Get best practices and sound advice on how to create understanding and work together better. Efficiency is a superficial quality. Effective meetings are imaginative, participative, innovative and engaging. Create and share your meeting agenda with them. They can also make you feel like your schedule is overflowing with meetings. Our capacity for creative thinking is the highest right after sleep, so schedule that brainstorming session first thing in the morning. This transitions them into listening mode and gives the rest of the group a better chance to discuss their perspective. Job done, right? Department and company all-hands meetings are a notable exception. You can also take steps to make your meeting as effective as possible in the planning process. Include a 5-minute agenda item at the end to capture any open questions or follow-up tasks and assign owners for them. You have to be mindful of drifting off-topic for too long or going too deep into technicalities. Assign these action steps with a deadline to specific individuals or teams when possible. Inclusivity is more of a mindset than anything else. When everyone is on the same page and aware of what should be done, even the most challenging tasks can be completed. A bit of divergence goes a long way when you’re looking for creative ideas, puzzling through solutions to a problem, or exploring options. After you’ve clearly defined the purpose, goals, and objectives of the meeting, the next step will be to create the agenda of the meeting. Continuous improvement for the win! 6. How long “too long” is, and how deep “too deep” is, is up to the facilitator to decide). Before you schedule the meeting, ask yourself this: “what are we looking to achieve with this meeting?”. Once you’re sure that a meeting is necessary, the next step will be to create clear, concise, and well-defined purpose, goals, and objectives. Because last-minute business travel and WFH days happen. Sarah Goff-Dupont What are effective meetings? And it most likely is. For this reason, you need to make your meetings more inclusive. Crossed wires and missed connections - good communication among teams is tablestakes for effective teamwork. Turns out, though, you’re not the sole judge of whether the meeting was productive or not. For a meeting to meet this outcome, or objective, you have to be clear about what it is. The job of facilitators is to keep people on track with the agenda of the meeting. Principal Writer. Even for co-located participants, meeting time can make a difference. Atlassian meetings typically capture all that stuff as a page in Confluence (the wiki-flavored intranet tool we make) and share the page with everyone on the invite list and other relevant people. Plus, nobody likes being the giant head on the TV screen at the front of the room. It’s easy to fall into the trap of viewing meetings as the one and only way to collaborate, but that knee-jerk tendency is what gets us into trouble and gives meetings a bad name. Video conferencing is the closest thing to being there face-to-face, and fortunately, there are loads of options available: from enterprise systems like Zoom (used by teams at Atlassian) to group video chat. Sharing the meeting agenda in advance helps you get straight down to business, as it will give the attendees the time to familiarize themselves with the discussion points. Ideally, you need to assign the role of the note-taker to someone before the meeting (typically when you’re sending out meeting invites). In the best-case scenario, a meeting’s purpose is to make a decision or create something collaboratively. These note-taking apps also make it easier to share the meeting agenda, discussion points, and the action items with all the attendees. A good team meeting helps teams align on … Some meetings are both essential and necessary, while others are just a complete waste of time. Careful planning and preparation are essential to maximizing meeting effectiveness. It involves carefully and thoughtfully selecting the right group of people, for the right purpose to deliver tangible results that will add value to the organization. Even if everyone in the group has a desk in your office, it’s always a good idea to set up your meeting to be accessible and valuable for people joining remotely. Understanding how to run effective meetings is one of the most crucial skills employees at all levels need to learn to thrive at work – but it isn’t merely a matter of doing the obvious things like sharing an agenda and starting meetings on time. “Oh, but I can focus on the topic at hand and check my email at the same time,” some might say. You can also build trust by asking questions that prompt a deeper discussion, even when you think you know the answer. The Journal of Organizational Behavior found in a recent study that time-wasting is usually unacceptable in all other aspects of business life, but “in the case of meetings, wasted time seems to be an accepted norm.”. Being … Someone is assigned to keep track of minutes and the agenda. (Just how long is “too long” and how deep is “too deep” is up to you as meeting facilitator to decide.). You see, as much as it’s excellent to hold efficient meetings, efficiency is more of a superficial quality than anything else. You should also make sure that the invitees of the meeting come with diverse perspectives, especially if it’s a strategic planning meeting or a brainstorming session. Running effective meetings isn’t simply a matter of doing the obvious things like sharing the agenda and starting on time. Your meeting agenda might have just one item. Use your best judgment. In reality, … (for recurring meetings) Are we holding this meeting on the right cadence? And this will be very helpful for invitees who were unavoidably absent but still need to inform them about the meeting discussions. You can say something like: “We appreciate your opinions and contributions, we do, but we need to hear other people’s opinions too so that we can make the most informed decision.”. If you’re doing meetings right, they are where “real work” gets done. It will keep the teammates accountable and make expectations clear. At the very least, a good meeting will center on a productive discussion that will be more effective in real time than asynchronously via emails or comment threads. Here are a few note-taking apps that you can use. Few things are more irksome than the person who sends a meeting invite with no indication whatsoever of what will happen in the meeting, and therefore invitees have no clue as to why they’re being invited. Win-win. If not, how should we adjust. It can be tempting to scribble down some points on any sheet of paper and call it your agenda to get it over with. By contrast, we solve problems best later in the day when our minds are a bit tired. Some of the ways you can encourage active listening include, You’re probably already familiar with this Mark Twain quote —“A dull pen is better than the sharpest mind.”. It’s because efficiency doesn’t care that much if the right people attended the meeting for the right reasons; or if the meeting added any real and tangible value to the business. We think that they both mean the same thing – they don’t, and you must know the difference. Keep an ongoing, open dialogue amongst the people you meet with most frequently, and emphasize progress over perfection. Podcast, how addictive these tech gadgets and their applications, 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Onboarding Remote Employees, The Top 5 Types of Employee Monitoring In 2020, How to Optimize ChatBots for Customer Service Betterment, Top 5 Desktime Alternatives (Features, Pricing, Ratings), Top 7 TMetric Alternatives (Features, Pricing, Ratings), How to Host an Efficient Remote Meeting in 2020 (Tips, Tools), Remote Work & Anxiety: How to Reduce Mental Distress Around Confidentiality, Monitoring Employee Attendance (2020 Guide), 13-Step Guide to Running an Effective Meeting. It can mean interrupting someone for speaking longer than necessary, calling out participants for drifting off the topic or summarizing the next action steps to be taken. Was it easy for you to contribute to the discussion? Effective Meeting Strategies: 6 Tips to Run an Effective Meeting. 47% of workers complain that meetings are where productivity goes to die. To make this even more efficient, designate time-blocks that allocates a certain number of minutes to each of these topics to ensure that no important topic is left out. An effective meeting brings a thoughtfully selected group of people together for a specific purpose, provides a forum for open discussion, and delivers a tangible result: a decision, a plan, a list … Effective meetings are collaborative. Not only that, but the result is then shared with others whose work may be affected. Most meetings have vague goals, and many usually lack an agenda. Your job now is to take advantage of that diversity by making sure everyone is (and feels) heard. use of verbal and written communication contribute to the objectives being achieved Did we have the right people in the room? Executing an effective meeting is an important part of a Program Managers (PM)job. During the meeting, be inclusive, and assign the next action steps to be taken after the meeting. An effective meeting is like Burning Man: there are no spectators – only participants! I’d even argue that starting and ending on time isn’t absolutely critical for success. Here are some tips: 1, Make your objective clear. These meetings can be very annoying and disruptive to your daily routine. These things are important; however, they are fundamental. It involves carefully and thoughtfully selecting the right group of people, for the right purpose to deliver tangible results that will add value to the organization. Culture, tech, teams, and tips, delivered twice a month, Meetings should never be held for the sole purpose of sharing information, Department and company all-hands meetings, we solve problems best later in the day when our minds are a bit tired, 6 meeting hacks (and 1 weird tip) that build trust, build trust by asking questions that prompt a deeper discussion, 47% of workers complain that meetings are where productivity goes to die, More on DACI in the Atlassian Team Playbook, Here’s a handy “effective meetings” cheat-sheet you can download, 5 employee engagement ideas that build authentic connections, How to boost your team’s success with shared mental models, 4 communication styles and how to navigate them in the workplace, How to run a remote retrospective and have fun doing it, Finding a meeting location outside the office, Preparing a snazzy slide deck (death to all “consume information” meetings!). Chances are, the meeting will be more successful this way. Let’s face it: most of us have too many meetings on our calendars. If you’re making an announcement that affects a few of your staff — then inviting the whole company to the meeting is entirely unnecessary; you only need to invite those that will be affected by such an announcement. Effective teamwork means agreeing to trust each other enough to rally behind the decision once it’s been made. For any meeting to be effective, it needs to have a clear, concise, and well-defined purpose, goals, and objectives. Some types of meetings are legit, while others aren’t. Wrong. Don’t skip this! positive about the use of their time and with a sense that progress has been made Our focus relaxes, so we’re able to see more opportunities and connect more dots. Also, whoever is sitting beside the scribe will most definitely get distracted by the screen or the sound of typing. (There’s a 71% chance it’s Facebook.). But here’s how to make the best of it. A: The first step to conducting an effective virtual meeting … Same goes for knowing whether to hold a meeting in the first place, and what to do afterward to make sure it wasn’t a waste of time. An effective meeting serves a useful purpose. As much as possible, avoid too much technicality in the discussions as too much technicality tends to deplete most people’s willpower and attention. Okay, statistics nerds, here are a few gems for you. Active listening involves focusing all your attention on the speaker, pay attention to their words, gestures, tone of voice, and even facial expressions, rather than just waiting for your turn to speak. It’s really hard to keep track of exactly what everyone around you is up to, or how the outcome of your meeting will intersect with their work. But if meetings consume so much of your time, you should be extracting huge benefits from them, shouldn’t you? In addition to creating an agenda for your meetings is designating facilitators. There also is the problem of senior managers taking the helm and coming up with ideas and contributing to a meeting. And few things are a bigger waste of time than recurring meetings that no longer provide any value to attendees (or the business). An Effective Meeting is one where it’s objectives where accomplished within the stated timeframe. The same electronic gadgets we carry around these days that help make our lives easier and also have the ability to make us more productive at work — are also the biggest and most dangerous distractions that we have today. Meetings in your organization are supposed to be a cooperative and not contentious. According to John Medina, a molecular biologist and author of Brain Rules: “You’ve got 10 minutes with an audience before you will absolutely bore them. “But I can concentrate on the meeting while checking my social media or by email,” some might argue. Using this knowledge — you can engineer your meetings so that in the first 30 seconds of the meeting, you can share the most interesting points of the meeting to arouse the interest of the attendees. Please allow me to call bullshit on that. Let the group know that if someone has work that is so pressing they’d be tempted to multi-task, they have permission to go do that work and catch up on what happened in the meeting later. It’s prep time: Create and share your meeting agenda 1. Identify the purpose and goal of the meeting What is an effective meeting? Unless you’re the scribe (or note-taker) — your electronic gadgets should be silenced and put out of sight to reduce distraction and enable both you and those around you to concentrate. For 99% of meetings, you can give yourself a break and skip worrying about…. However, taking your time to prepare your agenda beforehand can help you get your priorities right and keep discussions on the right track, so you don’t miss out on important points to be discussed. It’s especially true for recurring meetings, as this will help you figure out how frequently these meetings need to be held. Meetings are vitally important – if done well. Since there are only so many hours in the (work) day, here is an easy-to-follow process for running effective meetings so everyone walks in knowing what to discuss and walks out knowing next steps. When meetings become demonstrably more effective, they spread a virus of energy and optimism across … Were the meeting’s purpose and agenda clear? Teams are made up of individuals, and they function best when each member is happy, healthy, and productive. But you also want the group to bring diverse perspectives and knowledge, especially if the purpose of the meeting is decision-making or brainstorming. Effective Meeting Management. Those with extroverted tendencies might seem to out-talk everyone because they have a natural inclination of (over-)expressing themselves, while those that are introverted rarely speak up unless called upon to do so. An effective meeting agenda clearly states meeting goals and discussion topics. If not, who should/shouldn’t be included in the future? When that can’t be avoided, at least check in with the people who’ll be inconvenienced to get their buy-in in advance. Effective meeting facilitation starts with a review of the goals, or anticipated outcomes … It says nothing about whether the right people were in the room for the right reasons, or whether the meeting generated any value for the business. An effective meeting, on the other hand, combines efficiency and thoughtfulness. They provide a unique chance for people at all levels of the business to hear directly from executives and other decision-makers – and, if you include time for Q&A, vice-versa. An effective meeting brings a thoughtfully selected group of people together for a specific purpose, provides a forum for open discussion, and delivers a tangible result: a decision, a plan, a list of great ideas to pursue, a shared understanding of the work ahead. There are very few things that are as annoying as someone scheduling a meeting and sending out an invite with no indication as to what will be discussed in the meeting — leaving the invitees clueless as to why they are at the meeting in the first place. An Extra Tip — You can actually make the scribe take note the old-fashioned way — with a paper and a pen, or on a whiteboard, rather than with a laptop. Sharing information should never be the sole purpose of holding a meeting, with the notable exception of department and company all-hands meetings. But there are ways to run effective, efficient meetings that leave your employees feeling energized and excited about their work. Here’s an effective step-by-step guide to help running an effective meetings … In our age of globally distributed companies, a bit of thought around timing is key to effective meeting management. This guide will walk you through some ground rules to help you organize and run productive meetings. They can also collect any information that will be needed or prepare questions on things that don’t seem clear to them before the meeting. Draw out the introvert toward the end of a discussion by asking whether they see points the group hasn’t considered yet. Good meetings are essential for collective decision-making, planning and follow-up, … It transitions them from talking mode to listening mode and gives others a chance to speak. You shouldn’t just call a meeting or blast out email invites to everybody that comes to your mind. Using all the tips I have outlined here — you can run effective meetings that will have everyone feeling inspired rather than frustrated. Try this meeting cost calculator from Harvard Business Review next time you’re charged with running a meeting. The catch is that you’re honor-bound to follow up on them, or you’ll lose the group’s trust. That’s unfortunate. Scheduling the meeting at optimal times of high energy. The meeting leader sets a positive, productive tone for interaction among the meeting participants. Things like presentations and status updates often masquerade themselves as essential, but they aren’t that important – these activities can be handled asynchronously via emails, chat, company intranets, etc. Effective meeting strategies pdf recommend that the chairperson goes over what has been discussed, what the conclusions are, and what is expected of the participants. Some people are born with more extroverted traits in them, while others are more shy and introverted. The team at Trello does this if even one person is remote. It might also be beneficial to use a note-taking app to make sure that you don’t miss anything. Working from home isn't easy, and the transition from the office to home isn't totally natural, but with enough awareness and some good advice you can increase your productivity, improve your communication, and remain connected with your team. Effective meetings go beyond an agenda. It puts everyone on a level playing field and encourages more balanced participation. Having clear, concise, and well-defined purpose, goals, and objectives ensure that discussions in the meeting center on essential factors that will lead to the overall growth and well-being of the organization. There are many alternatives to meetings that are more effective and efficient than having suboptimal meetings. A “parking lot” on the whiteboard is an easy way to capture ideas, topics, and questions that are out of scope for the moment and keep the meeting moving along. 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