Make your meetings more effective

Did you know that, according to a Microsoft survey of 38,000 people in 200 countries, people spend an average of 5.6 hours each week in meetings? However, 69 percent of those surveyed feel that meetings aren’t productive. That’s a lot of wasted time.

When I look in my diary first thing in the morning to find I am planned to be in meetings all day, my first thought is usually ‘How am I going to get on to all those things I need to do?’. Do you ever have the same feeling? Do you also spend time in meetings that seem to go on too long and don’t really achieve anything?

I love the recent article I read in the E-Myth newsletter on this particular subject – how to make meetings more effective.

The article sets out some basic points on how to conduct productive and inspiring staff meetings at all levels of your organisation.

Firstly, you need to decide as a business what kind of meetings you should have, how often they need to take place and who needs to be involved. The full article sets out the different types of meetings there are and the benefits of each one.

Apparently the most common productivity pitfalls in the workplace are unclear objectives, lack of team communication and ineffective meetings. Regardless of what kind of staff meetings you choose to incorporate into your business, if you follow a basic set of guidelines and standards, you can turn them into extremely effective and productive activities.

• Have a clear purpose Everyone in the meeting should know what result the meeting is supposed to produce, and why their participation is necessary.

• Follow a defined agenda This includes (at a minimum) the time and duration of the meeting, the specific issues or ideas to be addressed, and any required resources or documents to bring to the meeting.

• Be action-oriented Make sure your meetings include a follow-up plan that makes it very clear how each of you and/or the project will move forward, along with due dates for each step in the plan.

Having a meeting just for the sake of having a meeting might be acceptable when getting together with an old college buddy or a group of friends for a sporting event, but staff meetings in your business must help drive the business forward.

When conducted properly, staff meetings will support your progress toward your goals and be an important part of your company culture. Anyone who directs their attention and intention into creating effective staff meetings in their business can experience increased levels of communication, productivity, accountability and cooperation.

For the full article go to E-Myth.

If you can add any further points to the above list about holding productive meetings, I’d love to hear from you.