Effective Meetings
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The document provides tips for effective meetings. It discusses determining the meeting type, preparing an agenda, inviting only necessary attendees, introducing participants, managing discussions, starting and ending on time, agreeing on action items and follow up. Key tips include clarifying the meeting objective, preparing materials in advance, maintaining focus, and following through on tasks after the meeting. When done properly, meetings can increase productivity, but they often waste time and resources if not planned and facilitated effectively.
Effective Meetings
- 1. www.onlymedics.co.uk Effective Meetings Properly run meetings can save time, increase motivation, productivity and solve problems. But badly run, they waste time, money, resource and have no value. I āll bet some of you spend half your working day Often a meeting will comprise more than one of these in meetings. Of those, half are not really worth elements, which is OK as long as they are not confused. having and in those that are, half the time is For example, donāt sell when youāre meant to be wasted. Not only that, many meetings are a waste of chatting and donāt present information when problem money. Little attention is often paid to the cost in time solving. of those who attend. Let people know what the meeting is about Decide what kind of meeting you want Good meetings donāt just happen; they need to be There are four key types of meeting. prepared for. An agenda lets people know what to ā¢ Selling, where someone is pitching something expect provides an order for dealing with issues and gives people opportunity to consider discussion points ā¢ Status, where information is being shared and include or exclude themselves. It means you also ā¢ Problem Solving, where ideas are being brainstormed have to think about the structure of the meeting, which ā¢ Chit-Chat, where everyone has a good gossip is no bad thing.
- 2. www.onlymedics.co.uk Only invite people who need to be there Scheduling Itās easier to get a positive outcome if the right people Try to schedule meetings early in the day or mid- attend a meeting. The general rule is that the more morning or mid-afternoon when people are more people you have in a meeting, the less likely it is to likely to be alert. Avoid scheduling first thing in the achieve anything. Thereās also nothing worse than being morning, the first morning or last afternoon of the in a meeting to which you can contribute nothing. working week, the last hour of any work-day and Donāt go to meetings out of habit, only go if they are particularly, the first hour after lunch (otherwise really going to be useful to you or youāre going to be known as āthe graveyard slot.ā useful to the other participants. Interacting with others in the real world is a contact sport, turn your PC off, get your jacket on and get out there. Introduce everybody to everyone else Starting and finishing Itās amazing how many meetings you sit through Start and finish on time. Time in meetings is always without knowing the person opposite you. Make sure different from ārealā time. A quick 10 minute catch up thereās an introduction and warm up at the start of the can fill a whole morning. One reason for this is that meeting unless everyone really does know everybody work in meetings doesnāt actually start until someong else. If this doesnāt happen and you donāt know someone, says āIāve got another meeting to go to.ā ask. A bad meeting can still be a good chance to network with others. People will be more likely to come to your meetings if they know they start and finish on time. Many Manage egos and control air-time people have back-to-back meetings and keeping them waiting will disrupt their day. Big meetings encourage people with big egos to go into display mode. When thereās a need to problem solve, they Agree who does what and when will still be in information giving mode, often at high volume and great length. These people need to be Never finish a meeting without getting closure on controlled and the best way of doing so is to state upfront, who is going to do wnat and when they are going to what the purpose and structure of the meeting will be. do it by. Circulate some brief minutes with action points and who will be responsible for them. It can also be useful to state the outcome you want to achieve. Stick to the agenda and beware of hijacking. If When this is clear it will get your next meeting off on youāve called the meeting, make sure you get what you the right foot. need from it. If other people want other things, let them call their own meetings. Follow through Interruptions If you prepare well, get participation and your desired outcome but fail to follow through afterwards, you risk Some people thrive in situations where everyone talks at not achieving your purpose. Real work continues after once but others find it intimidationg and feel unable to a meeting is over. Sometimes people will take contribute. To communicate effectively, try to ensure that responsibility for an action point but then forget about everyone has opportunity to speak and if necessary, try to it or demote it down their āto-doā list. Check with them encourage those who donāt find it easy in group situations. how therāre getting on and offer help if needed. On a practical level, divert any office phones, ask attendees Conflcit can often be resolved by touching base with to switch off mobiles, pagers or Blackberries. people after a meeting.
- 3. Technology Five steps to successful meetings Meetings are important forums for getting buy-in. When people are engaged, they feel better because they know ā¢ Objective exactly whatās going on rather than getting information A meeting without a clear objective and an agenda that by office memos or email. However, weāre all trying to sets out to accomplish that objective is a waste of time. reduce our carbon footprint these days and many companies restrict travel budgets within their environmental policies. ā¢ Preparation Read the agenda, any background material and prepare Tele conferencing isnāt quite adequate anymore. Meeting any materials attendees need to be able to see information and each other ā especially if they are remote. Video conferencing has an increasingly important part to play in meetings for people ā¢ Punctuality Arrive on time. Lateness is disruptive and expensive. in geographically dispersed companies. ā¢ Focus Meetings fail because Stay on track in meetings. Cover the action points, clearly state the outcome of the meeting and distribute minutes. ā¢ their purpose is unclear ā¢ Get in and get out ā¢ thereās inadequate preparation āActionā happens outside of meetings. Interacting with ā¢ the wrong people are invited others in the real world is a contact sport, turn your PC off, get your jacket on and get out there! ā¢ thereās a lack of participation ā¢ thereās no follow up www.onlymedics.co.uk