As the year draws to a close and you start to plan for 2023, what’s the best way to ensure your team is clear on goals, vision, plan, OKRs and KPIs? I’m sure a presentation deck and a meeting is part of the communication plan. But what if you could do it differently?
A recent study conducted by Steven Rogelberg, a professor of organizational science management at University of North Carolina, in collaboration with Otter.ai, found that almost half of a typical workweek is spent in meetings, 18 hours to be exact. Although most can argue that an annual planning meeting is a top priority, is an all hands meeting absolutely essential? The study also discovered that unnecessary meetings cost you $25,000/year per employee. So, rethinking how you communicate isn’t only smart, it’s cost effective.
Document communication can help you take a different approach. It can allow you to clearly communicate next year’s plans and goals but it doesn’t require everyone to attend a meeting. Let’s take a look at how document communication can transform the way you communicate your annual plan.
Add clarity and empathy with video and audio
Document communication allows you to use audio and video narration to add context and clarity to your annual planning deck. Your annual plan is bound to have OKRs that need a little more context or KPIs that need more clarity than a bullet point can provide. When you add your voice to your deck, you provide that extra level of detail and ensure your employees understand exactly what you mean.
Your voice also communicates empathy and makes your annual plan come alive with personality. Do you want to remind your employees of why the company’s mission and vision matters? Is there a personal story you want to share that provides context or inspiration around a new goal? Document communication gives you the opportunity to include all of that within your deck.
Share securely and edit on the fly
Before you share your unique annual plan deck with a simple link, you can add password protection, set expiration dates, and remove external sharing. This gives you the peace of mind that your deck is kept secure and only shared with your employees.
Once your deck is shared, you still have time to edit any mistakes. Since decks are stored in the cloud, you can edit them on the fly – even after you click send. Did someone catch a typo or broken link? No problem, simply edit and save.
Check engagement – Did your message land?
As a leader, you want to understand if your employees actually engaged with your deck. Did they view every slide? Where did they drop off? Did they click the link you included? Document communication allows you to gain all of these insights.
You can track:
- When they opened the presentation
- How many times they viewed it
- Which slides they considered the most and which they skipped
- Which links they clicked on
This helps you understand where employees may have lost interest, or what slides they viewed multiple times. This can also help you understand if there is a bigger cultural issue at hand if a large portion of your employees are disengaged. With these powerful insights, you can make informed decisions on what to tweak, or provide more information about. This feedback allows you to create future content that’s clearer, more concise, and more compelling.
Can’t skip the meeting?
Sometimes a live meeting is unavoidable. Perhaps your executive team feels it’s integral to the culture and team morale for annual planning meetings to be live engagements. We get it. However, you can still change that experience into a different, more engaging format. Document communication can transform your meeting from a one-way presentation into a two-way conversation.
Instead of waiting to share your meeting deck at the live meeting time, share it in advance. Allow your employees to process the content and eliminate any anxiety around what will be shared in your meeting. This creates a more relaxed energy during the live call and gives your employees time to come with questions. Your live meeting’s focus is now more of a town hall format that encourages dialogue. This helps build a culture of transparency and trust.
Align and focus your team with document communication
Whether you keep your annual planning meeting or eliminate it, document communication can transform the way you communicate your content. You can ensure your team hears your message exactly the way you intend it while also adding empathy and personality.
AirDeck’s document communication platform can inspire you to think differently about meetings. A new way to communicate is here and it can help eliminate unnecessary meetings saving your company thousands of dollars per year per employee. It’s time to create a new future. Request a demo.
