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Meetings can be great – if they can accomplish your objectives.
Often, however, meetings can be an exercise in wasting time. Some people pay more attention to their phones than the speaker, and others are ill-prepared to contribute anything useful. Some show up late, others too early. Topics veer off on a tangent. Certain people dominate the conversation with items that are irrelevant to others. There are so many ways it can all go wrong.
If you struggle with meeting productivity, we’ve put together some tips—problems and solutions, actually—that can help you take control of your meetings and turn it all around.
1.Meeting problem #1: Disengagement
Disengagement in meetings happens when the topic is irrelevant to the individual. If this is the case, they’ll be thinking about other things and will allow themselves to be distracted or disruptive to the rest of the group.
Solution:
- Invite your meeting attendees according to who needs to be there.
- Ensure each meeting-goer has something useful to contribute.
- Establish a clear meeting agenda and stick to it.
2.Meeting problem #2: Off-topic conversations
It’s easy to get off-track in a meeting, allowing the conversation to veer off in tangential directions. Once this happens, the entire purpose of the meeting will be derailed very quickly, and you’ll probably come away from it scratching your head and wondering what happened.
Solution:
- Be the timekeeper. Allot each meeting-goer a set amount of time to say their piece.
- Control the flow of discussion. If people start to go off-topic, use the “parking lot” technique. The parking lot technique acknowledges the importance of the subject and flags it for a follow-up.
3.Meeting problem #3: poor attendance
Poor attendance at your meetings can be the product of many things. If they don’t tend to start on time, if they are unproductive or pointless, if they center around things that are of no interest to the attendees, if people never get a chance to contribute … these are just some of the reasons that people tend to avoid meetings. The good news is, you can change all of this pretty easily:
Solution:
- Always start and end your meetings on time. Respecting other people’s time and efforts encourage them to respect yours.
- Send your meeting agenda out to key people in advance of the meeting, so they know what to expect.
- Ask key people to contribute specific items. For instance, when meeting with your managers or team leaders, ask each one to bring a unique topic to every meeting for discussion.
- Limit the number of people in your meetings. The fewer people, the less potential for distraction.
In conclusion, meetings shouldn’t have to be a source of frustration for you or your employees. They should be structured enough to allow you to accomplish what you set out to do and active enough to ensure each attendee comes away enlightened in some way.
Are you looking for meeting space in Palm Desert? We’ve got you covered! Book online or call today to tour our facilities and discover how Fusion Workplaces helps California get things done.
