Business meetings are essential for promoting teamwork, but they need to provide high value in order to keep participants engaged. A high-value meeting involves concise, effective communications, keeps the attention of attendees, and is free of distracting behavior. It’s easy to foster the right environment by following these simple steps:
- Meetings must have clear purposes. This keeps everything on track and provides specific goals to accomplish. The task of defining a meeting’s purpose falls to its organizer or “owner”. Organizers should ask themselves questions like “Am I seeking input?” “Am I attempting to bring about a consensus?” Always have a tangible purpose for a meeting and communicate it to all participants.
- Prepare for the meeting in advance. Organizers should have all technology set up before the meeting starts. This way, it can start as soon as everyone arrives and everyone will keep their focus. Attendees who will be presenting should also prepare in advance.
- Only invite those who need to be at the meeting. When people learn that your meetings are truly relevant to them, they become far more excited about attending. Who needs to be there? If you’re announcing a change, invite those who will be directly affected by that change. When you’re seeking input on a new plan, bring in those who can give qualified opinions. Follow this principle for every meeting. Other people can be informed of key points via memo and on an as-needed basis.
- Make a schedule and stick to it. This is extremely important for getting buy-in on the idea of having meetings. Set a clear schedule for topics during the meeting and state a hared ending time. During the meeting, schedules help keep everyone on topic and they keep discussions concise, thus powerful. A definite ending time allows attendees to plan other activities in their day with confidence that they won’t be made late for them.
- Choose the right amount of time for your meetings. A well-planned meeting should last a maximum of 40 minutes. At most, it should run for a bit less than an hour. This amount of time ensures you’ll keep the attention of your participants.
- Use technology appropriately. Meeting attendees should bring their tablets or laptop so they can take notes and look up relevant information. However, they should resist the temptation to use their technology to engage in activity that will distract from the meeting at hand.
- Be sure to follow up. Often, those who attend a meeting will end up with several different interpretations of the discussions. Meeting organizers, make sure everyone’s on the same page by sharing a recap memo to all participants. The memo needs to hit on all of the solid points: Assign duties, responsibilities, and deadlines. It should also cover the important, but less tangible things, like overall goals and decisions reached. This memo needs to be shared within 24 hours so misunderstandings don’t have a chance to take root.
- Avoid status update meetings. With today’s technology, there is no need to hold a meeting just to “bring everyone up to date”. Ideally, use a collaboration and information sharing platform like Smart Solutions by Adventos (SmartForce, SmartCity, SmartFire) to help ensure everyone is up to date with relevant information.
When meetings are set up properly, they are impactful, motivating, and useful. Participants will be energized and focused, while organizers will make efficient strides towards the goals of their meetings. Implement these steps to improve your meetings today and get everyone on board.
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