting management

How to create booking pages to schedule meetings
Built-in video conferencing side by side with the meeting content
How to apply meeting templates
How to create actions in a meeting
Meeting spaces for projects, teams, committees, boards
How to generate meeting minutes
Adam the AI assistant generates meeting summary and transcription

The bottom line

  • adam.ai is one of Atlassian Ventures' portfolio companies.
  • In the meeting management software category on G2, adam.ai has been ranked a leader and a high performer for successive quarters in the past years.
  • adam.ai has been included in the Forrester Report in the AI-enabled meeting technology landscape.
  • adam.ai is trusted and used by powerful teams and organizations worldwide for all types of critical meetings, like board, committee, project management, and business development meetings.
  • And most importantly, adam.ai integrates with your existing workflow, is SOC2 compliant, provides dedicated support and success, and has a free trial option.

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About the author

Shaimaa Badawi

Inbound Marketing Specialist at adam.ai

Shaimaa Badawi is an Inbound Marketing Specialist at adam.ai. Her research revolves around meeting management, project management, and board meetings, where she identifies the most daunting meeting pain points that C-level executives, board and committee members, corporate secretaries, and other professionals working in enterprises face in meetings. Based on her findings, Shaimaa provides solutions for inefficient meetings, defines various aspects of corporate-level meetings, and outlines best practices on how to run effective meetings.

Shaimaa Badawi: Inbound Marketing Specialist at adam.ai
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