Meetings have the potential to be both enjoyable and highly effective. However, an inefficient meeting can be a drain on your time, especially if you’re already busy. In the quest for productivity within the hybrid or remote working world, it’s crucial that every meeting is worthwhile and positively impacts your role. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case.
Whether it’s a quick team meeting or one that requires brainstorming or strategic discussion, certain rules can make the meeting more successful. This is especially pertinent now, as many of us spend part of the week in the office and part working remotely.
Research shows that organizations spend approximately 15 percent of their time on meetings, with a third of those considered unproductive (Zippia). Moreover, a survey by Dialpad found that over 75 percent of people prefer scheduling meetings on specific days or times, with Mondays being the most popular and Wednesdays seeing the longest meetings.
Running a Successful Meeting
Gathering people in a room (virtual or physical) isn’t enough to ensure a successful meeting. At Robbins Madanes Training, we’ve researched extensively to identify the best practices for running effective meetings. Here are 9 tips to help you make the most out of your meetings.
- Set a Clear Agenda A meeting without a purpose is a waste of time. Send an agenda beforehand so participants know what to expect and if they need to prepare any information. Display the agenda on a screen or print it for face-to-face meetings. This is especially important for online meetings where participants might be out of touch with a project. An agenda helps keep the meeting on track and ensures that discussions stay relevant.
- Know Your Desired Outcomes Before the meeting starts, clearly define what you want to achieve. Whether it’s brainstorming ideas, getting a budget approved, or supporting team members on a challenging project, having clear outcomes in mind will guide the meeting. Use the last few minutes to review the next steps and assign tasks to specific individuals, ensuring everyone knows their responsibilities.
- Find the Right Environment Meetings can take place anywhere in today’s remote and hybrid working environment. Choose the best medium for the meeting—whether online or in person—based on the meeting’s purpose. Operational meetings can often be managed online, while strategic direction meetings, which require reflection and brainstorming, might be better suited to in-person gatherings.
- Prepare Talking Points For meetings that require brainstorming or idea generation, come prepared with key talking points. These can act as a guide to keep the discussion focused. For instance, if discussing a marketing campaign that underperformed, ask questions like “What did you like about the campaign?” and “What could we have done better?”
- Give Everyone a Chance to Speak Encourage participation from all attendees, regardless of their role. Some people are more vocal, while others need encouragement to share their ideas. Manage personalities by asking questions and opening the floor to everyone. In online meetings, using features like the ‘hands up’ function can help ensure everyone gets a chance to contribute.
- Encourage Ideas & Solutions If the meeting’s goal is to generate ideas or find solutions, ask participants to prepare 2-3 ideas beforehand. Go around the table and have each person share their ideas, followed by feedback from the group. This approach ensures everyone has a chance to contribute and helps identify consensus within the team.
- Be Mindful of the Time Respect the time slot you’ve scheduled for the meeting. Start and end on time to build consistency and show respect for participants’ schedules. For longer meetings, include breaks to allow participants to refresh and regroup.
- Define Clear Next Steps & Actions End every meeting with a review of the next steps and assigned tasks. Ensure everyone leaves with a clear understanding of their responsibilities and deadlines. Share notes or outcomes after the meeting to avoid miscommunication and keep everyone on the same page.
- Ask for Feedback Regularly seek feedback on the effectiveness of your meetings. After a month, ask participants if there are ways to improve the meetings. Conduct a meeting audit to ensure the number of meetings is manageable and doesn’t lead to burnout. At Robbins Madanes Training, we’ve instituted “no-meeting Wednesdays” to help balance meeting time with focused work time.
Running a Successful Meeting – Checklist
Meetings are essential for collaboration, communication, and idea generation. However, they can easily go off track. Use this checklist to ensure your meetings are productive and efficient.
By following these 9 tips, you can transform your meetings into productive, energizing sessions that drive your projects and teams forward.