The End of Meeting Fatigue

By now you must have heard about the phenomenon of, “Virtual Meeting Fatigue”. Maybe you saw it written on LinkedIn but what does it really mean? Meeting Fatigue is the feeling of exhaustion that often occurs after attending a series of virtual video meetings. 

If you are running to grab cup after cup of coffee in between meetings then you may be experiencing this for yourself!

Here are a few tips to not only reduce the number of virtual meetings cluttering your calendar but to improve the output of those for the future!

1. Appoint a Meeting Facilitator
   1. Appoint a facilitator who will drive conversations among the attendees, moderate discussions, and invite people to contribute. In the case of future hybrid meetings, have someone from the remote team facilitate the discussion among the people who are working remotely.
2. Gather Inputs From Those Who Cannot Join
   1. Collect ideas from your teammates who are unable to join the meeting so you can take their inputs into account when addressing a certain issue or raising a point on their behalf.
   2. Also, encourage these teammember to post their questions in advance on Slack. This will allow you to incorporate their points into the discussion and make them feel included as they review the meeting notes or watch the recording later.
3. Encourage People to Turn on Their Cameras
   1. As your colleagues join the meeting, prompt them to turn on their cameras. A remote meeting is made much more personal if people can see each other on the screen. Please note: this is a requirement for all meetings going forward.
4. Outline the Agenda
   1. As you move on to the content of the meeting, dedicate the first minute or two to outlining what the meeting will be about and setting the meeting objectives.
5. Wrap Up Your Meeting with Clear Next Steps
   1. Appoint someone who will take notes during the meeting and summarize the key points and meeting outputs. You can share these in writing after the meeting ends with those who attended as well as those who couldn’t join.
6. Record Your Meeting When Possible
   1. Don’t forget to record your remote meeting for those who were unable to join live or for your attendees to replay if they’ve missed something.
7. Following Up (Immediately)
   1. Sending a follow-up email directly after a meeting helps you continue engagement while attendees have your meeting fresh in their minds.
   2. What to include in a follow-up email:
      1. Meeting minutes summary.
      2. Next-steps summary.
      3. Key meeting accomplishment. (With any luck, this will match your key meeting objective)
      4. Recording. (if applicable)

Everyone’s time is valuable and should not go to waste in meetings that end with no output. By adopting these steps, we can make the most of our time together!