How to have a productive meeting

To provide a clear understanding of projects, it's imperative that as a manager you schedule productive meetings, so opinions are exchanged, decisions are made, and problems are solved. But why is holding an efficient meeting so important? Because it allows for employees to understand the aims and objectives of an ongoing business project and that means success.

Holding a meeting seems straightforward, but plenty of companies are still unaware of how to conduct a productive meeting. For some of them, their schedules don't leave them with enough time to prep for an upcoming meeting, and for others, they don't understand the fundamentals of what makes a productive meeting. Either way, these hurdles can result in unproductive workdays. So, how do you hold a productive meeting? We’ve rounded up some tips for you below.

Five tips for holding a productive meeting:

1.????Choose a productive time

Choosing the right time for a meeting varies from team to team. If your employees aren’t a bunch of early birds, avoid scheduling your meetings for 9 am when your staff are only just making their way into the office. If there are a lot of in-depth topics to cover with plenty of brainstorming, collaborating, and discussions needed during the meeting, then select a time of day when your late riser employees will be actively engaged, which is typically early in the week, from the mid to late afternoon.

But if you find your team prefers to come in early and go home early, then consider arranging meetings for nine on the dot; this way, your teams’ minds will be sharp, and your meeting will be successful.

2.????Set a meeting agenda

Make sure you set an agenda and forward it to the attending employees’ days before the scheduled meeting. Meeting agendas are important to map out so each person knows what will be covered in the meeting and can prepare beforehand. It allows colleagues to research, gather notes, collect their thoughts, and contribute as much as possible to the meeting.

?3.????End with a clear action plan

At the end of your meeting, delegate the last five minutes to set deadlines and discuss your employees’ responsibilities. If you let your employees leave without clarifying tasks, there could be misunderstandings regarding deadlines. Having a clear action plan at the end of the meeting allows the team to raise any queries regarding their workloads.

To make sure your team isn't falling behind, you could arrange for someone to follow up your employees' work to ensure it's being completed to the right standard. Otherwise, if deadlines are missed, this could derail projects and affect the business.

4.????Take charge of the discussion

As an employer, you need to take control of the situation, so your employees' discussions don't go off-track. To create a safe space where everyone is willing to discuss ideas and address issues, the employer needs to be the facilitator. This means you should guide the discussions and prevent them from leading to an unproductive meeting.

5.????Invite only the necessary employees

Try to limit the number of employees attending the meeting. By doing so, your staff are more likely to participate in discussions and offer their opinions with less people in the room.

Are there any points we’ve missed that you think make a productive meeting? Let the Humanised Group know.