15 Simple Tactics for More Productive Meetings

What Happened?

363 CORE has been surveying employees across the country for almost three decades to identify and address their key work issues and frustrations. From our survey results we discover that the main concern is the lack of time. Our respondents score this a low 58%, the lowest scoring issue of over 100 organisational issues that we survey.

No one likes to open up their calendar to find their day booked solid with back-to-back meetings. These 15 tactics could lighten your load and gain respect.

All of us can relate to how time poor we are and as a result, the quality of our work can suffer due to the constant stress of meeting deadlines and endless back-to-back meetings. There is just too much to be done in the time we have available!

So What?

How do you free up more time in your workday to do the things that really matter?

Let’s start with meetings, it’s no secret that the majority of these are a colossal waste of our time. While the numbers vary, unnecessary time spent in meetings is estimated at between 15% and 25% of the working week… and the more senior you are, the higher the number. Let’s take a midpoint of 20%, this means that on average, an employee wastes up to 8 hours per week. This makes it critical to your organisation’s growth to find better ways to hold more effective meetings.

Now What?

The idea at work...here are 15 hacks to help make your meetings more manageable

1. Hold fewer meetings - or - don’t meet.

When possible, avoid a meeting if you’re able to cover it in an email, memo, face-to-face and so on. Ask yourself before planning a meeting whether it’s the best method for delivering your message as this is the key to understanding when it’s appropriate to schedule a meeting or not. By cutting down non-essential meetings and saving time, more importance is placed on the meetings you do schedule.

2. Put a strict time limit on meetings.

Unless you want to encourage diminished productivity by running meetings longer than necessary, an end-time needs to be put in place. The majority of us understand the hassle of having back-to-back meetings and feeling like your time could have been better utilised elsewhere. I personally recommend keeping to the 15-minute rule, as based on research on the average attention span, people have about 10 – 18 minutes before mentally clocking out! If you manage to stick to the set time, the outcome is more concentration and focus which then fosters more creativity in a shorter period.

3. Limit the number of attendees, the number of comments/questions per meeting topic.

To boost implementation of the meeting’s objectives, it’s significant to limit the amount of employees in attendance. Make sure that at every meeting, a key decision maker is present and in addition, only those that are a priority in the decision-making process and outcome. This effectively eliminates potential distractions and encourages proactive discussion that is relevant to the people attending the meeting.

4. No agenda = No meeting | use agenda to keep members on target.

Before holding a meeting, there must be an established purpose. Without one, meetings turn into what feels like pointless social gatherings rather than productive sessions. Agenda outline usually includes start/end time, issues to be covered, expected duration of the meeting, and expected outcomes. To ensure the efficient use of everyone’s time, send the agenda out prior to the meeting to allow for preparation. This effectively sets the direction for a productive meeting.

5. Plan out five bullet points - and stick to them.

Whenever I conduct meetings, I try to write down five bullet points of items I need to cover, and make a plan to stick to them. If I have time, I'll make an agenda with these bullet points and share them with everyone on the call. I can't tell you how many meetings have grown to be confusing, chaotic messes because people veer off topic and introduce items that aren't relevant to the majority of the people on the call. I stick to my 5 bullet point rule because any less than that is really more of a problem that can be settled over the phone, and anything more than that should be allocated into more than one meeting.

6. Always announce a "hard stop' upfront and use 25-minute blocks instead of 30.

I set my Google Calendar to schedule meetings in 25-minute increments instead of 30. That means, on average, I'm being 17 percent more efficient with my time, having 50-minute meetings instead of 60, and shaving off 5 minutes from every half-hour meeting. On any conference call or meeting with three or more people, I start each meeting by saying, "I have a hard stop at [insert end time here], so thanks in advance to everyone for staying on-topic!" This establishes upfront that it's important to stick to an agenda to respect everyone's time.

7. "Park" certain conversations for later so you don't get sidetracked.

During the course of any meeting it's easy to go off on tangents. Those tangents aren't always bad -- good meetings and conversations stimulate new ideas and bring up valid points. To make sure you still achieve your meeting's immediate objectives, if you notice things going off topic, allow them to be discussed briefly then "park" that tangent for discussion at the end of the meeting or for a separate meeting entirely. Too much rigidity can stifle creativity and ideas; too little and it turns into a brainstorming sessions versus a productive meeting. This hack works well to keep the balance.

8. Cover your bases by gathering questions early.

I love handing out pieces of paper to people in meetings and asking them to write down what they want to discuss. Then I'll glance at their papers and try to group the answers into a few categories. This ensures that everyone at the meeting is satisfied with the topics covered and doesn't feel weird trying to find a way to bring up a topic.

9. Consider opposing thoughts.

I always take another member of my team - a person who has a different perspective than me - to meetings. I believe that this balance of thought leads to better long-term decision making.

10. Only use meeting time for decision making/problem solving.

information-sharing (or gathering) should always be performed prior to meetings. Ask your stakeholders questions via email or automated feedback software and bring the responses to the meetings. When everyone is already informed, the team can debate important issues and create a plan of action instead of wasting precious time just bringing everyone up to speed.

11. Establish a DRI.

Having a Directly Responsible Individual assigned to each agenda task ensures the accountability held at meetings. Doing so effectively outlines clear instructions for the team to follow and ensures the responsible individual completes the project. This avoids overlap and the confusion of who should be doing what.

12. Stand up - or - try walking meetings.

The name for this type of meeting did in fact originate from its name. Following the thought process that with the longer you stand, the more uncomfortable everyone becomes, effectively pushing the meeting to end in a more productive and timely manner! This encourages employees to focus more on the topics at hand.

A great way to make a meeting healthier and more enjoyable is to have a walking meeting. This way you get to leave the office and enjoy the scenery while discussing key action items. Meetings then go from being a chore to being something people actually look forward to.

13. Switch up your environment.

Changing the location of your meetings each time you come together not only keeps things exciting, but also stimulates new ideas and innovation. Take the team outside, out to lunch for the meeting, into the conference room or even into your own office, and you will see less yawning and more interesting and invested conversation. If your meeting is simply being utilized to go over a few new things, don't waste your time making a formal gathering of the entire company. Grab the few specific individuals you need and take a walk outside or around your building, and change things up a bit.

14. Post meeting action items.

Before finishing a meeting, make sure all people in attendance leave with action items. Set deadlines for what is to be accomplished by everyone, outline individual responsibilities, and implement a follow-up process.

15. Follow up.

With all accountable tasks, check in on progress to make sure objectives are clear and keep the team updated on any important developments. Post-meeting, encourage feedback and see if any problems need to be addressed and any improvements made before the next meeting. This will help you easily direct the next meeting more productively.

posted by George Sawiris AFAMI on October 2015

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