According to a study, only 50% of the time people spend in meetings is engaging and effective. Over $37 billion are wasted annually on unproductive meetings, which can make work more difficult. The failure to establish an effective organization or purpose can lead to prolonged failure.
Meetings can help people feel motivated and clearly understand what they need to accomplish in the next couple of days or weeks. However, before you can host a successful meeting, you need to develop a time management strategy and framework. Here are simple strategies that will help you organize and motivate your team.
Define your meeting objectives
Before you can host a successful meeting, you need to establish an objective. Having a clear purpose is important to ensure that the meeting is successful.
You, as a leader, need to differentiate between essential and strategic communications. For instance, while you may need to communicate with your team members through email, phone calls, or Slack, you also need to hold a strategic meeting to accomplish important goals, such as mapping out a customer journey or solving a problem.
Meetings are categorized into two main types: routine and strategic. The former usually focuses on one task or goal, while the latter focuses on developing a plan or solving a problem. Although each type of meeting can be run differently, an objective should be established.
Before you can host a meeting, you need to establish an objective. Having a clear purpose is important to ensure that the meeting is successful. Before you can start planning a meeting, make sure that everyone has a clear understanding of the meeting’s goals.
The meeting objective should include actionable goals and results-oriented terms. Although there may be multiple objectives within the more significant goal, these should be defined ahead of time to allow the team to understand them.
Create an agenda
Your agenda should serve as your compass, which will help you find your way toward the meeting’s north star objective. Having a clear purpose is important to ensure that the meeting is successful.
One of the most important factors you as a leader must consider when planning a meeting is time availability. Having a clear agenda can help ensure that the meeting is successful. It also shows that you are an effective and dedicated leader.
We’ve all been there where the meeting was too short to cover everything that needed to be discussed. Another issue can occur when the meeting gets derailed into off-topic discussions.
To avoid this, try to find a way to accommodate both the meeting’s duration and the time needed to reach the desired outcome.
Scheduling the meeting time
The meeting’s timing should also be decided based on what needs to be accomplished. According to studies, the best time to start brainstorming, strategic thinking, and creativity is in the morning when the prefrontal cortex is active.
People tend to be more productive when they can solve their problems later in the day because they are less distracted.
If you have a remote team, make sure that you consider the time zone differences. Also, keep in mind that other calendar items should be considered.
The agenda should be simple to keep the team engaged. Each item should be allotted a certain amount of time so that everyone can know their time constraints for presentations or discussions.
Lay out guidelines for the meeting
Before the meeting begins, ensure everyone is comfortable sharing their ideas and thoughts. Also, avoid getting too off-topic.
You can also request that cellphones should be silent to minimize distractions. It’s also important to encourage balanced participation and ensure everyone feels heard. To encourage everyone to speak, consider having a round table approach.
One of the most important factors that you as a leader need to consider when planning a meeting is the availability of time. Having the right communication tool is also important to ensure that the meeting is successful.