We’re all at the same “club” – annoyed with long, chaotic and not so effective meetings, right?
Here are some great tips for you, so that next time when you’re planning a meeting it’s marvelous!
#1 Understand the Purpose of Your Meeting
Before you send meeting request to colleagues, ask yourself these questions:
- Why am I planning this meeting?
- What do I want to achieve during this meeting?
- How will I do that?
And also this one: “Maybe this meeting could be an e-mail?“
#2 Effective Meeting Agenda
Effective meeting agenda is the most important part of a productive meeting. It should include:
- The purpose of this meeting;
- Clearly defined topics (these could be also in form of a question);
- Small description of each topic to introduce your audience;
- The exact time for each topic;
- Responsible persons for each topic;
- Files or to-dos from previous meetings.
#3 Stick to Planned Topics and Time limit
How many times have you noticed deviation from the topic during meetings? “A lot,” you’re probably thinking… So here’s what you can do:
- When you create a meeting agenda, schedule time for every topic;
- Stick to your timeframe and track remaining minutes during the meeting;
- Be brave enough to interrupt attendee if you feel “the smell of deviation” in the air.
Don’t let this crash your productivity!
#4 Assign Action Items to Attendees
If during the meeting you decide about certain tasks, that must be done till [deadline], you should always assign the responsible person for it. We all know – if it’s a task for everyone, mostly it’s a task for nobody…
#5 Share Meeting Minutes and Decisions with Others in a Follow-up Email
The power of sharing is essential not only if we’re speaking about love, but also about effective team meetings. Always share meeting minutes, notes, decisions, files, or summary with attendees. If necessary – even outside of your organization.
Everyone will have up-to-date information, so there’s no need to spend your precious time repeating things you’ve already talked about.
Easy as that!
