The Best Meeting Management Softwares Compared

Meeting Management Software Definition: What is Meeting Software?

Meeting management refers to the management of the typical phases and components of a meeting process. This includes specific measures that need to be accomplished before, during, and after a meeting. Neglecting individual parts of meeting management can lead to untapped potential, dissatisfied participants, and other negative effects.

Meeting management software supports those responsible in the aforementioned to-dos – including planning, organization, execution, and results analysis. A good software specifically helps to schedule meetings, set up related agendas, send invitations, make notes or record results, and generate long-term meeting schedules.

Some programs also include digital live meeting software or live meeting tools. With these features, employees can participate remotely in team gatherings. Meetings via such a program can indeed be equipped with numerous other digital features, such as recording functions, whiteboards, or file-sharing applications.

Why should companies use a meeting tool?

Important decisions are made in meetings. The higher the position of the participants and/or the more business-critical the issues to be dealt with, the more relevant efficient, maximally targeted meetings are. Of course, no company wants to waste time and money on routine meetings.

However, this is often the case. According to a survey by Harvard Business School and Boston University, 71 percent of respondents (182 executives from various industries) described the meetings they attended as unproductive and inefficient. Other surveys suggest that employees spend an average of more than 30 hours per month in meetings that add no value. This equates to about four working days. When these hours are converted to the salaries of the people involved, owners and managers might gulp.

A significant portion of today's meetings therefore take much longer than necessary. Combined with the fact that a considerable proportion of meetings yield too little output, it's safe to assume a tremendous inefficiency.

But that's not all: As a 2019 study by the University of Augsburg found out, the frequency of meetings has increased significantly since 2015. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this trend received another significant push. In a Forrester study, 19 percent of surveyed executives reported holding weekly management meetings – before the pandemic, it was only four percent. As a result, there is also an increased level of meeting frustration. According to the survey by the University of Augsburg, 66 percent of participants wish for more efficient meetings, 35 percent would like shorter meetings, and 20 percent would be happy with fewer meetings.

Poor, long, and complicated meetings ultimately result in decisions that may be less than optimal or even detrimental, which can impact many business processes. They diminish the engagement of participants and worsen productivity. Last but not least, the effects of a bad meeting can irritate those involved, which can lead to considerable dissatisfaction: It's hard to find anyone who hasn't complained about a meeting. This in turn can significantly affect overall employee satisfaction. The most drastic consequences are declining revenues and a significantly increased willingness to change.

With good planning, a clear structure, and comprehensive follow-up to meetings using meeting management software, all these negative factors can be eliminated.

How does meeting software work?

The functions and processes that take place within a meeting management software strongly depend on the features the particular solution offers. The equipment of the individual providers can be very different - and a multitude of packages with varying tools are offered. With the following application features, however, buyers should always be able to count.

• Planning: With meeting software, those responsible can create and plan events in detail as they see fit. Most solutions include features for setting up agendas. They also provide an overview of all upcoming meetings. This allows managers and sometimes even employees to see exactly what is happening when.

• Appointment Automation: With meeting management software, those responsible can automate the scheduling. Instead of manually entering all details about upcoming events into a calendar or a table, it is possible to publish the data directly from the software. Additional appointments or changes are logically included.

• Participant Management: Meeting management software typically offers the ability to manage participant lists. With appropriate features, managers can easily add new persons and update existing ones with up-to-date information. The best meeting management software also helps to send out reminders to participants before important meetings. These messages can be sent via email, text message, or phone call.

• Recording: With meeting software, meetings or their results can be digitized and thus clearly tracked. Tracking meeting minutes is important as new team members or colleagues who could not attend a meeting are given all the relevant information afterwards. They can read everything in the minutes to inform themselves about what was said. Furthermore, these records are of course important references for the impact and optimization of project implementations, production innovations, marketing measures, etc., which were discussed in the corresponding meetings.

• Meeting Reports: If owners or managers want to know how their company has performed in meetings over a certain period, meeting management software can create individual reports for this purpose. These include detailed information on attendance rates, average response times, results, and many other insights. With these facts, meeting processes can be improved step by step to become more efficient and effective.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a meeting program?

The central advantages offered by using meeting software have already been discussed: The possibility of significantly more efficient, targeted meetings with the right solutions is particularly noteworthy. However, improving employee satisfaction in this regard is also an important factor. The benefits in detail associated with this are summarized below.

• Increased Productivity: Meeting management software offers the opportunity to plan, conduct, record, and evaluate meetings with minimal manual effort. This significantly increases productivity in relation to meetings. By facilitating the process of organizing and managing several meetings in less time and yet with greater success potential.

• Improved Collaboration: Meeting software can greatly facilitate collaboration within meetings. Depending on the provider and package, meetings through the solutions can be equipped with all kinds of digital helpers. These range from file sharing and whiteboard applications to video conference tools for remote participation. The boundaries between meeting management software and online meeting software can be fluid. Larger suites can bring both organizational tools and features for digital remote meetings. This ensures high-quality communication and a potentially high level of engagement between team members.

• Time Saving: Meeting software helps save time by automating many of the otherwise manual tasks associated with planning or conducting a meeting. Additionally, specific automation features such as automatic reminders of upcoming meetings and even automatic creation of agendas are offered.

• Cost Reduction: Meeting software allows for a tremendous streamlining of team gatherings. The positive effects compared to a conventional or less structured meeting can even be improved. This leads to a significant reduction in effort with more advantageous results. Additionally, digitalization can also reduce paper costs.

• Recording and Playback: Meeting software may come with recording functions that allow users the ability to save sessions. This allows for important cornerstones to be tracked and questioned in the long term. These features are especially useful for analyzing project progress and generally for team members who cannot participate in person but definitely need access to the content discussed.

These, of course, are many very strong arguments in favor of using meeting management software. There really aren't any disadvantages. However, certain issues in connection with the application or the creation of the right prerequisites and the appropriate mindset may arise.

• Strategy: A management solution for meetings is only as good as the meeting strategy implemented with it. While the best programs can provide roadmaps and tips for effective meetings, most of the input for successful gatherings must come from those responsible for operating the system. These prerequisites often go unnoticed, leaving the practical application of meeting software well behind its potential.

• Data Effort: A meeting management software can generate a lot of new data. Especially in a company where typically many important meetings take place, such as in a digital agency, not only a vast amount of planning information but also a huge mass of protocols, sound recordings, videos, and other files are created. To truly benefit from them, these should ideally be analyzed in detail despite software support. This involves a considerable amount of work that wouldn't have been necessary without the management solution. This effort is well worth it, of course, but it is underestimated by many managers.

How to choose the appropriate meeting software?

There are many meeting software providers in the market, offering various features for different meeting needs and industries. Given these conditions, the choice of the best meeting tool for your own purposes can undoubtedly become extremely difficult. By taking into account the following tips, decision-makers can make their task significantly easier and efficiently arrive at the perfect solution.

Filter out the required features Those interested in meeting software are well advised to first get a precise overview of their most important pain points when it comes to meetings. Based on the problems identified, the required features of a meeting program can be accurately determined.

In most companies, the biggest challenges lie in suitable structuring and in processing the resulting insights from a meeting. A meeting management software is therefore often appropriate that brings at least the following capabilities:

• Provision of a platform for the planning, structuring, and announcement of meetings.

• Support during the conduct of meetings through clear time tables, protocol functions, etc.

• Tools for the post-processing of gatherings and for performing analysis and reports.

Apart from these fundamental functions, a good meeting management software usually brings numerous additional features. Some also allow for the assigning and tracking of tasks, acting as a boundary to complete work management programs or project management tools. In addition, communication tools for remote meetings such as VoIP or video might be included.

The possibilities are enormous. Nevertheless, those responsible should never simply choose a solution that “does everything“. When searching for the right software, you need to pay particular attention to the mix of functions and options that are specifically needed. Otherwise, companies will not only throw a lot of money out the window because they pay for features they hardly or don't need at all. With too many features, they might even create harmful usage barriers that prevent maximum effectiveness.

Clear and intuitive user interface Managers or administrators should not always have to help department heads and other meeting responsible to figure out how individual functions of the team meeting software work. The best software for managing meetings avoids such usage pitfalls by offering a clear and intuitive user interface.

Ideally, the interface is self-explanatory and intuitive. An intuitive interface displays the right actions at the right time and uses visual cues that are obvious and helpful. As simple as this sounds, not every tool does a good job here – and not every solution is suitable for every level of knowledge. Interested parties should therefore precisely examine what requirements and needs the future users of the meeting software bring along and which solutions serve these best.

Creating individual meeting agendas A meeting is only as efficient and successful as its agenda. A clear agenda and timetable help those responsible to plan meetings more effectively and to stay on track during the meeting. On the other hand, they also assist participants in preparing for meetings and in focusing their thoughts at the right time on the respective topic. This results in better contributions and more fruitful end results.

Indeed, the creation of precise agendas is a key component in conducting good, fruitful team meetings where all participants can contribute and feel comfortable.

Naturally, such meeting agendas can also be created in Microsoft Word, email, Notepad or a dozen other programs. However, if the meeting management software includes such a feature, it will always have the content centrally located and can access it safely. Some solutions also provide tips for favourable agendas. As a result, no system breaks occur, significantly reducing the risk of errors and double handling.

Easy integration with other applications Finally, meeting management tools are rarely used in isolation. Almost always, integrations with other applications that revolve around typical meetings are required.

Quality meeting management solutions, for instance, can seamlessly cooperate with the established calendar system. They can further be linked with popular email software or business messengers for notifications about upcoming gatherings.

A lack of purposeful integration can be a reason why team members avoid using tools. Various studies show that employees only use about 45 percent of the applications and tools their companies pay for if these are not perfectly integrated into the daily software processes.

What does Meeting Management Software cost?

The prices for meeting software start on average at about 20 Euros per month and go up to more than 200 Euros per month. They depend largely on the range of functions a particular solution offers. There are also considerably feature-restricted free versions available. However, these are usually only suitable for basic needs. More extensive analytics or reports or recording functions should not be expected here.

If more specific tools like screen recordings, surveys, and planning automations are required, the corresponding programs can quickly cost far more than 200 Euros per month. Furthermore, there are many tailor-made meeting solutions for companies that can be put together or even programmed as needed. Then even expenditures of several thousand euros per year are possible.