Meetings are simply unavoidable in the corporate and business world. Whether in-office or by conference call, meetings are an inevitable part of the weekly grind for entry-level staff members, management and high-end executives alike. Unfortunately, the time during a meeting is not always well spent. Business and staff meetings can easily become monotonous and boring. A meeting cannot produce an efficient outcome without being worth the employee’s time spent. With proper planning and effective leadership skills from the person leading, business and staff meetings can once again be meaningful and productive.
A common business mistake is the “open call” staff and management meeting. Either all at once or in shifts, the entire employee population is required to attend. Largely populated meetings are rarely time efficient. What must be considered are the topics covered versus the employees involved. It is key to determine who will actually benefit from or can contribute to this meeting, as opposed to who will just as easily benefit from an email or memo outlining what was covered. For instance, if the topic of discussion centers around client customer service issues, employees without direct or indirect client contact need not attend. Doing this not only continues productivity while the meeting is in motion, it eliminates an uninterested and bored audience from influencing the flow of the meeting. Furthermore, businesses can improve online meetings by following this same process with agendas beforehand. Remember that productive meetings occur when both the presenter and attendees are informed. Meeting outlines sent to employees beforehand can accomplish that.
In addition, another important factor to identify with meetings is knowing the purpose behind them. Before sending out meeting invites and beginning to build your PowerPoint, ask yourself, “What is the objective of this meeting? What outcomes am I looking for?” If you can’t answer these questions, you may want to rethink why you’re meeting in the first place. Also, be sure to address these questions in your actual meeting. Let the attendees know why they’re there and what outcome you’re looking for. This can help them not only be more attentive and engaged, but can help the presenter reach their objective.
An additional useless mistake is the “lunch meeting.” Although popular and very common, lunch meetings are statistically inefficient. Serving lunch prior to conducting the meeting will result in an unstimulated audience. Serving lunch after the meeting is conducted will result in an anxious audience. Serving lunch while conducting the meeting will result in a distracted audience.
Disappointing as it may be, lunch meetings are almost always ineffective. A successful alternative to a lunch meeting is a late morning meeting. During a typical workday, 10:00 a.m. is statistically a peak time for mental performance and attention. A meeting scheduled at or around that time, ending with an employee lunch display is an optimal time for both employee participation, as well as cultivating an interested audience.
Lastly, the most important meeting mistake to avoid is an unprepared presentation. When discussing business strategies or perhaps the lackluster performance of a department, have the necessary information available. Change requires effort. If the plan is to change sales techniques, the sales team needs to see how and why this new strategy is effective. If shipping reviews score low in the packaging of goods, to have a meaningful and productive meeting with your packaging crew, you must have those reviews and statistics available. An unprepared meeting is nothing more than meaningless. Advance preparation not only produces an efficient meeting, it encourages efficiency from your audience.
The effect a meeting has on its audience directly determines the outcome and follow-through effort of the topics discussed. A meaningful and productive meeting should have a target audience that is well informed and interested, in that they are directly affected or are a direct influence of the topic.
JP George has experience in topics relating to leadership, talent management, and organizational business.
