(This article was originally written by Dave Norman for another publication back in February 2015! It’s interesting how much things have changed over the last few years, but we think much of this is still valuable…)
For many, work-life these days consists of meetings. While meetings are necessary and valuable, the time, energy, and resources invested do not match the outcomes. I attend 8-12 meetings per week, varying from short 15-minute standing meetings with small teams to day-long team or client review meetings where we have much to cover.
So here are my Top 10 Tips for getting more from your meetings.
Have an Agenda
Creating an agenda and sticking to it is vital to meeting success. With an agenda, the participants can prepare and focus on the mission. Remember, you do not have to solve all problems or agree on everything at every meeting. The agenda should cover the purpose and run down of the meeting, as well as set out meeting goals to communicate to all participants what the purposes of the meeting are and what we need to walk away with. So, type up an agenda in advance and send it to all participants.
Pick the Best Format
The participants’ demographic will primarily dictate the meeting format. So if you have a client meeting at their premises with client representatives and your own team, then a stand-up meeting in the park is probably not suitable! Conversely, a weekly team update for your start-up may only occur around a small boardroom table. Consider using a service such as MS Teams, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts for national or international teams to maximise productivity, minimise wasted travel time/cost, etc. It would help if you involved some participants in the decision-making process at this point.
Invite the Right People
This one may seem obvious, but the number of times I have been to a meeting and something like, “It’s a shame Sarah isn’t here; she would have some valuable thoughts on this.” It all comes back to getting the agenda right, setting goals and sticking to them. As the organiser/host, you should know who you must involve. Equally, it would help if you ensured that all attendees are participants; meetings are no place for a tag-along. They are venues of discussion and action – not the place for an audience.
Keep it Short
For this reason, you need to keep your meetings as short as possible. As the host of the meeting, it is your job to balance, ensuring maximum value is squeezed without arbitrary discussion, wandering from the point or waffling. Again, this comes to having your agenda communicated in advance. I like to put time frames on each agenda point and stick closely to these. I have attended meetings where somebody used a physical timer to keep the flow and timing of the meeting on point. This becomes more important the more people you have involved.
Start on Time
Make sure that everyone knows when and where the meeting will take place and start on time. Make sure you or a designated other (make sure they know what they are supposed to do!) are there in advance to set up whatever needs to be set up. Close the door and start the meeting. Waiting for latecomers only reinforces their behaviour. Those who arrive late and inconvenience others are unlikely to do it again.
Limit Distractions
I advocate enforcing a ban on using mobile phones, texting, emailing, taking calls, watching YouTube, planning holidays, etc. during meetings. Remember, your job is to facilitate discussion, participation, and action-setting. All participants must be aware of the format of the meeting and the importance of bringing value to and taking action from it. I have been to a meeting where there was a ‘cell phone amnesty box’ at the door!
Create ‘PowerPoint’ Rules
First and foremost, not all meetings need PowerPoint / Keynote / Evernote, etc. Coming from a background in marketing and design, I loathe wordy PowerPoints, and there seems to be a misunderstanding of the best way to get value from your slide deck. So here is how to use presentation tools in a meeting format.
- Use Fewer Words. Stick to the Twitter 140 characters rule and limit this per slide. Any long blocks of text can be referenced in the agenda and forwarded in the meeting notes if required. There is little worse than having someone read reams of text from a projector screen in a meeting.
- Use More Pictures & Videos. The beauty of this technology is that you can incorporate multiple media into the meeting, from good news pictures of projects and people to walkthroughs or tutorial videos. If in doubt, speak to your marketing team or company. The presentation is an addition to your agenda, not a duplicate – so make it count (there is no point in duplicating the same information).
- Circulate the presentation post-meeting, with meeting notes, actions, etc (see below).
Take Notes
This one is essential. Taking notes or minutes in a meeting is critical and a great skill when done right. I prefer to have an official set of minutes taken by someone suitable and encourage individuals to take their notes as their reference. If you have a PA or suitable administration team, that’s great. For start-ups or smaller businesses, you may have to think outside the box. What about a virtual PA dialling in via Google Hangouts? Remember, we want to maximise value here.
As a quick aside, a study showed that post-meeting conceptual understanding of your notes is far more significant for handwritten rather than typed notes.
Wrap It Up
It’s a bit more than “Thanks all, time to go home” here. You need to debrief the meeting, outline any key points, and agree on and delegate actions. Each agenda point should either:
- a. Be concluded and closed off, or
- b. Actions agreed upon and delegated with time frames for the next steps.
And remember to finish on time!
Follow Up Any Actions
After the meeting:
- Make sure the actions are followed up.
- Keep good and clear lines of communication.
- Look into collaboration tools that will help your team manage these to-dos.
[END]
For assistance with your business, structure, communication, or organisational goals, Contact us today.