Doodle-Zoom Integration Revs Up Efficiencies & Engagement for Virtual Meetings

Remote meetings have become my new normal. And I’m not alone. A survey by Miro found that 73 percent of employees had at least four remote meetings in seven days. This has a lot to do with the competitive business landscape that’s led to a major increase in the number of globally distributed and remote workforces around the world. 

Today we’ve added a new integration with Zoom, one of the world’s most trusted and popular video conferencing tools, to simplify, automate and improve the remote meeting experience. 

To give you some more flavor into this integration and what it means for businesses, I sat down for a chat with one of our product managers, Timoteo Canonica.

What sets Zoom apart from other video conferencing tools? Why did it make sense to partner with them for this integration?

Timoteo: According to a recent article in CNBC, Zoom has already added 2.22 million monthly active users in 2020, while it added 1.99 million in 2019. These numbers speak volumes for why Zoom has become the video conferencing tool of choice used by businesses – and sales, marketing, HR and product professionals – around the world. And at Doodle, we use Zoom to conduct our product-focused webinars. 

Do you think there’s a correlation between scheduling inefficiencies and meeting no-shows? How do you think the Doodle-Zoom integration will solve that? 

Timoteo: I absolutely think scheduling inefficiencies have a direct impact on meeting no-shows. No one likes being left waiting for someone to arrive at a meeting, only to have that person never arrive. The infamous meeting no-show, unfortunately, happens more often than any of us like. When it’s for a genuine reason (due to an emergency or last-minute change in priorities), we get it; we adjust; we get over it. 

But when a no-show happens due to scheduling inefficiencies – simply because an organizer forgot to create a Zoom link and add it into the calendar invite – it’s frustrating as hell. 

Unfortunately, no-shows happen often in the business world. Why? Well, most business professionals have heavy workloads, a long list of tasks and projects to complete each week and clearly outlined goals and KPIs they have to meet in their roles. So when they’re setting up meetings (be it with internal teams and stakeholders, or with external customers, partners and vendors), they’re not really paying a lot of attention to the scheduling part. It’s usually an afterthought. 

Most people try to spend as little time as possible on the meeting scheduling part itself. So they quickly set up a calendar invite, invite participants and hit send. But more often than not, they leave the ‘location’ tab in their calendar blank mostly because there might be participants who are based in other offices (or work remotely). So a video conferencing tool will inevitably be required. Of course, the meeting organizer has every intention of updating the calendar invite later once they’ve set up the necessary video conferencing link. 

But remember how busy most professionals are these days? Work gets hectic; time passes and all of a sudden it’s minutes before the scheduled meeting is set to take place. But lo’ and behold, the organizer realizes he forgot to set up the Zoom link (going into their Zoom account on the Zoom website, creating a new meeting, copying/pasting the Zoom link and then updating the calendar invite with said Zoom link). That’s a lot of extra steps, juggling between different tools (and websites/apps) and time that can be cut out completely with our new Doodle-Zoom integration. And in the process, it could reverse the increasing trend of meeting no-shows. That’s a win-win.

Remote work and distributed teams have become the new normal in most workplaces today. This is especially true in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Do you believe the Doodle-Zoom integration could play a role in helping remote and distributed teams break through the physical barriers and forge a sense of belonging and shared community?

Timoteo: There are large numbers of employees who find themselves in a unique situation right now as their companies have instituted a fully remote operational model for an indefinite period of time until the coronavirus outbreak can be contained (and the safety of employees can be assured). But when employees are physically distanced from their team members, direct managers, colleagues and leadership, it can be easy to isolate and disengage with others. This is where a video conferencing tool like Zoom has become essential in tackling those challenges. According to a study by GigaOm Research, 87 percent of remote employees seem to feel more connected with their teams and the entire process when they make use of video conferencing. So if video conferencing has the power to make remote and distributed teams feel more connected and engaged, it makes perfect sense that video and scheduling technology work better together to make this happen. 

One way these remote teams can use the Doodle-Zoom integration (to feel connected and engaged) is to set up daily virtual coffee chats for one-to-one time with colleagues and team members. This time should be spent sharing personal anecdotes, updates on their lives, discussing current events or whatever else feels natural. And if virtual meetings are happening, keep the video functionality enabled on your video conferencing tool. By keeping it on, remote teams can see when their counterparts smile, laugh or have their toddler inadvertently (and hilariously) stumble into the video. 

This is also an opportunity for leadership and HR teams to lean into the power of digital tools to maintain and strengthen the workplace culture. Rather than cancelling group meetings (i.e. all-hands meetings, weekly game nights, Friday Beers), just make them virtual. Encourage employees to grab a beer from their own fridges (or wine, if you prefer) and head to a group virtual meeting, where they can keep the engagement going. 

To get an up-close look at how the Doodle-Zoom integration actually works – and how it can cut down on meeting no-shows and increase collaboration for remote teams – watch this video.

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