How to run meetings that don’t waste people’s time

A lot of meetings could be emails — but others are pretty critical.

From shooting hoops on a real WNBA training court, to a sunrise hike, to soaking in wisdom from an all-star speaker lineup, Playbook 2024 was the place to be.?The energy, connections, and transformational insights made it an unforgettable experience. Missed out??Don’t worry — we’ll share more soon. For now, join the waitlist for 2025! ??

Welcome to The Manual Weekly – LI Edition, the can’t-miss newsletter for business leaders. You’ll find snackable bits of news highlighting emerging trends, actionable resources, and proven best practices that can help take your business to the next level.

This week’s must-reads:

• A process template for writing meeting agendas.
• The art of an actually productive meeting.
• Want to make video the star of your training? Look no further.
• And how to help you employees retain their training.

Template of the week: Creating Meeting Agendas Process

How’s this for a Sunday Scary (or a Wednesday Worry?): You open your schedule, only to see back-to-back meetings from morning ‘til night. Not a break in sight.?

What could be worse? When each and every one of those meetings meanders, gets lost, or simply falls off track — until 20 wasted minutes in, you finally talk about what the meeting was actually scheduled for.

?? A culture with unorganized meetings is a culture of wasted time — so, set your team up for success with this Creating Meeting Agendas Process template. Teaching your team how to structure meetings so that everyone can stay focused and efficient.?

Check out our entire template archive of free and customizable policy, process, and role starters. New to Trainual? Get a demo .

What productive meetings actually look like

Let’s get a show of hands:

Who has attended an unnecessary meeting in the past week? Who believes that meetings are keeping them from getting work done? And who wants to learn ways to make their meetings more productive?

If you raised your hand for that last question…

When they’re done right, meetings are actually a great opportunity for collaboration and alignment. Here are 10 tips you need to know:

1. Try walking meetings. Getting your steps in while making things happen? The ultimate multi-task.
2. Create a culture of strict time limits. If you book an hour-long timeslot, actually keep it to an hour (or even shorter!).?
3. Write a meeting agenda (and share it beforehand). They’ll help keep you on track and ensure that participants show up prepared. (We just shared a template for this! ??)
4. Decide on clear, post-meeting action items. Give your meeting real purpose.
5. Send follow-up information. That way, everyone in the meeting can actually participate (instead of just taking notes).
6. Forego status update meetings. They really can be emails.
7. Start on time. Make it a habit — those wasted minutes can really add up!
8. Set a meeting participant cap. Let’s avoid having too many cooks in the kitchen.
9. Allow employees to decline. Missing a meeting here or there to prioritize other work isn’t going to end the world.?
10. Keep the conversation moving. If you’re the host and can sense people getting sidetracked, it’s your responsibility to redirect the focus.

Trainual tips: Video content as the star of the show

Video training is nothing new — it’s been enhancing learning for decades. And you’ve been able to add videos to Trainual from day one. But now, you can choose any single video to be the main attraction of your content — accompanied by just the right amount of explanatory text — with the new video content type.

When would I want to create video-forward training?

Let’s say you’re onboarding new team members with a welcome message from your CEO or setting the stage with a quick introduction before diving into a complex process. In scenarios like these, leading with video draws your learners in right from the start.

Just head to any subject and choose “Video” under the “Add content” dropdown (where you start to build a topic, test, or flowchart). Then paste your video URL to upload.

?? See video content types in action !

Psst… we’ve got something else up our sleeves, too…

Wait for it … hosted videos! ?? That’s right — soon, you’ll be able to securely upload and store an unlimited number of videos right in Trainual. They’ll even have auto-generated transcriptions, required watch options, and more. Stay tuned.

Boost training retention by 60% with these 4 hacks

We’re all friends here…

So you can tell the truth: There’s no way you remember everything you learned during employee onboarding. You’re meeting a bunch of new people while settling into an unfamiliar work environment — and you’re expected to remember everything your role entails as well as the funky way to work the old copier on the second floor? Not a chance.

But you should be able to remember some things, and that comes down to the quality of the employee training. So, when we tell you that employees can forget a whopping 50% of the information presented in training within just one hour — that’s a pretty big concern.

But there’s good news!

With the right training techniques, you can boost your employees’ knowledge retention by up to 60% . Here are four simple hacks :

• Hack 1: Storytelling. With real-life examples and fictional scenarios, you can keep training relevant, relatable, and engaging.
• Hack 2: Spaced repetition. Shorter, spaced-out sessions are less overwhelming and help cement information in long-term memory.
• Hack 3: Training paths . They guide employees through information in a logical, step-by-step manner while building on existing knowledge and prioritizing learning.
• Hack 4: Active learning techniques. Use role-playing scenarios, problem-solving scenarios, and hands-on simulations for higher learning retention.