Whether your team is working in-person, remote, or a bit of both, meetings continue to play a big role in the workplace. Here are some tips for ensuring you and your team are getting the most out of them.
Before the Meeting:
Think about what kind of decisions you want to come from the meeting. This can help you decide if you’ve invited the right people to the meeting.
Set an agenda. By thinking through what topics you want to discuss you’ll be able to determine if you have the right amount of time scheduled. Think about including elements like how long each item should take, who will present each item, and any supporting documents participants should read before discussing a topic.
Send the agenda and supporting documents to participants before the meeting. There’s nothing worse than being in a meeting where no one seems prepared. Giving your team the opportunity to see what will be discussed allows them to think things through in advance, which results in a more productive meeting.
During the Meeting:
Make note of who is in attendance. If someone is missing, make a mental note to follow up with them or ask another participant to do so. If you don’t think follow up is needed then consider if they need to be at future meetings.
Create a comfortable environment. Some ways this can be accomplished are ensuring everyone knows each other, or if it’s a brand new group then agreeing on some group expectations.
Stay on time and topic as much as possible. As the meeting leader, it’s your responsibility to try to keep things on time. If your team is having a good discussion you can stray from the agenda, but acknowledging how you’ll shorten other items to allow more time for a topic can go a long way with some team members. For example, if you were scheduled in back to back meetings and a topic was running over, you may start to worry about the agenda running into your next meeting rather than being present. A quick acknowledgement can combat this behaviour.
After the Meeting:
Send out meeting notes. Whether someone was taking detailed notes or you quickly jotted down the follow up items, sharing this information is important if you didn’t have time to do a final summary of actions in the meeting. This provides clarity to all participants and creates a sense of accountability for deliverables.
Encourage additional feedback. Conversations spark new ideas. Don’t miss out on these by telling participants you’re open to hearing from them.
Follow up. To ensure deadlines are met, try scheduling a personal reminder to follow up with employees for a progress update on items. By planning these check-ins ahead you'll meet your deadlines - making you happy and giving your employees a sense of accomplishment too.
Interested in coaching to lead better meetings, or receiving meeting resources such as agenda templates? Contact us at hello@markleconsulting.ca