Meetings, when conducted well, can be powerful tools for collaboration, decision-making, and problem-solving. Unfortunately, many of us have experienced unproductive and time-consuming meetings that don’t always seem to achieve much.
We’ve put together some tips and tricks to hosting productive meetings so that your team can be on top of it’s game:
Whether your meeting is about a huge project or it’s just a monthly 1-1, you won’t get very far if you don’t have a rough idea of what you want to achieve.
Try to set 2 main objectives that you want to achieve by the time the meeting’s over. These don’t have to be set in stone – here’s some suggestions if you’re stuck:
Brainstorm ideas for project A
Introduce team members or clients
Organise XYZ
Not every single discussion during the meeting has to align with these goals, but it’s great to have a reference point to come back to if you’re veering off-topic.
It sounds like a futile reminder, but sometimes we get so caught up in the intricate details of meetings we forget to check the basics.
Have you set a time? Have you booked a meeting room? Have you invited the right people?
If you slip up on the basics, your meeting will be disorganised from the very beginning and it’ll be difficult to get back on track.
Meetings work best when everyone is communicating freely, sharing their ideas and collaborating – but this doesn’t happen automatically.
A good point to consider is that what you start with, will determine the mood of your meeting. Start with criticism and your team will feel scrutinised and less likely to share their opinion later on.
It’s difficult to redeem a meeting with a negative start, so try to start each meeting with gratitude or humour. Foster a relaxed environment and watch your team come up with some great ideas.
As someone leading the meeting, you’re naturally going to be talking more than others. Whilst this is a given, it’s important to remember that it shouldn’t be a one-way conversation.
Try to open up the floor at different points of the discussion. Some people are happy to share their ideas and others need a little prompting, but encouraging diverse perspectives is key in order to make progress.
As with any skill, there’s always room for improvement. Part of being a good leader is recognising that there’s always more you can do to improve.
If it’s been a particularly important meeting, follow up with a short summary of what was discussed. This gives people a little refresh incase of new ideas, and is also a great time to invite feedback on the meeting.
And finally, the meeting space itself can play a big part in how productive a meeting can be. Ensuring you have room to move, an interchangeable collaborative space, and the technology to help present to the team is crucial. And that is exactly what we offer here at Cynthia Spencer. Our meeting rooms, based in Northampton are the ideal space for small or large meetings, training or conferences.
Productive meetings are an incredibly important part of any organisation. By adopting good strategies, you can help transform meetings from something people dread to sessions that drive meaningful outcomes for your team.