Productive Meetings

Meetings are an essential tool for communicating in business, yet every year many organisations waste a lot of time and money on ineffective, poorly run meetings. If we add to that language barriers and cultural differences it’s no wonder a survey by MCI Conferencing came to these conclusions:

“Most professionals who meet on a regular basis admit that they do the following: daydream 91%, miss meetings 96%, miss parts of meetings 95%, bring other work to meetings 73%.”

There are many reasons why meetings fail. In this article we are going to look at ways to overcome these problems and turn the situation around. If you want to make your meetings productive and worthwhile, read on.

The first step when organising a meeting is to ask yourself “Is a meeting really necessary?” Could I achieve the same results by mail or by telephone? To help you decide think about the purpose of your meeting.  What is your goal? Do you really need to bring together a group of people in order to achieve it? Consider these key questions:

Do participants need to interact in person?

Do you need feedback or team discussion in order to solve a problem or make a decision?

Do you need to gauge participants’ reactions through their body language?

Do participants need to receive the same information at the same time?

If you answered “no” to these questions then there is no need to schedule the meeting, choose an alternative form of communication to achieve your goal.

However if you answered yes to these questions, then it’s time to start planning your meeting.

The Meeting Agenda

The next stage is to create an agenda.  If the meeting is going to be held in English, then make sure you plan and prepare in English too.  This will help you to avoid clumsy translations, practise the vocabulary you will need and give you time to identify any weak areas of language so you can prepare them in advance.

An efficient agenda should include the following key points:

• The time and date of the meeting
• The location
• The leader of the meeting (chairperson)
• The participants attending
• The purpose of the meeting
• A list of items to be addressed
• The goals of each item
• The time allocated for each item

Write the agenda using clear and concise language.  Keep it simple and short.  When deciding on the order of the items, it’s a good idea to start by recapping any previous meetings or decisions made, and then follow with easier subjects that have little area for disagreement. This will give second language speakers a chance to “warm up” and feel more comfortable before entering into more difficult discussions.

If time allows, send the agenda to the participants a few days before the meeting so they have a chance to add their ideas or suggestions.  

It is essential for the meeting leader to ensure that the agenda is followed and that the arranged time limits for each item are not over extended.  A lot of time is wasted in meetings due to participants talking for too long about one subject or discussing topics that are not on the agenda.

Meeting Protocol

To keep meetings organised and productive we need to set ground rules that everyone should follow. Most of these rules are common sense and good manners. Respect those around you and they will respect you too.

1. Arrive on time so the meeting can start and finish punctually – everybody’s time is important so don’t disrespect your colleagues or clients by keeping them waiting.
2. Participate actively and encourage others to do so.  One of the meeting leader’s responsibilities is to ensure that everyone is included. Be aware of participants who are dominating the conversation, do not allow constant interruptions – unless the interruption is to clarify a point- and create a comfortable environment that will motivate participants to share their thoughts and ideas.
3. Encourage different opinions. Allow people to speak freely and say what they really feel. If this is not encouraged during the meeting it will happen afterwards, making the meeting a complete waste of time.
4. Listen to each other. Refrain from distracting side conversations
5. Use plain and simple English that all participants can understand. Never use jargon or technical terms unless you are sure that everyone in the room is familiar with the expressions
6. Turn off phones and computers to avoid distractions and unnecessary interruptions.
7. Stick to the agenda and time allowances.
8. Stay until the end of the meeting so you don’t miss out on important final decisions.
9. Send meeting notes to remind participants of the decisions that were made and the tasks that were assigned.  Make sure everyone knows what they are expected to do, to avoid misunderstandings and ensure productivity.
10. For meetings that occur on a regular basis let the participants set their own ground rules.  Ask each person to write down 2 or 3 rules of protocol that they would like to put in place.  Collect in their ideas and place them on the wall or on a table.  Cards with similar ideas can be placed together. Get all participants to discuss and agree on each point before creating the final draft. This is a good way to build a safe environment and encourage team work.

 If you would like to learn more about how to maximise meetings in English, click on the link below:

https://www.softskillslanguage.com/home/professional-success/soft-skills-intensive-courses/productive-meetings#soft-skills-objectives 

or contact us on 910 251 789 or 656 455 770