Meetings some days can feel like a waste of time. Some prefer an online arrangement and discussions to save time and energy. Meetings are a necessity in all businesses, and while most managers understand the effectiveness of investigator meetings, some employees are still in the dark.

Investigator meetings focus on clinical trials or problems that must be solved within a company or group. These meetings focus on identifying problem factors and solving them while the entire team is present. These meetings will ensure that all members have the time to add their perspectives and value to provide the team with the best solutions.

These meetings can be used to inform and update participants on a specific study or situation that affects the entire team. The key to these types of meetings is to provide a space where all affected participants can come together to treat the problem at hand.

How to Boost Participation in Investigator Meetings

As with any meeting, participation is key. The meeting will have no impact if the team does not participate and contribute to the meeting. Thus encouraging and boosting participation is of utmost importance in any meeting, and more so in investigator meetings.

1. Identify Key Content for a Focused Event and Set Clear Objectives

The road to a successful event or meeting can be created by starting with the end in mind. If the managers and meeting leaders know exactly where they want the meeting to end, they can create a path backward to ensure that they complete all set objectives.

Companies and study leaders must identify and set clear objectives to ensure that the meeting has a goal and direction. When there is no clear objective the meeting will take longer than expected and reach no conclusion.

By creating a set content list the attendees, and managers know exactly what will be dealt with and why the meeting is held in the first place. The entire meeting will be run on focus points which will provide attendees with specific points to prepare beforehand.

2. Collaborate

In a virtual meeting of one speaker and many attendees, employees and staff members can feel lost and worthless. Collaboration is the key to a successful investigation meeting. Once a team works together in unison, the investigation meeting will have more input and solutions provided by the entire team.

Companies must allow their entire team to partake in a meeting. The benefits are magnificent and it will increase employee engagement and productivity within the company. These meetings are solution based, and the employees work with the problem on a daily base, so they might have the best solutions to company problems.

3. Choose the Right Event Technology Partner

All companies must have a technology partner. With many employees working from home, and the rapid growth of technology, businesses must find a reliable partner that can set up and fix problems at a rapid pace.

These technology partners will be able to set up a host platform where employees from all over the world will be able to join. This will allow the team to join the meeting, provide their input and enjoy the meeting without needing to commute to or from the office. This will increase the time spent to rally the entire team into the office block to start with the set meeting.

The team must however find a partner they can trust, and fulfill the occupations required. The partner team will be assigned to set tasks and objectives that will ensure the success of the meeting.

4. Engage Intentionally for Learning Retention

Engagement must be done intentionally and at a set pace. Most students and staff members can retain information shared with them. The key however is to share the information at a steady pace, allowing the entire team to spend time processing the information.

Engaging intentionally will provide the team with better solutions. The team will know what to focus on as well as what is important for the business. Intentional engagement plays a key role in the success of an investigative meeting.

5. Put Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria into Practice

Investigator meetings have sectors and areas where participation is needed, while other sections are better to have specific participants or no participation. Inclusion is a great tool to use if all members and attendees can benefit from what’s being shared.

Exclusion has negative connections. This however can be of great benefit to employees attending specific meetings. Employees and students do not want to attend a meeting that has no particular connection to them. This is both time and energy-wasting. Thus stating exclusive meetings for specific individuals can be of great value.

6. Invite Feedback to Identify and Overcome Challenges

Feedback is a great tool to find inside information from the participants and students. The individuals that had to experience the entire teaching will have valuable advice and feedback to provide to the host. By simply inviting feedback and identifying challenges the speaker can improve his entire presentations, which will allow future students to gain even more value out of the meeting.

The feedback can be used for virtual investigator meetings as well. When investigator training was provided the entire site team will be able to provide feedback to the company team for their services. By simply using the feedback the team can evaluate the depth of knowledge and extensive experience the entire team had. This will ensure that they improve their continued knowledge gap and training abilities. 

7. Leverage Event Data to Extend Support and Resources

Leveraging data will allow the team to extend their support and resources. Information and data are valuable in the modern age, and when a team has access to the data, resources, and support can be extended.

Most companies have access to resources and supporting tools, however obtaining the data can be a struggle they have. When the team has access to the data, they can leverage it to obtain supporting materials and resources to ensure that the data is accurate and trustworthy.

8. Learn From Your History to Improve

The best teacher is past mistakes. This statement provides all companies and speakers with a valuable lesson. Individuals must look back at their past mistakes, and find solutions to all the mistakes and problems that occurred.

This will assist the speaker to improve their meeting, which will allow attendees to feel more comfortable, and obtain more value from any meeting held by the speaker. Improvement will ensure growth for both the speaker and the business.

Types of Investigator Meetings

Investigator meetings all have different tasks and goals within a company. Thus determining which type of meeting to use plays a key role in achieving and completing tasks and goals.

Interim Meetings

This meeting type refers to a meeting with directors and the leadership of a company. These meetings do not occur often. These meetings are held to identify what direction the company will be going, what major problems must be solved, and in which way to company can grow. These strategic meetings are part of the core meetings.

Site Initiation Meetings

These meetings are created for researchers to evaluate a set site or area. This will allow the team to evaluate whether the site will work specifically for a study, research, or meeting. Some meetings and studies require specific parameters and equipment, thus allowing the team to determine whether this site will add value to the study or meeting.

Close-Out Meetings

This meeting type focuses on closing a specific task or study by acquiring all the data, information, and part of the assignment. The meeting allows the entire team to bring their tasks together to ensure that every part of the assignment or task is present.

The company will collect and pile everything into a set document and send it through to the client or research facility. These meetings allow the team to close the task, by either sending all information or canceling the entire project.

Pre-Study Meetings

As the term pre means before, this type of meeting will occur before a project or task will start. The team or individual will be provided with some fundamental information that will add value to the entire project. These meetings are created to ensure that the entire team is on the same page and that every individual knows what to do. This meeting can be used to add deadlines and tasks to every individual in the team.

Check Out The Future of Investigator Meetings:

How Does One Even Start Planning an Investigator Meeting?

This has been a question that has been asked by event planners and meeting coordinators all over the world. The key to planning an investigator meeting is the same as all other meetings. Identify and set SMART goals. These goals must be specific, measurable, relative, and time-based.

After the goals are set, the team must determine the budget, locations, and the date of the meeting. This will allow the team to plan according to the set size of the needed locations and the date.

Lastly, the team must identify key role players and attendees that must be present at the meeting. This will ensure that all related to the meeting are aware of it, and will be present at the meeting, with all needed documents and questions.

Objectives of Investigator Meetings

All meetings have objectives to meet. These objectives provide the team with guidelines as to what to prepare, what the meeting is about, and the final goal and objective of the set meeting. This will allow all attendees to be prepared with questions, answers, and anything related to the meeting.

Discussing Study Progress and Data

The main objective for investigator meetings will be to obtain and discuss the progress of a specific study. The meeting will be held to obtain information on the study that the team or individuals are currently busy with. The data will showcase whether the team is on route to finish their project or study in time.

Addressing Concerns and Questions

Engagement in meetings plays a key role in determining the success of the meeting. Students and employees are allowed to have questions and concerns about their study or topic. These meetings have the objective of which will allow the team or individual to raise their concerns and questions. Discussion questions will allow the entire team to receive in-depth knowledge which will be beneficial to all attendees. 

The study leader or manager will have time to answer all questions and settle the concerns. Allowing the team to settle any nerves or concerns about their tasks and study. This can be used to assess whether the team is on track and within the set time frame of the study.

Training on Study Procedures and Techniques

Students and employees both must have adequate training opportunities to perform certain tasks. These meetings will provide the teacher or manager to equip the team with the necessary techniques and procedures to ensure that they can complete the tasks.

These training opportunities are of utmost importance because they will provide the team with all the needed information to not only complete the task but do so at the highest level possible. Techniques and study procedures must be understood to ensure a high-quality and accurate result.

Sharing Study Protocols and Objectives

Most individuals have worked on a project and realized halfway through that they have completely missed the entire project’s objectives. These meetings will ensure that the team knows exactly what the objectives are, and what to follow to obtain them.

The team will use this time to share study protocols and objectives, which will assist some members in the study to improve their current way of completing the tasks.

Pharma / Biotech Investigator Meetings

Pharmaceutical and biotech meetings can be beneficial to the entire team. These meetings will be used to assist the team with problems that might occur. The team will have the opportunity to raise concerns and questions as well as align the objectives of the task to ensure that it is clear and concise.

These meetings can be used to arrange the launch party for a pharmaceutical event or deal with problems while the clinical team is already busy with a specific task. Pharmaceutical investigator meeting plays a key role in the success of testing, launching, and selling drugs to the public. The more meetings are held, the higher the success rate of the product or study will be.

Check Out What Are Investigator Meetings In Clinical Research?:

How to Hold Successful Investigator Meetings

Some certain processes and arrangements will increase the effectiveness of an investigator meeting. This process will ensure that any meeting held will be successful and will deal with all the necessary information needed.

Bring in Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for in-person meetings

An individual or team that has all the knowledge or information that the team needs and that is willing to share this knowledge is called a subject matter expert. These individuals play a key role in the investigator meetings.

SMEs will provide accurate information to the team, that will assist them in creating high-quality studies or work. There are many different ways of working with SMEs, and every method has its benefits. The key is to listen actively, never assume anything, and always set expectations for the meeting.

Use on-Demand Training

On-demand training can lead to a student or employee recollecting and using the information learned directly after learning. This will provide the student with time to use the newly gained knowledge in a form or situation that is applicable to the clinical trial sites.

On-demand training will allow the team to excel and use the training information to its fullest potential. With a high millennial workforce, employees must provide on-demand training to ensure that all team members can solve problems that are situated within the study or workplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Attends an Investigator Meeting?

All are involved in a new trial, study, or ongoing task. These meetings will provide the entire team to identify the objectives and align tasks to ensure the success of the trial or study. The event management and students must attend these clinical trial training

How Can My Business Hold Successful Investigator Meetings?

The key to a successful investigator meeting is to host the meeting with a subject matter expert. This will allow the team to access important information that will impact the entire study. Another factor to success is on-demand training. Students must obtain on-demand training to ensure that they can use the newly gained information in the best way possible.

How Should an Investigator Meeting Be Organized?

The organization of an investigator meeting should be around key aspects The team must identify what the talking points should be. And clearly stating these focus points, and arranging a meeting around them will add to the effectiveness of the meeting.

Final Thoughts

Arranging meetings and organizing them can feel like a tedious task. The key to planning a meeting is to keep the end in mind. What results and objectives must be completed after the meeting is completed? This will allow the team to create a meeting with directions and an end goal.

Investigator meetings will add great success to all studies and trials if they are used. These meetings will create a space where students can raise concerns and lectures or managers can check-up on their students to assist where needed. Investigator meetings can change the direction of a trial before it is too late.

Sabine Ghali

Kelly Murphy

PRESIDENT & FOUNDER

Certified Meeting planner with 20+ years of event management experience, founder of ConferenceSource, expert in meeting facility sourcing & contracting in North America, Europe, South America and Asia. Kelly will manage your budget as if they were her own, negotiating the best possible rate and hotel contract to benefit and protect every client and exceed all expectations for all planning aspects for sales meetings, educational meetings, product launches, incentive trips down to a small board of directors meeting. We make meetings easy understanding your meeting objectives and delivering meeting matched components.