However, now that meetings are assumed to be online by default, many people likely feel stress or friction with remote communication in fields like web service and web system development, where complex specification decisions are often required.

In a situation where all kinds of workflows have had to be reconsidered, we'll explain how GiFT keeps remote work running smoothly. This article focuses specifically on tips for putting together materials for remote meetings, so we hope you find it useful.

Tips for Preparing Materials for Remote Meetings

Create "Materials You Can Touch"

When preparing materials for a remote meeting, you need to translate the image in your head into something concrete for the other person, so it's best to make materials that "the other person can also operate" and "touch" as much as possible.

For example, using tools like Figma or Miro that allow the team to edit simultaneously lets you adjust system specifications or designs on the spot while hearing feedback in real time, so the meeting can proceed while confirming there's no gap in understanding.

In particular, remote-centric communication makes it harder to convey information beyond words, and misunderstandings or gaps in perception can turn into major problems for a production company, so aligning on the "image you have in mind" is extremely important. Creating "materials you can touch" helps ensure that the image in your head is conveyed accurately, leading to smoother work overall.

Organize Materials So They're Easy to Revisit

Materials shared during an online meeting in remote work need to be accessible and reviewable by project members at any time. This is because materials from online meetings can easily end up scattered, with no one sure where a given link is, which can end up hindering project progress.

That's why, at GiFT, we use link-sharing apps like Google Drive or Notion for links shared during meetings, so that project members can always check on progress or content whenever they want.

Many companies only started adopting remote work because of COVID-19, and while there's been plenty of friction, there are also a lot of things that have become easier to handle thanks to remote work and online meetings.

For example, GiFT has clients located far away, and we've become able to handle things more flexibly — holding only the first meeting in person and then switching to online for everything after, eliminating the burden of travel. Screen sharing has also meant everyone can look at the same screen, which has eliminated misunderstandings that used to come from preparing paper materials or people looking at different pages.

In an in-person setting, all kinds of opinions can end up flying around at once, but remotely, people speak one at a time, so there's no risk of conversations crossing each other or, conversely, making it harder for people to voice their opinions.

Rather than being bound by the idea that "since it's remote, every meeting has to be online," it's fine to think of it more as "using remote work" in whatever way makes the work easiest to move forward — for instance, holding a first-time introduction in person.

Sometimes really digging into a discussion in person is the right call too. Continuously testing out ways to move production forward using the best method for each situation is the key to keeping work running smoothly and stress-free even after adopting remote work.