Simpleology Blog

Love them or loathe them, you can't escape them.

Meetings are an integral part of our everyday working lives. Whilst they can be a useful business tool, they can cause huge disruption to business and demotivation in the workforce if not run efficiently.

Here we look at five simple ways that could help ensure that meetings are productive and beneficial to your business and employees.

1. Ask yourself: "Do I really need to hold a meeting?"
I've been to many meetings that didn't accomplish anything at all. Whilst there is no denying the benefits of face-to-face communication, there may be alternative (and dare I say more appropriate) ways of communicating with people than gathering them all in one place at the same time.

If you can get your message across clearly and concisely via an e-mail, fax, memo, or by simply sending out your PowerPoint presentation then think about using this medium instead so that people can read it when it fits into their schedule rather than having it disrupted.

But, if you do decide to hold a meeting....

2. Set an agenda and stick to it.
Make sure that all of the topics to be discussed are outlined. Then, at least a day or two prior to the meeting, check the list of people who are required to attend (after checking everyone's availability) and take note of who needs to bring what and which supporting materials should be sent out to the relevant people.

Be firm about the meeting's schedule. Note the start and end time of the meeting so that people know how much time it will take up. Moreover, ask them politely to attend on time. There's nothing worse than having a meeting interrupted by the arrival of a latecomer.

Set agendas are also a great way to prevent anyone from discussing subjects that are outside the realm of the current issue. You can use the agenda to bring things back on track, politely pointing out that it's not lined up for discussion at the moment. There's no harm in allowing the person to bring up the issue at a more relevant point later on in the meeting or under an "Any Other Business" agenda item but allowing people to move away from the topic at hand is really disruptive and you'll never be able to get the meeting back on track.

3. Make sure you know what the desired outcomes are.
Is there any point in holding a meeting if you don't know what you want to achieve from it?

You need to make sure that each topic that's to be discussed has some form of action associated with it whether it be scheduling further meetings after sorting out working groups, signing off a proposal, or agreeing on a new supplier. Without definite actions you cannot successfully close a topic and you'll just leave people struggling to remember why the meeting was even called in the first place.

4. Test your equipment--then test it again.
I'm sure we've all been there, you're just about to fire up your PowerPoint presentation and you can't get the projector to work--or worse still, your laptop dies.

Ensure that everything is set up and tested well in advance of the meeting and you have the necessary support or backup in case the worst happens. There's nothing more frustrating to people than for them to give up their precious time only to sit in front of a blank screen for twenty minutes whilst you wait for someone from tech support to fix the problem.

If you have several people presenting, ask them to provide you with anything they need to show before the meeting so that you can get it set up all on one computer. This minimizes the risks of technical difficulties caused by other people's equipment and also prevents the hassle of having to swap machines half-way through the presentation. If you have five people presenting and it takes them just two minutes to change machines over, that's an amazing ten minutes of time lost that could have been used on more productive matters.

5. Minimize the distractions
When sending out the agenda, politely remind people that they will be required to turn off their cell phones, PDAs, and laptops--and no, putting them on silent or sleep mode is not an option! The disruption that's caused by people "just popping out to take a quick call" is almost immeasurable. Also, make sure to remind people at the beginning of the meeting that they need to turn these items off, that way they have no excuse to have forgotten!

Make sure that the room is well ventilated and there is water (or tea and coffee if you prefer) available. People lose concentration very quickly if they're uncomfortable. If the meeting is to be over two hours long, schedule brief rest breaks so that people can stretch their legs. When they return they'll feel a lot more productive and refreshed than if they have to sit there without moving for the whole day.

These tips aren't difficult to implement and should fit in well with any organization and meeting style. Even the simple minor changes listed here should have a profound effect on how your meetings turn out.

Ideally, people should be happy to attend them so that they'll contribute more and you'll likewise have accomplished more at the end of them.

Credits: Photo by Petr Kratochvil, courtesy of Public Domain Pictures.

Katy Whitton is a Web developer and writer. She blogs about personal productivity, workplace motivation, and time management at FlippingHeck.com.

Suggested Resource: To practice time management for meetings and other tasks, sign for Simpleology 101: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want and try using the Daily Time Praxis.