There are a hundred reasons to dread attending meetings. They do not only take up minutes and hours of our time, but minutes and hours of every other attendee, that totals to a lot of personal time consumed by meetings. You know how frustrating it can get to have your time wasted by unproductive meetings, and everyone would certainly agree. So before you call for a meeting, consider this checklist of characteristics of an efficient and productive meeting to make sure that no time is wasted.
1. Objective-driven
The whole point of meetings is to get something done. When holding a meeting, state your objective clearly, so everyone’s input would be directed towards achieving that particular goal. You don’t want your trail of conversation going in all directions.
2. Engaging
We all know that kind of class in school that made us fall asleep—the one with an hour-long lecture that left us staring into space. A productive meeting encourages everyone to participate and contribute ideas instead of forcing them to pay attention to one person’s powerpoint presentation.
3. Conducive
A conducive environment would naturally squeeze everyone’s creative and logical juices. A scenic view could be a source of inspiration; a snack break or lunch break for longer meetings would sustain everyone’s energy. Find ways to make your meeting encouraging and beneficial for attendees and they’ll look forward to it.
4. Concise
You are aware that people are allotting a time of their day to attend your meeting instead of accomplishing their daily tasks. Try to make it as brief as possible. It helps to have an outline of points to discuss to avoid unnecessary topics. Long meetings are necessary at times, but your goal is to keep them from lasting any longer than needed.
5. Run by a great leader
Although everyone contributes to achieving a meeting’s objective, it’s important to have a great leader running the meeting. That leader would determine if a question has been answered or a decision has been made, and call to move on to the next agendum. That leader would acknowledge everyone’s inputs and help the group rationalize ideas and come up with solutions.
No matter how much time they take, and how much we dread attending them, meetings are necessary in work and business, so the best thing to do is make them worth looking forward to. After all, a productive meeting can be fulfilling too.
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