Getting stuck in an unproductive meeting is a surefire way to waste valuable time and money. An effective meeting should solve problems and move your company forward. It’s the perfect venue to have healthy and productive discussions among employees and higher-ups. This is why it’s important to put effort into making sure you’re making the most of your sessions. These tips and tricks will help you run better, more effective work meetings for your team.
Consider essential facilitation training
Although it might not seem like it, managing a successful meeting is something you can learn. Investing in an effective facilitation workshop can be incredibly beneficial when it comes to lessening the cases of unproductive meetings. You’ll be able to learn essential skills that will allow you to productively resolve conflicts, improve communication, and make better decisions in a shorter span of time. This results in less wasted time and more fruitful outcomes.
Set a clear goal for the meeting
Before anything else, the most important thing to do is define a clear goal and purpose for the meeting. When emailing out invites, it’s helpful to clearly state these goals in the body of your invitation. If all your attendees are briefed on the most important matters at hand, they’ll be able to stay more focused and driven to achieve what you set out to accomplish with the meeting.
Come prepared
Minimize the time spent scrambling for your notes by preparing everything beforehand. Show up to the meeting before everyone else arrives and make sure all the necessary materials are there. It’s helpful to have a list on-hand with everything you want to discuss and achieve. You might also need to set-up any necessary documentation like data and statistics, powerpoints slides, charts and reports, and production plans.
Invite only the most essential people
To reduce distractions, only invite the relevant employees involved with the matter at hand. This also ensures that you aren’t wasting other people’s valuable time, effort, and productivity.
Have a moderator supervise the meeting
Having a moderator around during the meeting ensures that you’re on the right path to achieving your goals. Their job includes keeping track of time as well as monitoring the flow of the meeting. This guarantees that you’ll keep to the agenda you’ve set. You can either assign someone to be a moderator or you can do it yourself.
Discourage the use of mobile phones during meetings
Before the meeting starts, ask everyone to put their phones aside or have them surrender their phones before they enter the conference room. As much as possible, discourage or ban the use of mobile phones during a session and let your goals be the only focus. You can return their phones during a short break or once the meeting ends.
Do a recap of what was discussed
Before you reach the end of your meeting, spend the remaining time with your attendees by reviewing all the actions and decisions that you’ve made together. This allows you to make sure that you’ve accomplished your goals and that everyone leaves with a clear understanding of how to move forward.
Never have an unproductive meeting again with practical tips to help you run an effective discussion with your team.