Meetings are essential to every business because, during these sessions, the team can resolve issues, plan new projects and make critical decisions. Doing these meetings incorrectly can be very taxing, and it will be challenging to get anything done.
Fortunately, there are ways to make meetings more productive for everyone and ensure you get results. Here are 10 hacks we recommend you try in your next meeting:
1. Know Which Meetings To Go To Or Not To Go To
It is not a must to go to every meeting invite or request you get. Pick the sessions where you can contribute and learn from or assist with the decisions. When you do go to these meetings, you need to give it your all and give your full attention to the discussions.
2. Reduce The Frequency And Length Of Your Meetings
You don’t have to schedule meetings frequently to get anything done. Some people appreciate not having to go to conferences often because it gives them time to analyze the information they received from the meetings and focus on their tasks. A gap between sessions can also give them more time to collect information they can present in the subsequent discussions.
Furthermore, it would help if you considered adjusting the length of these meetings so the entire team’s focus is on the meeting and the agenda is met.
3. Use Other Ways To Do Meetings
Informal meetings are also beneficial because they allow businesses to reach their partners outside the office setting. However, these meetings take a lot of time because you will need to commute to another location. To keep up with these meetings and still have time to do other things, utilize other communication tools such as virtual meetings or have an allotted area in the office where you can focus on these meetings.
4. Have A Clear Plan For Your Meeting
Sometimes, meetings can wander off-topic, especially if the discussions take too long. By having an agenda or plan before the meeting, you can guide the team to focus on it and not go to another topic.
5. Have Someone Lead Your Meetings
Aside from having an agenda or plan ready for the meeting, get someone to lead during the session. They can introduce the agenda to the participants and ensure everyone stays on topic. They can also be the ones to take notes so everyone can review the discussions in their own time after the meeting.
6. Keep The Meeting’s Attendees To A Minimum
Sometimes, meetings take a long time to finish because many people are trying to contribute to the discussions. You can reduce the time of your meetings and remain on track with your meeting’s agenda by reducing the people invited to the meetings to only those genuinely involved in the project or those who can contribute significantly to the talks.
7. Get Everyone Involved In The Discussion
If you get people involved in the meetings, it is essential they don’t stay silent during the discussions. If your meeting focuses on brainstorming, give them sticky notes or speaking time so they can share their ideas. Of course, when they do share ideas, don’t laugh if you believe their views are not helpful because this will only make them reluctant to share other ideas in the future.
8. Use A Stopwatch
Meetings can go on forever if there is no focus and a lot of people talking. You can use a stopwatch to keep the meeting on time or set a time limit. Inform everyone that the meeting will be concluded once the time limit is met. This will help speed up the discussions and make everyone fall in line with the meeting agenda.
9. Have A Standing Meeting
Why not schedule standing meetings if you want to maximize everyone’s time and get the agenda met? According to studies, stand-up meetings are very productive because everyone can chat quickly about the topic and proceed to their next appointments.
10. Prohibit Phones And Other Devices In The Meeting
You can also increase your productivity if you remove all the distractions around you during your meetings. This includes phones and other devices that can distract your attention from the discussions. Make it a point to ask everyone to turn off their phones or put them on silent during the meetings so there won’t be an awkward pause when it rings in the middle of the discussions.
For a meeting to be a success, you need to plan it accordingly and ensure that it meets the targets you set for them in the first place. With these hacks, it is easy to control your meetings’ outcomes and ensure everyone can get more out of them than before.
Meetings can be a time waster if the host cannot control what goes on in the meeting and achieve the agenda. Here are some more tips to help you to have a productive meeting: Meeting Hacks that will make you look Great! 7 Tips for Making Your Video Meetings Effective Tired of Zoom Meetings Try These Solutions Instead
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