Collaboration is the mainstay of success in construction projects as large teams need to work across sites spanning huge areas. According to Autodesk and FMI statistics, 43% of high trust construction firms make collaboration central to their operations. When it comes to collaboration, meetings are critical because they bring people together to discuss action items, coordinate activities, and evaluate issues. However, the pandemic has made physical meetings a remote possibility for companies.
Fortunately, virtual technologies have come to the rescue of the industry as meeting software for construction makes them possible regardless of the location of the attendees. Even as the application gets meetings on track, you need to think beyond technology to make them fruitful. The key lies in adopting the right approach and ensuring that virtual meetings are not just a waste of time. Here are the measures that can help you manage meetings on your construction projects effectively.
Have the right technology in place
Right now, you may find a wide choice in meeting tools as the pandemic has made people go the extra mile with technology. But everything boils down to having the right technology in place. When you look for meeting software for construction, prioritize features that make sense for your company. One that facilitates video calling is ideal for bringing the team face-to-face. You will also want an application that facilitates task management and helps the managers to record minutes of the meeting. Zepth Meetings is an ideal pick as it has all these features and more. You can use it to share screen, attach documents, and assign tasks so that everyone is on the same page.
Create accessible agendas
Managers need to do some homework even before bringing everyone together for a virtual meeting. They must have a clear agenda and distribute it in advance so that the attendees have an idea about what they would discuss during the interaction. The meeting has chances of being more productive as you will not have to waste time creating a background or explaining the key discussion points to the team. Rather, you can get straight down to work when everyone is there.
Communicate expectations clearly
The biggest challenge for managers and workers in the age of social distancing is a lack of clarity. Since everyone isn’t at one location physically, it gets hard to understand what they are expected to do. Managers should establish clear expectations and communicate them to everyone on board. When you do it, make sure that the information is compatible with the virtual meeting format. If attendees understand the expectations, they will be able to process them and take the project ahead.
Engage the attendees
Making a virtual meeting successful is all about engaging the attendees and holding their attention till the end. It can get challenging for a construction project manager because a large number of people will be around, and there will be many questions to handle. A virtual assistant like Zi can give you a winning advantage as it can create a conversational experience for the attendees and no one will feel missed out. Even as the conversation is flowing, the meeting software can record detailed minutes. At the end of the meeting, you will have enough information to track accountability and capture valuable decisions.
Seek feedback
Another best practice that you cannot miss out on with virtual meetings for your construction teams is gathering feedback on the process. It ensures that the interactions are productive and people pay attention to the agendas. You need not do much for gathering feedback from the attendees. Consider having informal meetings at team levels or even make the employees participate in an anonymous survey. They may come up with some great ideas for improving the process and boosting engagement.
Virtual meetings will be around in the post-pandemic world, and no construction company can imagine a future without them. Investing in Zepth Meetings is the best decision for your business as it gets your teams ready for the new normal in collaboration.
