Why you should stop using Google Docs for your meeting agendas (and what to use instead)
Sure, you can make Google Docs work with a lot of planning and organizing (and ignoring all the missing features), but your tools should work for you - not the other way around. Once you understand the power of a dedicated meeting app, you'll never want to go back.
It's Monday morning, 9:36am, and you're still waiting for your 9:30 meeting to start. Instead of sharing updates, everyone is listening to a chorus of "can you share that with me?" "what folder is it in?" and "who wants to take notes today?".
If we could calculate the number of human-hours lost to trying to make Google Docs work as a meeting agenda tool, we probably wouldn't, because it would be too depressing. Sure, you can make it work with a lot of planning and organizing (and ignoring all the missing features), but your tools should work for you - not the other way around. Once you understand the power of a dedicated meeting app, you'll never want to go back.
TL;DR: Trying to use Google Docs to run a meeting agenda does not make it a meeting tool.
So, what does a good meeting agenda tool look like?
We're glad you asked! A great meeting tool will be designed to help your meetings flow - it should have a dynamic agenda, timekeeping, structured activities, and trackable outcomes. Using it should feel like Henry Martyn Robert came back from the dead and is now your very own personal meeting facilitator - basically, everything should run so smoothly that you never have to worry about these things, and everyone can actually participate in the meeting.
A dynamic meeting agenda
When you're putting together a meeting agenda in google docs, you're creating a static list. You might try adding times for each agenda item, but then you're constantly re-checking your math to adjust.
A dynamic meeting agenda will allow you to plan a meeting with the experience in mind, while the software takes care of making sure everything is happening within your time limit. You can easily add, edit, and remove agenda items, and see how much time is available for more activities.
Timekeeping
If your meeting agenda tool isn't keeping time for you, it's always going to either a) become someone's job to be the time cop, or b) everyone will be silently grimacing as they watch each agenda item go over time and start to take over their lunch, or next call, wishing they could sneak out.
When you use a meeting tool like Sesh, time keeping is simple. All you have to do is set your initial meeting time, and build out your agenda. Then, Sesh will alert you whenever an activity is taking too long, or someone is talking longer than they were supposed to.
As a host, you can always add more time, but the visual and audio cues given can also encourage your team to be thoughtful about the time they're taking up, and if needed, schedule a follow-up meeting to continue working on the longer topic.
Meeting activities
A huge benefit of using a dedicated meeting tool is the pre-built activities inside of it. When you're putting together an agenda in Sesh (or customizing one of the pre-built templates) you'll have tons of great options that are all thoughtfully researched and designed to make your meetings run better.
Some of the meeting activities we use at almost every meeting are: Rounds to give everyone a turn to speak, brainstorm for making big decisions, and icebreakers for meetings.
Tracking meeting outcomes
Running your meetings well is only part of the picture - if there's no follow up, then your time wasn't well spent. Any meeting app worth its weight in La Croix will have a process for tracking outcomes that lets anyone create and assign to-dos.
The outcomes shouldn't just be tossed in a list and forgotten about for the next 6 days. There needs to be a follow-up, and that's where Sesh comes in. Outcomes recorded in Sesh are emailed out to every meeting attendee, and are easily viewable within the Sesh app.
Chances are, if you're not using a dedicated meeting tool, you're missing out on the full potential of your meetings without knowing what they could be like if you had great meeting agenda templates, a meeting timer, customizable activities, or trackable meeting outcomes.
If you're not using Sesh yet, sign up here or book a demo with us. It's time to divorce Google Docs as your meeting tool.