Meetings are a part and parcel of corporate life with employees spending up to 30% or more of their weekly working hours on them.
Despite their importance, meetings have been gathering a bad rep, with calls for meetings being greeted with unenthusiasm.
Technological advancements have made corporate communication easier through tools like emails, Slack, MS Teams, etc., causing meetings to be treated either as a hurdle in the effective performance of duty or as a way to escape from work.
However, we believe that meetings can add value to a business if done correctly.
Here are our tips on how to ensure your meetings are productive.
How to hold productive meetings
Team meetings can become an opportunity for the team to collaborate by keeping the following things in mind:
1. Clarity of purpose:
“Begin with the end in mind.”
This saying rings true for effective meetings. Before scheduling a meeting, the person leading the meeting should have a clear view of the motive of holding the meeting. Being aware of the intent of the meeting will enable the meeting leader to keep the meeting on track and focused.
2. Creating an agenda:
Once the purpose of the meeting is clear, the leader can prepare and share the agenda for the meeting with all the participants of the meeting well in advance to enable them to prepare for the meeting. Knowing why the meeting is being held will help the participants be ready with their questions and suggestions and will encourage better participation by all.
3. Staying focused:
Meetings become ineffective when they digress from their purpose. To have a productive meeting it is crucial to keep the participants focused on the problem at hand. It falls upon the leader of the meeting to keep the meeting on track and steer the conversations in the right direction when the discussions start becoming unproductive.
4. Including necessary participants only:
One of the common mistakes that lead to unproductive meetings is the involvement of non-essential persons in the meeting. You can increase the efficiency of your team meetings by ensuring that the participants of your meeting are only those people who have some value to add to the agendas being discussed in the meeting.
5. Keeping it short and sweet:
Meetings that seem to go on forever are a big no-no. Keep the meetings brief helps to maintain focus of all the participants on the task at hand. It also ensures that the participants are alert and interested in the happenings of the meetings.
Conclusion
Meetings done right can help build team morale by becoming a safe space for the team to share their ideas and concerns, exchange information and become a part of the decision-making process.
Meetings if conducted effectively can become a powerhouse of innovative ideas and procedures. So, go ahead and send that notice for the team meeting you were planning to call, but remember- be brief, focused and efficient, and see enthusiasm and interest replace the eye rolling and sighs of your team.
Have you implemented any other techniques to make team meetings more productive? Please share your experiences with team meetings with us in the comment section below.
