Employees and employers alike dread the word meeting. That’s mostly because meetings tend to drag on but seem to accomplish nothing. However, meetings can be better utilized. They can be a platform for open discussion, for setting goals, and getting employee input. If you don’t want your meetings to be a waste of time, you can follow the steps listed below. These steps will ensure that you don’t need to worry about unproductive meetings.
Plan and Distribute the Agenda
As we mentioned above, meetings need to be a forum for open discussion and employee input. However, you can’t really expect your employee to think of questions and suggestions on their feet during the meeting. It’s a better idea to prepare a thorough agenda and distribute it amongst your employees.
If you do this, your employees will attend the meetings with a clear mind and goal. They’ll be prepared with questions and know which concerns that want to address during the meeting. This is one of the best ways to make the meetings productive.
Park Devices Outside the Meeting Room
By devices, we mean mobile phone and tablets. They can be major distractions during the meeting. You want all your employees to focus on what’s being discussed. This would ensure that the meeting passes quickly and people are aware of the changes to be made.
Mobile phones are a very potent distraction and it’s best to keep them away from the employee during the meeting. You can simply ask your employees to leave their devices on their desk when they come to the meeting room. That would ensure that no one would be tempted.
Reduce the Crowd
Meetings are most effective when there are fewer people in it. Ideally, a single meeting should have no more than 7 people and no less than 4. This would allow you to get employee input, have a good discussion, and set the right goals without trying to manage a large number of people. When too many people gather in one place, the meeting would take longer and won’t be as productive.
Here, you need to choose people who’re key members of your company and would contribute to the discussions. For example, if you’re going to discuss marketing tactics, you need to invite people who have contributed to marketing significantly in the past. They’ll be able to provide the best suggestions and solutions.
Short and Sweet
If you keep your meetings short and follow a very strict schedule, you’ll decrease wastage of time. According to the industry experts, the ideal meeting duration is an hour. There’s little to no time for gossiping and people are focused on getting work done. If you’re prone to dragging the meeting along despite your best intentions, all you need to do is schedule an important appointment directly after the meeting. That would force you to stop the meeting on time.
If you follow these pieces of advice, you’ll be able to avoid boring, unproductive meetings and get the most out of them.
