Let’s be honest – few people out there enjoy office meetings. They can be difficult to navigate through at the best of times, yet are necessary to keep things on track and everyone reading from the same page.
In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need them. But, business life is far from ideal, as we all know. So, the solution lies in how you make your meetings more productive.
We’re going to take a look at a few ways of doing that right now. Read on to find out more. Check out some scheduling and time clock software to help meetings along.
All meetings should have a purpose
First of all, are you meeting just for the sake of it? Dragging people away from their jobs means no one is doing any work. So, avoid catch-up sessions and habitual meetings as much as possible. There has to be a reason for that meeting to take place – discussing what has happened in the week previous is not enough. The perfect meeting has a goal, establishes that goal, and then ends. It’s as simple as that – and you will find people are much more receptive to your aims.
There must be a focal point
There should be two types of focus in a meeting. The first should be the goal you have already established. The second should be making sure you have something at the centre of attention.
It could be a person – you or the meeting leader, for example. Or, it could be an inanimate object such as some presentation software or A3 noticeboards. The point is, having something that focuses people will help everyone stay on topic.
It’s so easy for meetings to slip into something irrelevant, and things can quickly start running away from you.
Everyone should have a task
By the end of the meeting, everyone in the room should have a new task they need to complete. If they don’t, they should not have been there in the first place.
Taking this step is a great way of sharpening your attendee list, and over time, you will become much better at planning your meetings in advance. It works on two levels.
First of all, it doesn’t waste anyone’s time. Secondly, it won’t leave anyone feeling that they aren’t contributing to your business.
Have a time frame
It’s so easy for meetings to turn into time-consuming nightmares. And, once everything gets out of control, it can be difficult to get things back on track, and you end up wasting two or three times the amount of time you need.
One of the best ways of avoiding these issues is to set a time limit – and stick to it. Nothing will focus your mind more than watching the clock tick down while staff are talking about the money they lost in the vending machine.
If you can put these simple ideas into practice, you should see a lot of improvements in your meetings.
They will be shorter, sweeter, and more efficient with everyone’s time. Of course, it can take a while to strike the right balance.
But, with the right focus, you should see more productive office meetings soon.
