Now more than ever, teams are shifting away from traditional in-person office settings and moving to hybrid or fully remote work models. By 2025, researchers estimate that more than 22% of the U.S. workforce will work remotely. This trend has given rise to several powerful online tools that help teams improve communication and engagement in the workplace.
One of the most important communication channels for remote teams is virtual meetings. Thousands of teams worldwide rely on online tools like team meeting software to host productive and effective team meetings. These meeting management software applications have transformed the way teams meet, collaborate, and accomplish goals.
In this article, we will take a closer look at the following questions:
- What is team meeting software?
- What are the benefits of using team meeting software?
- What is Fellow, and how does it work?
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What is team meeting software?
Team meeting software is a type of meeting management software designed to help teams streamline and optimize their meeting workflow. This type of meeting management software has built-in features that help teams save hours every week, host productive online meetings, and coordinate more effectively with their remote colleagues.
Typically, these platforms have the following features:
- Calendar management tools
- Pre-built meeting agenda templates
- Video conferencing features
- File sharing capabilities
- Note taking tools
- Task management tools
- Third-party app integrations
- Education and resources
But how exactly do these features help teams save time and improve meeting outcomes? Let's review these specific features and examine how they make online meetings more productive and effective.
Calendar management tools
Managing your team's calendar is easier than ever with meeting management software. Sync your Microsoft 365 calendar or Google Calendar directly with the platform to view scheduled events, schedule remote meetings, invite attendees, add video conference links, and prepare for upcoming meetings without leaving the app.
Pre-built meeting agenda templates
A well-designed meeting agenda is the best way to add structure and process to an online meeting. The agenda clearly states the meeting objectives, goals, and action items. When used correctly, the meeting plan keeps conversation focused and hold attendees accountable for individual and team action items. Meeting management software platforms like Fellow give teams the ability to prepare the meeting agenda via customizable, pre-built templates. So, instead of starting from scratch every time, teams can create an agenda instantly with hundreds of free templates.
Video conferencing features
Meeting management tools often integrate with popular video conferencing software like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, or BlueJeans. These video conferencing platforms have native functions that enhance online meetings like audio and video calling, screen sharing, and the ability to record meetings. Video conferencing apps seamlessly integrate with meeting management tools so teams can easily add group meeting links to their calendar events, invite attendees, and hold virtual meetings with ease.
File sharing capabilities
Before meeting attendees enter the meeting room, it's crucial that everyone is on the same page. Remote teams often use online meeting tools to share files and meeting documents. This ensures that everyone is informed and aligned with the meeting plan. With some meeting management tools, teams can search, share, and review notes from previous meetings. Teams can also share the upcoming meeting agenda directly in the app, via email, via Slack or Microsoft Teams chat threads. However, not all meeting management tools have the same file sharing capabilities.
Note taking tools
Once the meeting starts, virtual teams need tools that give them the ability to collaborate in real- time and document important meeting details. Meeting notes are a great way for teams to keep track of what was accomplished, what responsibilities were given, and what decisions were made in the meeting. Instead of everyone taking their own notes, teams can take notes in one digital document, so everything is tracked and centralized.
Task management tools
A meeting without proper follow-through is a waste of your team's valuable time. Before the meeting concludes, it's important to discuss and delegate action items. Nearly every meeting management software has built-in features as well as third-party app integrations that give teams the ability to assign tasks, add due dates, and track progress towards meeting action items. By utilizing these task management tools, teams can ensure that everyone is informed and accountable for next steps after the meeting is over.
Third-party app integrations
It is no secret that businesses require more than one online tool to manage their day-to-day operations. Team meeting software is just one of many tools used by remote teams. Most meeting management tools provide direct integrations with popular work apps like CRMs, task management tools, video conferencing software, team messaging platforms, etc. In addition to direct integrations, teams can also connect thousands of apps via Zapier, a web application that connects one or more apps.
Education and resources
Like many other online applications, meeting management tools give users access to a library of continuing education and support documentation. Blogs and downloadable resources help inspire and motivate teams to improve meeting processes and make the most out of every session. Live product support and documentation provide essential information and guidance for using the platform.
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What are the benefits of using team meeting software?
If you've ever worked on a remote team, you know that video meetings are essential to the productivity and success of any team. But, when meetings are disorganized or objectives are unclear, meetings can leave attendees feeling frustrated, misaligned, and unengaged. That is why many teams use team meeting software to build a solid structure around their meeting prep, execution, and follow-through.
With this type of meeting management tool, teams can enjoy a smooth meeting workflow that:
- Saves time during the meeting planning process
- Optimizes information sharing and data management
- Enhances meeting productivity
- Strengthens team communication
- Drives business outcomes
Most importantly, an effective meeting workflow increases employee engagement and satisfaction. Clear communication, accessible information, and organized action plans are simple yet effective ways to improve meeting outcomes and employee engagement. Meeting management software makes it easy for teams to share information, stay motivated, give feedback, and accomplish collective team goals.
Now that we've covered some of the key features and benefits of meeting management software platforms, let's take a closer look at one specific team meeting platform and examine how it's used to improve virtual meeting performance.
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What is Fellow, and how does it work?
Fellow is the best meeting management software platforms available today. It is used by more than 100,000 teams around the world. Fellow is the only software platform of its kind that connects meeting agendas and tasks with your team’s calendar through one centralized system. With Fellow, remote teams can easily streamline meeting prep, collaborate in real-time, manage meeting action items, and drive results.
There are several built-in features on the Fellow platform that can help teams dramatically improve their meeting workflow from start to finish. Let's look at the different features available in Fellow.
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Before the meeting
Effortlessly schedule your virtual team meetings
From your first login, Fellow automatically syncs with your team's Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 calendar so you can view everything in one place. You can also schedule meetings, invite attendees, and add video conferencing links from Fellow.
Review notes from previous meetings
Unlike other meeting management software platforms that organize meeting notes into folders, Fellow links meeting notes and agendas directly to the calendar event. Fellow does this by auto-organizing meeting information (i.e., attendee, company, meetings details) based on the data in the calendar invite. This automation feature makes it easy for teams to search, share, and review past meeting information so you never have to ask, “did we cover that last time”.
Prepare an agenda with one-click
Meeting agendas are an essential part of the Fellow framework. Meeting agenda templates help teams transform their meeting process into something that is easily repeatable and scalable. Within Fellow, teams have access to 500+ free meeting agenda templates. Teams can download free templates for use them in Fellow. These pre-built templates include default content, tasks, and Slack channel suggestions to make meeting prep effortless and straightforward.
Share the agenda with meeting participants
Fellow makes it easy to share the meeting agenda with meeting participants. Fellow's default settings automatically make meeting agendas visible to all team members who are invited to the event. Before the meeting, attendees can view, edit, and provide feedback on the agenda items. You can also post meeting docs directly to Slack - making it easy to share information without switching apps. If you are meeting with people outside your organization, you can also share a direct, public link to the agenda via email.
During the meeting
Collaborate with meeting attendees in real-time
Meeting notes are a valuable and necessary part of all team meetings – especially video meetings. Detailed meeting notes help teams record all meeting discussions, outcomes, and action items. With Fellow, teams can easily collaborate during the online meeting and record meeting notes in one place. In the app, you can take notes in single or multi-player mode depending on your meeting structure. Teams can also eliminate communication breakdowns with team members who didn't attend the online meeting by sharing meeting notes and takeaways via Slack or Microsoft Teams.
Assign action items and track progress
When meeting tasks and action items are not properly managed, things slip through the cracks, and your team’s progress is negatively affected. Effective task management is key to successful meeting outcomes. The meeting leader is responsible for documenting action items in real-time and taking the appropriate steps to assign tasks to the responsible parties. In Fellow, teams can easily create, assign, and track tasks inside the platform. Keeping tasks inside the platform prevents teams from working in silos and keeps action items visible to everyone involved. In addition to Fellow’s native task management tools, teams can also integrate with their favorite task management software like Asana, ClickUp, Trello, etc. The full list of project management integrations can be viewed here.
After the meeting
Share meeting notes across the organization
Once the meeting is complete, teams need to share meetings notes with other team members, colleagues, and clients. Fellow makes it easy to circulate meeting takeaways and insights inside Fellow. Teams can also easily integrate with popular team communication tools like Microsoft Teams or Slack to share meeting notes and action items in chat threads.
Search and find any meeting notes or insights in seconds
Fellow's search experience is one of the features that makes Fellow unique. In Fellow, teams can search and find meeting insights in seconds. Instead of searching through endless folders or email threads, teams can access meeting knowledge in one centralized place. Fellow auto-organizes meeting information based on the event, allowing teams to easily find any note or task by searching against meeting attendees, companies, or tags.
Easily connect your team's favorite tools with Fellow
Seamlessly integrate Fellow with your team's entire tech stack – sync with your CRM, collaborate through Slack, embed Figma files or Miro boards, and more. In addition to Fellow's direct app integrations, teams can also connect with over 1000+ other work apps via Zapier. See Fellow's full list of integrations here.
Get support and access free online educational resource library
In addition to all of Fellow's built-in features, teams who use the platform have unlimited access to the Fellow Blog, Resources, and Templates. Teams can access blog posts, downloadable resources, videos, and more. These free online educational resources are designed to support the user experience and help teams rethink how they host online meetings.
Get started with Fellow today
Today, thousands of teams are turning to meeting management tools to help them save time and improve meeting outcomes. Take the next steps with your remote team today by starting a free account in Fellow. Within minutes, you can sync your team calendar, start preparing an agenda, and effectively collaborate with your team during your next virtual meeting.
Interested in learning how other successful teams use Fellow, click here to learn how our users improve meeting culture, save time, and increase meeting productivity with Fellow.
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