How to run effective and efficient meetings

Meetings and conferece calls are still an unavoidable part of our office life. However, employees still feel that they meet too often in sometimes unproductive meetings.

Here is a list of things your employees possibly are thinking, especially if you’re asking them to attend regularly long meetings and conf. calls and some tips to help you run more effective and efficient meetings.

Monkey Mind

Talk to anyone that is learning how to meditate. Focusing, being present is one of the hardest things to accomplish. We always have something else in our minds.

For companies then, having a productive meeting is a huge challenge. How can you make sure everyone is attentively following you and your PowerPoint presentation?

Keep things as short and concise as possible. Keep up your energy and eye contact (when not in a conf call) to draw everyone’s attention. Provide an agenda to let attendees see points that will be covered or prioritize charts and bullet points on your PowerPoint.

Boredom

Make your meetings as interactive as possible. Encourage participation.

Start your weekly meeting with two stories to be told by two different managers about something good related to their job. That will help them remember who they are, their purpose and their impact to the content of the meeting.

They will be less likely to tune out and play Candy Crush.

Stand up, forget the chairs. That will increase everyone’s engagement and shorten meetings. Andrew Knight and Markus Baer of Washington University led a study on stand-up meetings vs sit-down meetings, rating the ability of participants to work together, share ideas, and produce quality work. The results: Standing up leads to greater enthusiasm and it allows for greater collaboration on ideas.

Inject humour, it’s the easiest way to get everyone’s attention and not feel bored.

Stress

Do you really need such a long meeting? One common complaint from employees is the amount of time they spend in meetings and the little time they have left to get their work done.

Think about it, it’s kind of funny… you have a meeting and most of the attendants are eager to get done with it and get back to their ‘stuff’…

Consider meetings for brainstorming sessions and important messages. You can use the email, the intranet and other tools to help you pass on other information.

Make it short. Set a timer- Once it rings, meeting is over.

Autonomy

Many companies nowadays are letting employees be more flexible and work from home.

Let your employees decide when they need to gather and let them work autonomously the rest of the time.

Open up to your employees and ask for honest feedback about the number of gatherings and the duration of each one. That way, you will have first-hand information of the impact your meetings have on your team’s morale.

Staff meetings are needed but you would find a flexible approach that suits you and your team.

So…

Staff meetings are essential. However, too many and/or endless meetings can impact negatively productivity and morale. It’s essential to learn to distinguish necessary meetings from those that are not and find new efficient ways to achieve your goals. Be creative!