Run an Efficient Meeting
Meetings can be big time wasters if the person in charge is not organized. Prevent boring and frustrating your meeting attendees by following these simple tips.
Have a plan and create an agenda. Not only will having an agenda help you run your meeting as efficiently as possible, but it will also alert other attendees of what they can expect the meeting to accomplish. If possible, send the agenda out at least a few hours before the meeting. This will give everyone a chance to review the topics ahead of time and prepare for the meeting as needed.
Meetings shouldn’t be any longer than you need. Once you have your agenda set, you’ll know how long your meeting needs to be. Outlook generally defaults to set up meetings in hour and half hour intervals, but what Outlook also allows you to do is manually adjust the start and end times to anything you want! Try setting up shorter 15- or 45-minute meetings instead of full 30- or 60-minute meetings. You’ll want to keep in mind people’s attention spans. Meetings should not last longer than 90 minutes. If you need more time consider splitting the meeting into two parts.
Cut to the chase. Require that everyone get to the meeting on time and then start the meeting on time. The longer you wait to start the meeting, the easier it will be for everyone to get distracted and start talking about other things. Even if people are late start the meeting without them. By waiting until everyone arrives, you’re sending a message that it’s okay to be late. Encourage people to come on time by putting important items at the beginning of the agenda. Another benefit to this is you’ll discuss the most important topics when people are the most alert.
Stick to the agenda. Unfortunately, just having an agenda won’t keep people on task. On the agenda, make a note of how long each topic should take and stick to those times. If a topic is in danger of running over time, set up a follow-up meeting to talk about that particular part. Once you notice that a discussion has veered down a path that is no longer productive, get the conversation back on track immediately.
Give thought to the “guest list.” Be sure to only invite the people who are critical to your meeting. Any additional people can be distracting and may draw attention away from the purpose. Also make sure that the critical members are available to attend the meeting. If your meeting request is declined, request that someone, who they trust and can make important decisions on the spot, go in their place. If there’s no one to take their place, consider rescheduling the meeting.
