“It has been said that most meetings are like a social street lamp that attract the unproductive moths in an organization to sit around for a few hours and have a good old flutter and chinwag.
Meetings can be very unproductive especially those daily meetings that after some time sound like a broken record that just keeps repeating because no person wants to try and change something that has been going on for so long.
Surveys show that companies waste almost 20% of their payroll on bad and unproductive meetings.
Sometimes meetings are required but usually much less than usually occur in many meeting driven organizations. You probably have a meeting coming soon so lets throw out that old “broken record way of doing things” and lift the lid on …
13 PRACTICAL, Tried and Tested TIPS for Holding More Effective Meetings so you can Achieve More with Less, Save More Time, and that will Help You to look like a Leader…
1. Always ask everyone to arrive five to ten minutes early. This gives everyone time to socialize, obtain coffee, or organize materials before the meeting. It also ensures that everyone is present at the scheduled starting time and the moths have also settled. Make this part of the agenda.
2. Discuss sensitive issues with the key participants before the meeting. Use this as an opportunity to listen and gather information on the issues. From this you will understand the different views, needs, and histories. This information can help you prepare the agenda and conduct the meeting. In addition, you may be able to facilitate solutions or strategies for solutions before the meeting keeping the meeting time on track. The result will always be a more efficient meeting.
3. Plan small meetings that focus on a single issue. People work more effectively over short periods of time (such as 30 minutes). This also allows you to match experts with issues for more productive meetings.
4. Only invite those who can contribute to at least 50% of the items on the agenda. For meetings lasting more than 30 minutes, invite special participants only to the part of the meeting that deals with their contribution.
5. Always invite the doers. There are lots of moths, sorry people who love to be involved in meetings to find out what’s happening in the business. They love talking and listening but unfortunately do their very best to avoid there name appearing in the “By Whom” column on the action list. You know who they are! If possible just leave them out.
6. Send copies of the minutes to everyone who could have been invited for informational purposes. They can read the minutes in a small fraction of the time that they would have been spent in the meeting.
7. When invited to a meeting with a vague (or missing) agenda, ask: what role will I have? Why do you need me? If your impact is minor, refuse to attend and use the time for other work. Meeting planners often attempt to add importance to a meeting by inviting prominent members of the organization for no apparent reason. Or it may be to take control of the meeting when the incompetent meeting planner has problems with making decisions.
8. If the chairperson seems to have allowed the meeting’s intent to drift, ask: “What do you want to achieve?” or “How can we help you?” or “How will we know when we are done working on this?” These questions can help focus the meeting on a goal and determine the specific end point or target.
9. If a meeting seems out of control, suggest adjourning and reconvening at a later time. This will allow you to clarify goals, prepare strategies, and better understand the issues.
10. Reflect the content of key points. This ensures that everyone has the same understanding of the key point. Although this is one of the chairperson’s responsibilities, it can be filled by anyone else in the meeting.
11. Prepare a list of questions, ideas, suggestions before the meeting. Then you can focus your attention on the discussion in the meeting.
12. Watch the listeners instead of the speaker. Their faces and body language will tell you whether they agree or disagree, which can help guide your participation in the discussion.
13. Work with a sense of appropriate urgency. Life is finite, and the discussions in meetings should be the same. Plan a time budget and then use it to guide your meeting. Spend extra time only when an issue warrants it.
By following these these practical tips rest assured you will enhance your working relationship with your staff at the same time boost you company’s productivity.
And remember, people are employed to get good results for the company. Their rates of success are intrinsically linked to how they are directed, coached, reviewed, recognised, rewarded, trusted, and motivated by the management.
For more great tips on people management check out…
About the Author:
Paul Marshall is a HR Pro, corporate trainer, author and a welcomed and trusted business partner with commercial awareness and extensive expertise in people, performance and HR capabilities. With decades of Business and HR experience, the ability to value add fast to business objectives and Company growth strategies, Paul is a past winner of Small Business Development Corporation Award.
A Fellow and Certified Practitioner of the Australian Human Resources Institute (FCPHR).
Paul is author of:
103 Golden Tips to Turbo Charge your Business make More Money and Get Rich
103 Golden Tips to Turbo Charge your Employees Skyrocket Productivity and Get More Output
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