The importance of meetings in any business or even non-profit organization is simply undeniable. In fact, with the evolving business practices, organizations now arrange weekly or even daily meetings for different reasons.

Let’s see what the current meeting organization trends dictate, and how they will evolve in the future.

Meeting organization trends

Interestingly, studies reveal that, on average, an employee spends 31 percent of their time in meetings. That is roughly one-third of their total time. However, 21 percent of employees also revealed that they would have more time if there were fewer meetings.

Now, this is a problem for management because meetings are important, but at the same time, employees need enough time to complete their assigned tasks. Solution? Online meeting software, like virtual board software.

This guide will help you to choose the right meeting software for your management teams. Also, we listed some of the best meeting software available in the market, including board portal software, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.

5 things to consider while choosing meeting software for management teams

1. Define your problems

First things first, it is important to know why you need meeting software. What issues does your management face? Common problems include poor pre-meeting communication, improper meeting agenda, and meeting minutes not recorded and appropriately circulated.

2. Ensure software security

This is something you cannot compromise at any cost, especially if you are considering a paperless meeting solution for your most senior management, such as the organization board. Yes, online meeting solutions save time and money, but they are also prone to cyber-attacks. Therefore, make sure the software you are buying complies with the leading security standards.

3. Look for all-in-one software

Ideal meeting software must be able to offer multiple useful features according to your team’s needs. For example, meeting software for management teams must possess the following features:

• Built-in, effective meeting agenda templates, allowing management to create meeting agenda easily.
• Easy process of uploading files
• Built-in task manager
• Ability to take notes during the meeting
• Video conferencing tools
• Easy creation and circulation of meeting minutes

To be honest, there are very few meeting software like a virtual boardroom that can offer you all these features in one place.

4. Make sure the software is integrable with other applications

Your “perfect” meeting software should have built-in audio, video, and web conferencing tools. But even if it hasn’t, it must be able to integrate with the tools mentioned above. Apart from that, the meeting software must be easily integrable with other cloud-based apps and your organization’s operating system.

5. Decide on budget limitations

Choose a vendor that can offer a flexible pricing plan depending on your needs. For example, if you need meeting software for managing 40-50 participants at a time, you don’t need to buy a pricing plan that caters to 150-200 participants simultaneously.

Similarly, if you believe video conferencing is not necessary for the type of meetings your management conducts, then you don’t have to pay for this feature.

Top online meeting software for management teams

1. Board management software

Board management software is one of the highly used options in small, medium, and enterprise-level businesses. A board portal is basically an online board meeting solution that provides standard as well as advanced online meeting features.

Not only this, board portal software is a highly secure data repository where a board can store, share, or edit corporate files. Furthermore, the board portal serves as a virtual space where board members can engage in group discussions, hold virtual meetings, start a motion, cast votes, and the list goes on.

Here is what board portal software can offer:

• Meeting agenda templates; easy to prepare and distribute meeting agenda
• Audio and video conferencing tools
• Board members can take notes during the meeting
• A secure data repository where the board can store documents, images, audio, and video files.
• Meeting minutes templates that allow the management to prepare and distribute minutes easily.
• Strict compliance to international cyber security standards.
• One on one chat
• Easily integrable with other apps and operating systems.

You can read more info about board meeting software here.

2. Zoom

Zoom is complete meeting software for lower as well as upper-level management with all the necessary features for successful online meetings. Here are some amazing features of Zoom:

• Audio and video conferencing tools
• Synchronization with Google Calendar
• Meeting recording option
• Real-time screen sharing
• Co-annotations
• Auto generation of meeting summary

3. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a free meeting tool catering to the needs of hundreds and thousands of organizations around the globe. Microsoft Teams has some amazing features, such as:

• Team chat feature
• Ability to add up to 10000 meeting participants simultaneously
• Unlimited cloud storage
• Audio and video conferencing tools
• Easy integration with other apps and extensions

Final words

Making hasty decisions while choosing meeting software for your management can hurt you in the long run. Start with identifying your needs, know your budget, and choose software that complies with cyber security standards and offers all the features you need.