How many meetings have you sat through and thought it was pointless or unproductive?
According to a worldwide study by Microsoft, business people spend close to 6 hours weekly in meetings. Unfortunately, too many of these meetings lack preparation and a clear purpose. As a result, some employees may feel disengaged with the plan and lose interest in the matter.
Meetings are critical in understanding key objectives and gathering feedback and ideas to run a functioning business. Therefore, setting efficient and to-the-point meetings is integral to understanding all facets of your business.
Here are eight tips for running efficient and successful meetings for your business:
1. Write down your plan and objectives
Prepare your meeting by jotting down the critical plan and topics you wish to cover. This will help you stay focused and not go off on a tangent. You can send this out to your staff beforehand so they can prepare.
2. Company culture
Embed your meetings in and around your company culture; make them fun and engaging for your staff. You want to send the message that your meetings are valuable and essential. This will help ensure staff arrive on time for meetings.
3. Brainstorming session
If you focus the meeting on solving a specific problem, it is good practice to brainstorm ideas and conclude at the next meeting, which allows everyone to get involved.
4. Positivity
Focus on positive communication and work on ways to overcome areas that need further attention. Don’t publicly criticise staff members and respect their opinion.
5. Summaries
To keep meetings short, provide summaries of key topics you will address. Provide a page of document topics that are to the point.
6. Turn off devices
Inform staff to leave their devices outside the meeting room or only answer calls if it is an emergency. Devices can cause a distraction and show that you don’t value the meeting.
7. Thank you
At the start and end of your meeting, always say thank you for your time and for attending today’s meeting. It shows you respect your staff and value their input.
8. Review
Once your meeting is finalised, it is important to gain feedback from attendees to review how well you covered topics and engaged with staff.
Once a week or fortnight, gathering your staff and departments together is essential to ensure everyone is on the same page. It is healthy to debate specific ideas and allow everyone to speak up and have a say regarding the business.
But no one enjoys lengthy, uninspiring meetings; therefore, managers should be looking to run more efficient meetings. Meeting should always serve a purpose and include vital objectives and a plan to help engage staff.
To make meetings more fun, you may even want to include a lunch spread or after-work dinner to keep it a little casual and keep creative thoughts flowing.
