This blogpost is dedicated to all those who go in meetings with full enthusiasm and end up depressed, tired and demotivated.
While writing this post I was going for outing with office colleagues and got ample time to write something which was in mind since good.
Keeping the post short and to the point we should accept that running meeting is an art and we need to have formal training for that and if we don’t have that means either we will end up in disaster or close to it and mostly people attending meetings will be dissatisfied.
Running a meeting is no easy task. It requires ample planning, effective moderation, and a combination of discipline and flexibility. Meeting leaders want to keep everyone on track and achieve a set objective, usually within an hour or less.
This is the reason we find many workers sitting in meetings all day, often accomplishing very little.
Mostly these meetings end up in discussions and sometimes crowd begging as well.
Sometimes angrily I want to tell them go back to Meetings learning 101 school. But we know meetings are mostly from your boss or the position higher than you either ways they will be offended or they will find it a ego hurting thing.
Firstly we should only send a meeting invitation when we are clear what we have to discuss and if we are not clear please send informal meeting invitations or a formal/informal discussion would do.
I have been to many meetings which ended up in disaster or discouraging, I personally feel that we should follow some steps while running(for) any meeting.
Budget your time
Time is the most important factor, Know what to talk in a meeting and talk that only. It is what makes sense. Else talking about kids or the food you ate yesterday isn’t what everyone likes (It happens). Agenda is the keyword for time management.
Getting carried away
What happens in meetings these days is getting carried away. Suppose we have to discuss ABC we end up discussing XYZ.
Invite the right people
The more people in a meeting, the more chances there are for things to go off track. When you invite high-level stakeholders, ask them if there’s anyone else who should be there to accomplish the objective at hand. Also, remember that meetings can be effective tools in helping develop up-and-coming talent. The key is balance.
For example, budget review meetings are helpful for more entry-level employees because they can watch and participate in the back-and-forth discussion at an executive level. This is invaluable experience in gaining exposure to upper management, and can help them develop negotiating skills.
(taken from Article published in Forbes)
Use a “Parking Lot”
Inevitably, important items will come up during the meeting that don’t relate to its main objective. To stay focused on the task at hand, tell attendees that those items will be noted and set aside in a “parking lot” for future discussion.
Schedule wisely
Schedule only for the things that needs attention of meeting nt the things which can be resolved off board too.
Check your tech
Sometimes in-meetings we get into projector setup’s, mic tests. light tests. Which should be done before starting or kick off the meeting. This saves times and interest.
Be respectful
Do we need to say anything here?
Follow up
Wrap up the meeting by reiterating important decisions that were made and outlining next steps. Send a follow-up email assigning action items based on the meeting’s outcome.
It might seem as a process over process which is irritating as lean set-up is generally loved. But sometimes following a little of process is worth.