Is a cringe your reaction to a scheduled meeting?
If ‘Yes’, then you’ve certainly grown accustomed to attending boring, stressful and unproductive meetings and you undoubtedly don’t look forward to attending another.
If ‘No’, then some of the points we will highlight below will resonate with you as a result of your experience and attendance of great and productive meetings.
With the current world changes and the adoption of digital work places, it is now more important than ever to have effective and productive meetings.
Meetings don’t have to be unproductive and a big waste of time, resources, conversations and Energy. Meetings can indeed be an enjoyable experience. One that yield results over promises.
This goes beyond just physical meetings or board room meeting, but includes virtual and remote assemblies.
WHAT MAKES MEETINGS PRODUCTIVE?
Here are a few pointers towards productive meetings.
Have an Agenda and End Goal: The most effective meetings are those with a definite plan from the initiator. This is important because a meeting without an agenda would certainly be a waste of time. This helps shape conversations and gives room for suggestions from team members to share ideas on how to reach the end goal, project or task ahead.
Ensure The Resources Required for the Meeting Are Available: Think ahead of the meeting and what would be required to make it a success. Do you need presentation slides, projectors, microphones or an electric source to power your gadgets? Do you need a meeting place? A physical meeting room or a virtual workplace or a call app installed or an Internet source?
Do you need the services of a Food vendor or Pastry Chef for your meeting? Think of all these things ahead of time and make intentional effort to identify those required to execute successfully, especially your first meeting.
Send Out Notifications On Time and Be On Time: Early notifications help people decide if they can make a meeting or not and if they will be prompt. Emergency meetings are never the best. For crucial and longer meeting, a 48hrs notice is the least time to send out invites to all parties involved.
Never go to a meeting late.Be prompt and on time, at least 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment. It shows you both value the time of the other person. Also, if you’ve initiated a meeting, be ready to receive or meet the invitees. Never let them meet you in a state of disorder. It comes off as unprofessional.
Create Room For Everyone or Key Individuals To Speak: As much as meetings can sometimes get heating with strong opinions. It is important to give room for everyone to speak, share their opinion or give valuable feedback. It shows that you respect the opinion of others, even if you may not agree with their line of thought for that specific topic of focus at the meeting.
It is also important to know when to pick up cues to speak. This involves some discretion and emotional intelligence, and it should be done with thoughtfulness, precision, assertiveness and possibly proffered resolutions. It is rude to hijack a conversation in any meeting.
Be polite by being considerate about the time and opinion of others in attendance.
Have a Defined Time Span for The Meeting: Don’t schedule a meeting for one (1) hour and then extend it by half an hour. It shows disregard for the people you’ve called for a meeting. Stick to the plan and if you must extend the time, be sure to seek the consent of those at the meeting.
Consent for extra time should however not become a habit.
It only portrays that one is unprincipled and undisciplined. People respect those who respect their time. A definite time span also helps all parties involved to walk through their diverse schedules for the day without unnecessary disruptions of their personal plans.
Outline Action Steps to be Taken from The Meeting: A short recap of the meeting with assigned tasks and action items is so important.
One needs to identify who is responsible for what (the drivers and enablers), the timeline for delivery, and possibly the resources required to make the execution of all assigned tasks easy and effective. An email note or the minutes of the meeting should be circled back at least in 48 hours, to keep everyone informed and on track.
Follow Up with Tasks: It is important to send reminders or follow up with key leads on tasks assigned. A leadership flow approach can work effectively, by following up with team leads or key drivers to get the work done.
Reconvene a Follow-up Meeting to Finalize or Discuss The End Results: Sometimes, one meeting is sufficient to get some tasks done. But in most cases, you may need a few more to tidy up details regarding an end goal or a project. In such meetings, try to identify key things achieved, improvement opportunities and what needs to be finalized.
At this stage, it is important to try not to make additional meetings a period to pull down existing plans already in motion.
This can be mentally and emotionally draining for project managers and key drivers. Some resources may also be wasted in the process. Instead, think of ways to curtail changes already in motion. Only adapt new plans that will enhance the execution process and the success of a task or end goal.
Finally, as much as we know that meetings are often for serious business, try to make them more fun and less tense. Introducing ice-breakers and sometimes small bites or food or tea breaks for longer assemblies or conferences can make meeting more relaxing and productive.
This in the long run, minimizes valid distractions like feeling hungry or the need to use the restroom or make a call.
I hope you found this article to be insightful and helpful.
Thank you for reading.
Article by Opeolu Adeyemi.
Corporate Communications and Public Relations Consultant
Founder, Brave Publicity Ink!
Brave Publicity Ink! 