9 Ways To Keep Your Meetings Simple And Productive
We needed to act quickly
Both in business and in war, second chances are hard to come by (if existent at all), which is why maximizing the time in meetings is crucial to operating efficiently. Here are nine ways to keep your meetings simple–and coming out with a “win” at the end:
Stand up. Yes, stand on your feet the entire time and watch the sense of urgency amongst attendees slowly rise. It’s a natural inclination to hurry-up-and-speak when you know others are standing around waiting for you to finish because they’re tired. Say your peace and move to the next person.
If you don’t have a speaking role, don’t attend. The larger the meetings the greater the amount of coordination required because more disparate interests (read politics) are involved. To minimize the degree of tactical conversations that soak up everyone’s time, speak to the situation rather than to individuals’ tasks.
Set the agenda. Similar to receiving mission orders, a meeting agenda identifies the purpose for what to do and why it’s important. Knowing what the mission is and what the desired end-state looks like allows you to work backwards and implement the decision points that guide dialogue along its course and serve as check-offs along the way. Speaking of which…
Identify decision points. These are cutoff times or “no later than” dates by which demands and orders must be fulfilled to drive future operations. When trying to think of the most likely factors that influence decisions, keep it simple. Stick with the five W’s of who, what, when, where, why, and anyone necessitating further detail can request an offline conversation.
Identify winning. Make clear the expectations that should be realized by the end of the meeting so that attendees have a goal to aspire towards. Each participant should know why his or her attendance is important and to what part of the agenda they contribute.
Use a minimum sized font. For update meetings, restrict participants to using one slide only (if Powerpoint is your thing). Doing so forces presentations to be concise and highlight macro-level content rather than diving into the weeds about daily tactics.
Take notes. For the same reason that sharing knowledge is power, reviewing that knowledge keeps you powerful. It keeps you informed about what the current context so you can be informed—and informative.
Offer details, but not specifics. Provide enough guidance for what the objectives are without being overly specific as to how to achieve them. Doing so only stifles creativity and implies an unspoken rule to conform. The amount of detail will also vary with each meeting according to the participants involved (i.e. experience levels, competence).
Meetings are oftentimes painful, but they don’t have to be. Everybody has work to do and objectives to carry out, so having a plan before entering the typical meeting mayhem only helps improve productivity for everyone involved.
Read the full article at: forbes.com
Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. Charting the course for impactful, sustainable, profitable businesses, the beacon is control: of your strategic direction, your money, your time, your staffing, and your ability to bring in business. The Block Group brings together the people, resources and ideas that build results.
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