12 Proven Tips for Effective Meeting Management
Meetings are all
about increasing productivity and efficiency. When everyone is on the same page
and aware of what needs to be done, even the most difficult tasks can be
accomplished. In fact, we find ourselves stuck in unproductive meetings week
after week. The CEO spends an average of 18 hours per week in meetings. Almost
half of participants say meetings are the best way to extend time in the
workplace.
Meetings are not only
a waste of time, but if they are not planned effectively, they are also a waste
of money. A time budgeting study found that a weekly meeting of middle managers
costs an organization $15 million per year! Want to know how much you're
spending on meetings and how much you can save? Try this Harvard Business
Review meeting costing tool.
At Scoro, we focus on
time management and strive to run productive meetings. Extremely productive
meetings mean less - last year, we spent just 6,380 combined hours in meetings!
Love them or hate
them, you can't eliminate encounters altogether. Therefore, it is important to
make them as useful and constructive as possible. In the spirit of efficiency,
time and money saving, here are 12 proven meeting management tips to increase
productivity!
1. Have a clear goal
Is the meeting necessary to generate new ideas, gather information, or make decisions? Or maybe it's a combination of the above? If you're not sure what you're trying to accomplish, you can be sure it won't. The number one factor for a successful meeting is having a clear purpose and a specific agenda.
Entrepreneur and
influencer Neil Patel says he refuses to hold a meeting just because he wants
one. "No goals, no meetings."
He begins every
meeting by stating the ultimate purpose of the meeting. “Meetings are not
social gatherings. Instead, they are targeted business events. He said, “I'm
not against going out with people, but there are better times to do it than at
a business meeting.
Jessica PryceJones,
author of “Running Great Meetings and Workshops for Impersonators,” was recently
in attendance for a four-hour meeting with the company's management team.
“And I do not know at
any time if they inquire, if they discuss or if they decide. I don't think
meetings are more strategic because the senior team got together than they did.
"
Start with a goal and
you will end up successful.
2. Out of Office Meetings
When faces of
fatigue, lack of energy and lack of ideas begin to appear in meetings, it is a
sign that it is time to pause the meeting. An outside session is perfect to
avoid meeting fatigue. Take your employees to a nearby coffee shop, park, or
even a bar. Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery to bring in energy
and good ideas. After the meeting, reach out to your team if they appreciated
the change of pace and found it constructive. Otherwise, try something else -
it's never a waste of time!
3. Prepare
The key to successful
meeting management is preparation. Before the meeting begins, provide all
participants with an agenda.
The agenda should
include:
- list of topics covered
- brief description of the objectives of the meeting
- list of meeting participants
- who will address each topic
- time and location of the meeting
- any background information that participants need to know on topic
What is the most
important thing you should do with your diary? Thank you for following it
closely!
A Tesla employee was quoted on Quora saying, “When we met Elon, we were prepared. Because if you don't, he'll let you know. If he asks a reasonable follow-up question and you don't have an answer ready, well, good luck.
4. Reduce the number of people you invite
Ask yourself
mercilessly: Do all these people really need to attend the meeting? In most
cases, a short summary of the email will also work. If you can reduce the
30-minute meeting attendee list to just two people who don't need to attend,
it's a productive time to get back to work. The purpose of the meeting is not
just to share information, but to make decisions. Meetings can easily be
considered a waste of time if attendees don't think the topic under discussion
is relevant to them.
Do you need
inspiration? Amazon's Jeff Bezos follows two pizza rules. More people cannot
participate in the meeting than can receive a couple of Peparoni cake. This not
only speeds up decision making, but also allows teams to test ideas without the
intervention of groupthink. This is the greatest treasure of the Amazon CEO.
5. Don't be late
Latecomers can take
5-10 minutes from the meeting. Or, in most cases, extend the meeting by 10
minutes. Waiting for people to arrive late is not fair for those arriving on
time. Solution? Don't wait for them. Starting a meeting where it has to begin
sends a clear message to latecomers, increasing their punctual reputation.
There's no harm in being creative. Employees at TINYpulse, an employee engagement software company, rarely forget a meeting because the company starts the meeting at an odd time. For example, a daily company staff meeting begins at 8:45 a.m. “Strangely, at 8:45 a.m." It looks like everyone in our office is standing at the same time and heading towards our meeting space. Now the strange meeting was certainly on Pavlov's side. Yes," explains communications director Neil McNamara.
6. Stand up
Stand up meetings (or
simply “stand up”) have become a common team ritual. Employees are more active,
supportive and have less territory when it comes to projects, including
standing. Nothing expresses the desire to get up during a meeting.
Professor Bob Sutton, co-author of the book Hard Truth management, observed this while writing the book. He and co-author Jeff Feffer often meet at Feffer in a room with only one chair. They covered everything quickly and efficiently because there was no place to sit. This led the team to consider a study comparing the decisions of the group hosting the stand-up meeting and the group hosting the sitting meeting. At the stand-up meeting, the team had a 34% reduction in decision-making time, with no substantial difference in decision-making quality. Stand-up meetings aren't always practical for logistical reasons, but they're well worth considering.
7. Leave room for creativity
The experience and
knowledge of an employee is a valuable resource. An important resource that
cannot be misused. A short and constructive meeting is ideal, but not when it
is limited to the generation of ideas and discussion. Successful meetings lead
to creativity and energy. It happens when you are actively engaged, not just
passive. Brainstorming sessions are common, but too often they are ineffective
activities. The important thing is to execute the idea, not to generate the
actual idea.
Every Thursday, food
manufacturer Plum Organics publishes a coloring book and hosts a creative
brainstorming meeting where employees paint, chat and relax. Their chief
innovation officer, Jen Brush, says this is a critical time for the company's
new product development. “Coloring at meetings has been shown to facilitate
active listening and is more beneficial than multitasking with something like
email,” he says. By taking a more creative approach, these sessions can be
effective and inspiring.
8. Don't lose focus
For some reason, at every meeting, it seems that someone tends to talk about something unrelated to the topic being discussed. Storytelling is usually not a bad thing (the exact opposite!), But off-topic discussions at meetings can actually drag the session. The most difficult task of leading a group of people is to keep them focused. Whether it's the organizer or one of the attendees, someone is always responsible for returning the meeting to the assigned topic and regaining attention. Scope creep refers to continuous changes that are out of control in a meeting. This can happen if the project results are not properly defined, documented, or managed and are considered to adversely affect the success of the project. Security software company.
Brivo holds meetings on time according to the "no rehash" rule. Staff inform others that the problem was solved by raising the ping-pong racket because "nothing happened". “We are starting to realize that we are making the same decision over and over again,” said Steve Van Til, President and CEO. “It's a visual reminder, but more importantly, it allows everyone in the business to demand counterproductive work anytime, anywhere. A big time saver is to call up the rules themselves. . " If the meeting has a clear purpose, it is much easier to establish and follow specific action steps. If you end the meeting without further steps, the meeting is considered a waste of time.
9. Stop Multitasking
Multitasking is a testament to modern connected living. But it comes at a price. Productivity declines, stress increases, and the global economy costs around $450 billion a year, according to a study. Even scarier, the Harvard Business Review reports that multitasking leads to a 40% drop in productivity and a 10 IQ loss… like throwing a killer. Nowhere is the matter as obvious as a conference room where email, text, and web browsing can have a significant impact on the organization's bottom line.
How do I prevent attendees from doing multiple tasks in a meeting? Specify a conference role. Who promotes it? Who will take a few minutes? Who is the scribe? Meetings become more focused and productive when everyone is on task.
Provide a planned
work schedule. Everyone takes precious time, so everyone needs to focus on the
topics and issues assigned to them. Time-bound agendas may also discourage
sidebar conversations or address issues that the team isn't ready to address.
There is space for phones / computers. And encourage people to use it. Employees using smartphones and computers are estimated to be distracted every 10 minutes on average. Turn off your computer unless you absolutely need it for a meeting. During a meeting at Keller Williams Realty, anyone who makes a phone call must donate to the company's charity, KWCares. Spokesman Darryl Frost said the policy would reduce confusion at the meeting. “Apparently this supports our non-profit organization,” he said. “It's a mutually beneficial outcome for everyone.
10. Shorten the meeting
After a 30-minute meeting, the attention of the team may not be as sharp as it used to be. They don't find it easy to be bored or distracted. The simple fact is, there is a lot of information to process. The longer the meeting, the greater the effort required to maintain the energy and discussion. Having a short meeting is essential to improving team effectiveness. Programs tend to run up to the time limit set for a particular meeting, so whenever you see fit, “force end” the meeting. 52 minutes is usually the longest time a worker can be really busy. Don't schedule meetings that last longer than an hour. People appreciate it when you realize that their time is precious. The conference rooms of O3 World, a digital agency, are connected to technology created by a company called Roombot. The app reads everyone's Google Calendar and notifies meeting participants when it's time to end. Roombot also controls room lighting by dimming the lights for the last few minutes of the meeting. “Roombot enhances the urgency and structure of group schedules,” said Keith Scandone, CEO of O3 World. “Instead of lining up outside the meeting room, it's a fun way to close the meeting and remind everyone to prepare for the next group of people to join the meeting.”
11. Don't Forget questions and answers
All managers state
they have adopted an open door policy. The manager may be good, but the
practice shows that the majority of participants are not using it. Is the
manager really involved with the employee? Meetings are also a great place to practice
your skills.
Q and A sessions are
usually postponed until the end of the meeting, leaving only a few minutes.
However, this segment is just as important as the rest of the meeting. The
consequences can be disastrous if certain action plans are made during the
meeting but the follow-up questions cannot be answered. At least it has no
effect. Consider extending the Q and A session to accommodate the length of the
meeting to ensure more meaningful involvement. You can also consider converting
common formats. A brief introduction to the meeting is followed by a longer
Q and A section. Depending on the type of meeting, this creates a production
cycle that helps build a passionate team.
Another tip is to
collect questions on this topic in advance. This is useful on several levels.
Managers can schedule interviews more effectively and teams have time to
brainstorm ideas instead of asking questions at the end of the meeting.
12. Monitoring
Monitoring techniques are an important professional practice and are equally important in meetings. It is very common for people to leave the same encounter with very different interpretations of what happened. Record assigned responsibilities, assigned tasks, and assigned deadlines and send meeting notes on the day of the meeting. This way everyone will be on the same page. For very important issues, write them down in a shared team calendar or task management software and track them until they are resolved.
Monitoring should never be interpreted as micromanaging. It is a natural and necessary part of project leadership. If you want something to happen, you have to watch, watch, and watch. Communication is the key to a successful conference. Especially if you are trying a new format. Ask employees for feedback, accept suggestions, and draw conclusions based on their ideas, not their personal feelings. If your team is feeling committed and productive, you are definitely on the right track.
Ask yourself three
questions before making your next appointment:
- Do you need an appointment?
- Who really needs to be there?
- What will the agenda be like?
"You will never see eye-to-eye if you never meet face-to-face.” " Warren Buffett
Credited images: pexels.com