Meetings are like a hungry beast that eats away at your time. On the other hand, average meetings produce very little. I have worked for progressive and mindful organizations. They had rules and culture. I am still being invited to meaningless meetings all the time. How do you prepare for a team meeting that is productive? [iStock/jacoblund] It’s a good idea to consider that a decision made during a meeting has a financial value. It’s simple. It’s actually a timer that shows the cost of a meeting. It is very easy to calculate. It is easy to calculate. Simply calculate the hourly rates of each participant and add the time it took to reach a decision. After a meeting has ended, you will be able to determine how much it costs for a decision to be made. You can repeat the exercise multiple times. Your team meetings will be successful. This is in addition to the demotivation and disengagement effects. I’m certain you will want to have productive meetings after that.
These steps will help you lead and prepare a team meeting that is productive.
1. Plan your meeting agenda
It’s tempting to skip this step. It’s tempting to just walk into a room, give a speech, and leave the rest to the facilitator. It will engage all participants and mobilize them. Then, you can reap the rewards.
.medrectangle-3-multi-102border:none !important;display:block !important;float:none;line-height:0px;margin-bottom:15px !important;margin-left:0px !important;margin-right:0px !important;margin-top:15px !important;max-width:100% !important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px;padding:0;text-align:center !important;It doesn’t work this way. It is important to plan before you do anything. Talks can quickly get off track. A plan is the only way to stay on track.
If you don’t think a meeting is worth writing an agenda, it isn’t important enough to waste your time.
There are always more points that can be discussed than the main topic. It’s called scope creep. It is important to identify all topics being discussed. They will take up time. They could include the introduction and voting on the best idea, assigning action items, and so forth.
2. Set a time limit
Meetings should be limited in time. It will take too long. Remember Parkinson’s law. It should start and end at the scheduled time.
I advise that you do not delay any meeting. By delaying a meeting, you are encouraging latecomers. On the other hand, those who arrive on-time are punished by waiting.
Remember that people may be attending other meetings. It is possible to make them unhappy by ending your meeting later. They will have to either leave the meeting without reaching the conclusion or go home. It is the most important part. Otherwise, they will have trouble getting to their next meeting.
It is the worst possible thing that could happen if a meeting is delayed and causes a cascading delay in all other meetings.
3. Every meeting should have a purpose
Every meeting should have an end goal. To create a list. To make a decision. To update the status of a particular project. This must be done within the given time frame. Any outcome that isn’t clear will be acceptable if you don’t have a clear goal. Why waste your time?
The meeting is a failure if you run out of time or don’t achieve your goal. It is a waste.
“If a meeting isn’t worth writing an agenda, it is not important enough to waste time on.” – Dmitriy Nishhebetskiy
4. Choose your participants carefully
A meeting can only hold a certain number of people. A meeting that exceeds this limit will be deemed wasteful. The purpose of a meeting will determine the number of attendees. Meetings should have between 7-10 participants. Meetings in which you need to share information but not have discussions may require a larger number.
Your project involves many stakeholders. This doesn’t mean that you should invite everyone simply because they are on your mailing list. It is important that you select people who can contribute.