I am not a huge fan of meetings but I find myself in them for much of my week. I always try to limit the number of meetings I have with our team so we can all spend more time working rather than talking about work. No matter how I feel about meetings they are a needed tool for every organization. If we are going to have them then every one better be productive and have the right people in them.
Here is what I am learning about having better meetings…
- Have a plan and goal for every meeting // it does not matter if it’s a large staff meeting or a face to face personal meeting I try to have a plan and a goal for every meeting. If it’s an important meeting then it’s worth having an actual plan. Lack of planning for meetings just fuels ineffective meetings!
- Start on time & end on time // time is so valuable so make sure you maximize it when you set a meeting.
- Get the right people in the room // this is so difficult as an organization grows. Not everyone needs to be in every meeting. Make sure you have the right voices in the right meetings.
- Make meetings places of collaboration and not information distribution // you can use email to get out information. In every meeting create time for people to actually talk and as the meeting leader make sure and listen.
- End every meeting with clear next steps // always make sure after every people know what is next and who is going to tackle what to ensure meeting momentum.
- Embrace conflict // it’s ok to debate and process as a team. Productive meetings will create conflict so go with it and make sure you actually work through issues in the actual meeting!
- Make room to laugh and celebrate // seriously, calm down and have some fun!