Meetings can be enjoyable and very productive, but if you’re busy, an ineffective meeting can waste a lot of your time. Every meeting needs to be valuable and have an impact on your role if we are to continue learning how to be productive in the hybrid workplace. Sadly, that’s not always the case.
There are some guidelines you can adhere to ensure the success of any team meeting, whether it’s a brief one or one that calls for brainstorming or strategic discussion. This is especially true now that so many of us work remotely or only occasionally in the office.
According to a research, meetings typically take up 15% of an organization’s time, with a third of those meetings being deemed ineffective. Intriguingly, another survey found that more than 75% of people prefer scheduling meetings on a specific day or time, with Mondays being the most common day and Wednesdays seeing the longest meetings.
Organizing a Lucrative Meeting
It is insufficient to merely assemble people in a room (whether physical or virtual) and wish for the best. A tonne of research has been done on meetings and the most effective ways to conduct them. Here, we share with you. Some easy suggestions to help you run a successful meeting.
Set a specific schedule
Before the meeting, send an agenda to let attendees know what to expect and whether they need to bring any materials.
Know the results you want
You ought to be aware of what you hope to gain from the meeting. Do you need inspiration? Do you require budget approval? Is it to support team members during a difficult project?
To ensure you get the results you want from the meeting, be clear about what you want and work through the meeting. The next steps should be reviewed and responsibility given to each person in the meeting’s final minutes. It enables you to establish an understandable action plan for everyone.
Additionally, make sure that everyone who is invited is a part of the team or project and has a role to play. If someone has other things they could be doing, don’t waste their time.
Locate a suitable environment
The most important thing is to choose the best method for the meeting, whether it’s online or in person. Online meeting management is a quick and easy process. By conducting a roundtable and leaving time for any questions at the end, team catch-up or sprint can be managed with ease.
Meetings for strategic direction are more likely to be more effective in person because they concentrate on reflection, innovation, and brainstorming.
Get talking points ready
You ought to bring important talking points to the table if you’re running a meeting that calls for brainstorming or ideas. On a whiteboard, you could write questions and solicit responses from audience members. Pose inquiries this may give you a lot of answers, but it also gives you the opportunity to determine whether there is a general consensus that you can use to inform future campaigns or improve performance.
Allocate time for everyone to speak
Be aware of who is present and give everyone a chance to speak. While some people speak more outspokenly than others, some people may need prompting to express their opinions. If you think team members haven’t had a chance to contribute, take the initiative and ask questions of them. Ask questions or invite participation if you feel like one or two people are controlling the conversation.
Encourage suggestions and solutions
Start off the meeting that way if it’s about coming up with solutions or ideas. Ask attendees to prepare two or three ideas in advance of the meeting. Ask everyone at the table to share their thoughts after that. Ask for feedback and opinions after each one, then record it (or have the designated note-taker do it). Instead of concentrating on the speaker of the idea, consider the idea itself.
Keep an eye on the time
If you schedule a time slot, keep in mind that people will schedule other activities around it, so you must be considerate of this. Others will learn to respect the meeting time slot if you start and finish on time, every time. Building consistency and ensuring that attendees are aware of what to expect at each meeting are the goals.
Define actions and next steps clearly
A productive meeting will have clear next steps and actions. Clarify the next steps at the conclusion of every meeting. A positive conclusion is also important to ensure that everyone leaves feeling inspired.
It’s crucial to share meeting notes or outcomes afterward to avoid misunderstandings and ensure that everyone is aware of their respective responsibilities. In order to give people a deadline to work towards, you should also include deadlines.
Ask for opinions
Choose a timetable that feels comfortable to you and solicit input from others. It’s usually a good idea to give people a month to evaluate how effective a meeting was.
Instead of pressuring people to share their opinions, simply invite everyone to do so and frame the discussion positively. It’s also important to consider how many meetings individuals attend.
Conclusion
Meetings are a useful tool for fostering cooperation, communicating with your team, and generating fresh ideas. However, it is possible to easily veer off course and lose focus over time, which makes meetings less productive than they could be. Meetings will assist you in guiding and supporting team members, which is a key skill for a marketing leader.