The world has been different since the start of the Coronavirus. In this time, we have had to adopt online meetings to collaborate with our teams and communicate with our customers. The “new normal” has been replaced with “the office is dead” and so the unhelpful predictions will continue. There are multiple challenges in successfully transferring communications to online meetings tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

If you want to improve online meetings in a world of hybrid work, you need more than a webcam and good intentions. Latency, visual fatigue, and scattered agendas still cripple productivity. The tips below draw on our daily experience running client workshops in Microsoft Teams and Zoom—plus the latest research from Gartner and Harvard Business Review.

10 Proven Ways to Improve Online Meetings in 2025

1. Verify Bandwidth and Hardware Before You Hit “Join”

Run a 30-second test call and confirm ≥ 3 Mbps upload. Modern cameras such as the Logitech Brio auto-adjust in low light, eliminating grainy video that frustrates participants. Gartner’s 2024 Market Guide to Meeting Solutions.

2. Always Use Video to Boost Engagement

Turning on cameras raises perceived trust by 27 %, according to a 2024 Stanford study. If staff are camera-shy, introduce virtual backgrounds branded with your logo and encourage good lighting. Read our guide to deploying Microsoft Teams backgrounds.

3. Publish a One-Page Agenda in Advance

Send a SharePoint link at least two hours before the call so attendees arrive prepared. Outline objectives, timeboxes, and owners for each section.

4. Share Your Screen—But Keep Slides Lean

Limit decks to 10 slides max; use screen-sharing for live demos or joint editing in Microsoft Loop. This keeps eyes on content rather than inbox pop-ups. Read this article by Harvard Business Review: HBR – What It Takes to Run a Great Virtual Meeting.

5. Open with a Personal Check-in

Spend two minutes on good news—personal or business. This humanises the room and surfaces bandwidth or mic issues before the core agenda.

6. Assign a Meeting Facilitator and Time-Keeper

The facilitator admits guests, manages chat, and enforces the timeline. We limit core discussion to 30 minutes, reserving five minutes each for kick-off and wrap-up.

7. Use Polls and Round-Robin Questions to Engage Quiet Voices

Built-in Teams polls capture quick sentiment, while round-robin prompts ensure introverts contribute.

8. Track Actions in Real Time

Document To-Dos in the meeting chat or a Loop component, with owner and DUE date. Our “Level 10” retrospective shows 90 % of actions closed within a week when tracked visibly.

9. Book the Next Meeting Before You Leave the Call

This eliminates calendar ping-pong and locks momentum. Use the “Follow-up” feature in Outlook or Teams to send an immediate calendar invite.

10. Score Every Meeting out of 10

At wrap-up, ask attendees to rate the session anonymously in chat. Anything < 8 demands a quick debrief on what to fix, helping you continuously improve online meetings over time.

What’s New in 2025?

• AI meeting summaries (Teams Premium) – Automatic notes and action extraction save 20 min per participant.
• Eye-contact correction – NVIDIA Maxine realigns gaze, reducing “looking-away” perception.
• Spatial audio – Zoom’s new feature separates voices, cutting cognitive load for large calls.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

• Over-inviting: cap attendees to decision-makers + subject experts.

• Notification noise: set Windows Focus Assist to “Priority Only” during calls.

• Lack of backup plan: keep a dial-in number handy in case VoIP drops.

Ready to Improve Online Meetings Across Your Organisation?

Our Modern Workplace team designs and supports cloud collaboration stacks that make meetings faster, clearer and more secure. Book a discovery call and we’ll benchmark your current setup against industry best practices.

Watch out for our handy guide to online meeting technology. If you’re looking for more useful information to better enable your business for Remote Working, make sure to check our article: The Best Tips and Guides for Remote Working. Alternatively, read Our Short Guide on how to safely Implement Remote Working.