Conference consultation: 3 ways to make the most out of meetings

Conference consultation: 3 ways to make the most out of meetings

January 22, 2020 9:49 am Published by Leave your thoughts

Meetings are a hit-or-miss aspect of modern business. On one hand, they can be effective mediums to share important information and coordinate various collaborative duties. On the other hand, meetings can be perceived as unnecessary or wastes of time, especially in age of instantaneous communication. How, then, do you make the most out of your meetings? According to the New York Times, there are three major rules to running an effective meeting: setting the agenda, starting and ending on-time, and leaving with an action plan.

1) Setting the agenda

Perhaps one of the most common complaints leveled at meetings is that they are "pointless." Indeed, a recurring problem in modern businesses is the usage of the meeting format to share information that could easily be spread over email or memo. Unnecessary meetings lower productivity by preventing key personnel from completing their regular job duties. However, this is not to say the concept of meetings is archaic, far from it, in fact. Meetings just need to have a set agenda that participants believe to be worth getting to together in person for. Agendas can be summarized on a whiteboard, through an email, a handout, or verbally discussed. It is best to draft the agenda of a meeting collaboratively beforehand in order for participants to determine if a meeting is necessary. 

Whether you love them or hate them, meetings are an aspect of modern business that aren't going anywhere. Whether you love them or hate them, meetings are an aspect of modern business that aren't going anywhere.

2) Starting and ending on time

The failure to adhere to set times only further reduces the effectiveness of meetings. According to a study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, nearly 40% of meetings start late at companies with more than 250 people. Other times, meetings might go on for far too long, leaving employees scrambling to catch up on time-sensitive work they had to put off to attend. On the other hand, meetings that run too short mean that workers might have rearranged their schedule with difficulty to accommodate the event, only to be frustratingly left with extra time they didn't account for. Thus, meeting organizers and senior leadership would be wise to adhere to ground rules regarding the timescales of meetings. Small businesses that place importance on both punctuality and accuracy when scheduling meetings are sure to get much more out of the experience than businesses that do not.

3) End with a plan

Perhaps the best way of imbuing your meetings with a sense of purpose is to end with a concrete plan. Too often, meetings involve a discussion of an issue and possible solutions, but don't delve too deep into the execution of these ideas. That's where the action plan comes in. Like the agenda, the action plan can be printed out or emailed towards the end of the meeting. The action plan should contain a summary of the discussion that was had as well as what the next steps for each participant are. 

Having a concrete idea of what a meeting needs to accomplish is the secret to its success. Knowing when to arrive, what to study beforehand, and what to do afterwards are all crucial to making the most out of these collaborative events. 

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