Organizations must improve their ability to have productive meetings in order to become more successful. How can a manager help deliver better results?
Meetings take up a lot of our time at work, but how much do they actually accomplish? According to research by Korn Ferry, meetings rarely deliver what we set out to be. Furthermore, more than two-thirds (67%) of employees report that spending too much time on meetings and talking on the phone keeps them from having a productive day.
Organizations must improve their ability to have productive meetings in order to become more successful. This topic has received a lot of attention in recent years. Are we getting better with our meetings and making them produce what we set out to create? So, what can leaders and managers do to help deliver better meeting results?
Front Meetings
1. Treat meetings as ‘front stage’ and prepare for them by working hard ‘behind the scenes’. And don’t miss it priorities.
Dr. Shameen Prashantham, professor of strategy and international business at the China European International Business School and author of Gorilla can jump“Others feel there is still a need to improve meetings at every level.”
2. Give yourself time to “check in”.
Fiona Logan, CEO of Insights, a worldwide people development company, says we never start a meeting without ‘checking in. Checking in with each person for short periods of time allows participants to fully participate by discussing what is on their mind, how they are feeling, or what they want to gain from the meeting. Then the meeting became a time management situation.
According to Logan, self-examination helps individuals understand and empathize with their colleagues, fostering connection and trust. It also allows them to shift their mentality from before the meeting to where they need to be during the session.
“This fosters participant engagement, resulting in a fun and productive meeting,” she explains. Logan also suggests scheduling 45-minute meetings instead of hour-long sessions because it keeps everyone engaged for the duration of the discussion.
Focus on productivity
3. Focus on results rather than updates even when considering your new software or application scheduling.
Suppose executives evaluate the cost of bringing their colleagues to the conference. Some people believe that meetings should be at least twice as valuable as they used to be. Prepare by thinking about outputs, not updates, the next time you chair a meeting and make it as output-oriented as possible so everyone comes to the table with their thinking hats. them, not their dinner plans.
4. Distribute reports ahead of time.
“Don’t waste meeting time presenting papers,” urges Annelise Ly, associate professor at the Norwegian School of Economics and member of the CEMS Global Alliance for Management Education. Instead, ask your partner to read the information first and get straight to the point when you meet up. The face-to-face approach keeps everyone interested and cuts meeting time.
5. Lead the discussion. Know when Time is being wasted.
David Liddle, CEO of TCM and author of Transformational Culture, said: “In-depth discussions and disagreements in meetings are a key trait for creating innovation and ensuring that teams will grow and prosper. However, he warns that heated debate can quickly turn into something harmful and dysfunctional.
Managers can no longer afford to sit back and let the controversy develop. Instead, the manager needs to lead by taking on the role of moderator. Liddle argues that providing safe venues where open, honest debate can take place, and where a wide range of points of view can take place, leads to better group acceptance and motivation. closer.
“Helping our people disagree constructively,” says Liddle, is the goal of healthy discussion. ”
6. When gathering electronically, plan and be brief.
A renowned business doctor, Dr Amanda Nimon-Peters of Hult International Business School in the UK, says everyone has experienced ‘zoom fatigue’. Dr. Nimon-Peters is also the author of the forthcoming book Working with influence. She continued, “That’s because, when we stupidly approach virtual meetings as if they were real meetings, they get tiresome and uncomfortable.”
While our technology has evolved to enable remote meetings, Nimon-Peters points out that our minds have not.
We feel subconscious discomfort because of the sense of closeness that simulates distance between video conference participants.
According to Nimon-Peters, successful online teams will interact in bursts rather than in continuous, long conference conversations. Participants must also plan ahead to make their time together as productive and enjoyable as possible.
Are all meetings Poppycock?
Nothing. No meeting is useless or pointless. It is important to get to the main points of the meeting and get to it first. Be prepared and never hesitate to redirect the conversation.
If things don’t go as planned – don’t be afraid to close one door and open another – a more productive one. Don’t facilitate time-wasters, talkatives, or indecisive people. Instead, come with a plan, execute it – then leave on time.
Image credit: Diva Plavalaguna; Bark; Thank you!
This article was originally published this.
