12 simple rules to have effective and productive meetings

I confess that, only recently I realized that team meetings at SMARTIDIOM needed to be given urgent attention. In a company where everything happens so fast and where there is a constant pressure to deliver results, what I hear most frequently from my staff (and myself) is “I don’t have time”. Well, if time is such a scarce good, this should be the main reason to instil in our teams and in ourselves the respect and concern regarding the conscious and optimized management of precious time – our own and of others.

Time “wasted” in fruitless meetings represents money out of the company’s pocket and, you will agree with me that they don’t contribute at all for the efficiency and productivity of the dynamics of any business. If, just like me, you noticed that your team is doing an unlimited number of meetings a week and you feel that many of them are a waste of everyone’s time, I advise you to set basic rules with your team for scheduling internal meetings of your company. The following checklist was recently implemented at SMARTIDIOM and the results were immediate. Take a look:

Before the meeting:

? Make sure the meeting is actually necessary. Unnecessary meetings represent a waste of time and resources. Won’t sending an email to the targeted people or circulating a document asking for feedback reach the same goal?

? Select participants who can make a unique contribution to the meeting, always bearing in mind the reduction of meeting costs. Meetings are expensive: so be as reasonable as possible when choosing the participants. The meeting will not be effective if the relevant people for it aren’t present or if non-relevant people are. So, make sure that only relevant people are convened.

? Create a meeting schedule and send it to the participants, at least, 24 hours in advance. The agenda should clearly define the goals to reach with the meeting and the meeting should be targeted to concrete results and actions by the participants. If you are not able to describe what will happen in the meeting in a practical and measurable way, this is an almost certain indicator that the meeting will be a waste of time.

? Convene an assertive moderator. The meeting moderator shall be responsible for avoiding participants’ dispersion, both in terms of agenda and time. It is essential that the moderator knows that he/she is responsible for the meeting’s time management.

? Schedule meetings so that you get the most out of each participant’s performance. It would be a good idea to schedule a brainstorming meeting early in the morning when our creative skills are at their highest.

? Convene a meeting with a maximum duration of 1h or 1:30h. For meetings where you anticipate needing more time, divide the meeting into multiple sessions to get the most out of the participants’ attention and focus. For short meetings, the ideal time is 15 to 20 minutes (you can even carry them out standing for really quick issues).

? If there are colleagues remotely participating in the meeting, prepare all the material ahead of time. Test the connection and the equipment 15 to 20 minutes before the meeting starts to ensure that there are no delays.

? Come prepared. The agenda is for you to access the topics that will be addressed at the meeting. So, join all the necessary information, think about the points of the agenda and give your contribution to the meeting.

During the meeting:

? Start on time to finish on time. Everyone’s time is precious. So, respect the start and end time of the meeting. If you arrive late, enter and sit down in silence to find out as soon as possible what is being addressed. Don’t interrupt to apologize for being late or to greet the participants. The best way to compensate the team and to show respect for your colleagues’ time is not to be late for the next meeting.

? Ban unnecessary technology. It is easy to anticipate that a meeting will not be productive if the participants are on their phones or checking their emails. So, ask the participants to turn their cell phones and PC’s off.

? Stick to the agenda. If during the meeting a topic that is not on the agenda comes up, but is important to be addressed, book another meeting to discuss it. Register on the flipchart the ideas and issues that are out of the meeting’s scope to do a follow-up later on.

?After the meeting:

? Follow-up with who is responsible for the actions. More important than the meeting itself is the practical result we obtain from it.

What other rules should I add to my checklist? I appreciate all valid suggestions you may have to share with me! Can I count on you? :)