"Tips for getting the most out of meetings – quickly – so you can get back to work."
I can’t think of anyone who really likes meetings, except for those annoying folks who like to sound off in front on an audience. Plus, do we really NEED those donuts?
One reason many meetings are horrible: half of the participants aren’t fully “there.” Someone is texting to figure out car pooling their kids to soccer practice. Someone else is checking email. People are horrible multitaskers (and even your multifunction printer only prints one job at a time). Take a hint from your copier – perform many tasks, but only perform one task at a time. To get the most of meetings, this is an important idea to take and use – focus on the meeting.
Donuts or not, you do have to meet with the people you work with, at least once in a while, to be sure you’re all pointed in the right direction. When you do have to meet, make the meeting as efficient as possible.
Here are a few common sense ideas and tips for more productive meetings to use to get together, get focused, and then get it done.
There are few things in (work) life more annoying than being in the middle of making a point and noticing that two of your fellow meeting participants are responding to an email on their phones. Someone always forgets to turn their ringer off. And don’t even get me started on alert sounds – for email, Facebook, Pinterest, text . . . it’s annoying.
Park the phones at the door. Have a basket there for that purpose. Or a table – have fun stacking them into a pyramid. Just keep them out of your hands during a meeting. It’s too easy to become distracted.
Have a purpose for the meeting. Is it brainstorming? Sharing a company goal or direction? A decision-meeting? Intelligence-gathering with a potential customer (or vendor)?
If there’s one thing worse than being in a poorly-run meeting; it’s being in a poorly-run meeting that you don’t need to be a part of. Think carefully about who needs to be in the meeting – streamline the invitation list as much as possible so that you’re not wasting anyone’s time.
Start and end on time. If a key participant is running slightly late, wait. Otherwise, get started. Be sure to schedule enough time to accomplish your meeting’s goals, which will allow you to end on time – or even early.
Don’t allow a rehash of previous meetings – or, even worse, general belly-aching about previous decisions – throw your meeting off track. Recap relevant previous decisions and then stick to your agenda. And don’t let someone hijack the meeting for their own personal agenda. Stay in charge and on track. If someone keeps bringing up an unrelated topic, set an action item to meet separately on the topic.
Decide on clear action items, assign ownership, and establish realistic deadlines before the meeting ends. Follow up with meeting notes that recap key decisions and reinforce next steps so everyone stays aligned and accountable.
If the weather cooperates, consider holding a walking meeting for one-on-one conversations or small team discussions. Stepping away from the conference room can encourage fresh thinking, spark creativity, and provide the added benefit of getting everyone moving. Just avoid turning your walking meeting into a trip for ice cream.
These tips may seem like common sense, but we've all experienced meetings that drain time instead of creating momentum. By minimizing distractions, staying focused, and ending every meeting with a clear plan, you can turn meetings into productive working sessions that help your team accomplish more.
Of course, productive meetings are only one piece of the productivity puzzle. If your team regularly spends meeting time searching for documents, discussing manual processes, or troubleshooting workflow challenges, the real opportunity may be improving the systems that support your business.
A Datamax Discovery Assessment helps you uncover hidden inefficiencies across your document workflows, print environment, and everyday business processes. Our experts work with you to identify practical technology solutions that reduce wasted time, improve collaboration, and help your employees focus on higher-value work.
Ready to improve productivity beyond the conference room? Schedule a Discovery Assessment with Datamax and discover how smarter workflows and the right technology can help your organization operate more efficiently.