Have you ever attended a meeting that lasted far longer than it should have? Or one that didn’t seem to have a goal or agenda? The truth is, no matter where you work, or what you do, you’ve probably found yourself in a frustrating meeting at one time or another.
But in and of themselves, are meetings really that bad? Like anything, with enough planning and forethought, meetings can be purposeful and efficient, making for an all-around better experience.
Here are 3 tips to improve your meetings.
- Know the goal from the get-go
If your meeting doesn’t have a clearly defined goal, then you shouldn’t be having the meeting. This may seem like a no-brainer, but one of the most common meeting problems, according to anew study by Strategy Leaders, is failing to establish the goal or purpose of the meeting. So, before setting up a meeting, be sure to think about what your ultimate aim is in having the meeting. Once you know, be sure to communicate that aim to your employees. This way, all attendees will know exactly what to expect.
- Set a corresponding agenda
Once you’ve nailed down the meeting’s goal, it is crucial to map out a corresponding agenda. After all, heading into a meeting with no agenda is like embarking on a road trip with no GPS. In other words, simply knowing where you want to end up isn’t enough, you must also have a plan for getting there. With this in mind, you should draft the agenda in advance. Once it’s complete, be sure to distribute the agenda to employees prior to the meeting, so that everyone is on the same page. You might also find it helpful to bring hard copies of the agenda to the meeting or to display it on a screen in the conference room. Regardless of how you decide to go about it, create meeting agenda and make sure that all attendees have access to it.
- Set time-frame and stick to it
There’s nothing worse than heading into a meeting that you know, for a fact, will run over. But with so many people and such a small block of time,how do you stick to the time limit?
It all starts in the planning phase. So, when you’re writing the agenda for the meeting, be sure to keep the time frame in mind. And if you have a track-record of holding meetings that are on the longer side, it might be a good idea to set up an accountability system. This could mean writing a hard time limit by each item on the agenda, or having a designated time-keeper to keep the meeting moving at a steady pace.
Want to break the negative stereotypes surrounding meetings at your company? Put these tips into practice and you’ll be well on your way to more efficient and purposeful meetings.
