Meet with success: Learnings from the Sherpany Customer Day
The Sherpany Customer Day was an event hosted at the SIX stock exchange in Zurich, and delivered insights into meeting best practices, meeting science, and how organisations can achieve more through meetings.
On 26 November 2024, we were proud to host our Customer Day event with Professor Steven Rogelberg, a world-renowned organisational psychologist and expert in meeting science.
His keynote was engaging and clear, acting as a catalyst for change in an area where companies invest the most of their money: Meetings. After all, an estimated 15% of an organisation's total time cost is spent in meetings according to recent studies.
We were thrilled to welcome more than 100 attendees to the event, which featured former Swiss Hockey star Florence Schelling, and Sherpany CEO, Tobias Häckermann, alongside Prof. Rogelberg.
Meetings: The cornerstone of organisational success
Meetings are more than just time on the calendar; when it comes to time costs, they represent the largest line item on the balance sheets of many organisations. When poorly executed, they drain resources and morale.
By contrast, effective meetings drive innovation, foster inclusivity, and boost productivity.
At the event, Professor Rogelberg shared actionable insights for holding better meetings. Here are his seven strategies for meeting success:
- Adopt a steward mindset: Approach each meeting with a clear purpose and thoughtfully consider who should attend.
- Keep the invite list small: Smaller meetings enhance focus and inclusivity. Share outcomes with those who need them but didn’t attend.
- Schedule less time: Avoid default durations; shorter meetings often encourage sharper focus and efficiency.
- Start strong: Welcome participants, express gratitude for their time, and initiate a brief check-in to set the tone.
- Engage everyone: Leverage tools like chat to promote participation, and don’t shy away from moments of silence.
- Plan for an ending: Summarize decisions, assign accountability, and define the next steps clearly.
- Turn cameras on: Achieve a level playing field by opting for fully remote setups when possible.
Bonus Tip: Formulate agenda items as meaningful questions to give your meetings purpose and direction and ensure that they stay on time.
Watch Professor Rogelberg’s full talk here:
Insights from the panel: Hybrid and virtual meetings
During the event, we also hosted a panel discussion which explored pressing topics — such as hybrid and virtual meetings and the future of AI in meetings.
Here are some highlights from the panel discussion:
- Hybrid meetings: Whenever feasible, go fully remote to ensure fairness. While active moderation and co-leadership can help level the playing field, one group — typically remote participants — often remains disadvantaged.
- Virtual meetings: Managers must take responsibility for poor virtual meetings by acknowledging past mistakes and committing to improvement. A crucial step is encouraging participants to turn on their cameras, as non-verbal communication is vital for success.
- Combating "Zoom Fatigue": The root causes are often too many meetings and the distraction of seeing oneself on screen. A simple solution? Turn off the self-view in video conferencing tools and focus on hosting fewer, higher-quality meetings.
- Embracing AI for better meetings: With its ability to process information more quickly and comprehensively than humans, AI can enhance decision-making and thoroughness. However, the human element — connection, empathy, and creativity — remains irreplaceable. By integrating AI thoughtfully, we can elevate meetings to focus on what matters most: human interaction. Of course, how data is used and security are also major issues discussed. Sherpany CEO Tobias Häckermann emphasised that Sherpany's private AI works only in the customer's environment and does not train further models.
Stay connected — and keep learning
We’re grateful to everyone who joined our Customer Day. We’re always sharing insights on LinkedIn and on the Sherpany blog where we share insights into board meetings and executive meetings . You can learn more about our upcoming events here
If you’re eager to bring meeting management best practices to your team, contact your Key Account Manager or if you're not already a Sherpany customer, book a demo today .
Lastly, be sure to subscribe to The Agenda podcast , where we host insightful conversations with leading business personalities. It’s an excellent resource for anyone passionate about improving organisational collaboration.