How to Run Meetings More Efficiently

If you're trying to save time in your meetings, here are a few suggestions to keep meetings productive. Start with an agenda. Then, set some time aside to revise it. You might find that a certain topic needs more discussion or clarification. Once you've finished revising, ask participants for feedback and follow-up. Then, summarize the meeting and ensure that all participants have received the updated agenda.

Pre-reads

Inefficient meetings sap the team's productivity, engagement, and well-being, slowing progress on objectives and reducing team effectiveness. Instead of running meetings that drag, consider async pre-reads to maximize your team's time and energy. Async pre-reads allow your team to cover the agenda ahead of time and dig into the meat of the discussions. When done right, async pre-reads can improve your meeting's effectiveness, while making everyone's life easier.

The agenda for your meeting should clearly define what will be discussed and who's responsible for what. Include pre-read summary of recent team status updates, which will inform the discussion during the meeting. Prompts are a great way to gather all this information and ensure that all members participate in a meaningful discussion. Pre-reads also help you stay on track and reduce the likelihood of miscommunication.

As a team leader, you need to enforce pre-reads. A slacker will raise a question that was covered in the pre-read, two weeks later. In such a case, the manager needs to raise it immediately, and explain that the meeting was slowed down by this slacker. Then, everyone will be able to focus and contribute. You don't want to lose valuable time in a meeting listening to slackers.

Agenda

Creating an agenda for a meeting is an effective way to ensure that the conversation stays on topic and that it runs as smoothly as possible. An agenda will include a list of items to be discussed during the meeting, including the time frame and order in which each topic will be discussed. It will also help to keep the meeting on schedule by establishing the goal and purpose of the meeting. The agenda should also include a list of people to attend the meeting and their respective roles.

An agenda can help you set the time for each section of the meeting. The length of the meeting will vary according to the number of people present and the depth of the project. Generally speaking, a meeting should not last more than 60 minutes. However, if the meeting is new, setting the timing of discussion items can be challenging. Once the meeting has ended, a follow-up discussion can be held to clarify any misunderstandings or issues.

While setting the agenda, make sure that you include all important topics and details. This way, everyone will be prepared to participate in the discussion. You can also include supplementary materials. You can also distribute the agenda to all participants ahead of time. A well-organized agenda will ensure that the meeting runs as smoothly as possible. It will also help the team members to stay on track and tackle the most pressing issues. If you're a leader of a team, it's important to be clear about the responsibilities of each person.

Staying on task

How to run meetings more efficiently means keeping the focus on the purpose of the meeting. You can do this by getting everyone on the same page. Meeting hygiene is a key component of marketing communications. In fact, 67% of meetings are considered to be failures. And executives spend a combined 31 hours in unproductive meetings per month, the equivalent of almost an entire workweek.

Here are some tips for running meetings more efficiently

To keep everyone on task, try limiting the number of interruptions. People who are habitually late tend to take up five to ten minutes. By setting an early start time for the meeting, you send a message to those who are habitually late and create a reputation for being on time. If you can't resist the temptation to check email or respond to a colleague's comment, consider scheduling a one-on-one meeting with that person.

Organizing a meeting that lasts an hour is a waste of everyone's time. It makes little sense to engage employees in a meeting that lasts more than an hour, as it's impossible for everyone to be fully involved in every aspect of the discussion. Instead, try setting a time limit for meetings, which shouldn't exceed 60 minutes. That way, you'll avoid unnecessary interruptions and maintain the focus of the group.

Scope creep

One of the biggest killers of meetings and projects is scope creep. This phenomenon occurs when participants argue about topics outside of the intended meeting scope. If this happens, the meeting team will not be able to deliver the desired results. To prevent this problem from occurring, the facilitator must keep the meeting's scope clear and ensure that all participants are fully aware of the meeting deliverables. They should also be able to identify the exact question being asked.

One way to stop scope creep in meetings is to identify and call out any changes in the project early on. This allows everyone to plan out mitigation strategies and work out a reasonable solution to the change. Document the change using a baselined schedule. A well-planned scope creep discussion will put everyone at ease. If scope creep is something that happens frequently in meetings, it's best to document it and keep track of the time spent on it.

If you're the manager of a project, you've likely seen it before. During kick-off meetings, the project team can discuss project requirements and decide upon the project's scope. But don't forget to define the change in a clear way. Before inviting feedback from a client, make sure that the change has a purpose. When the client insists on a change, make it clear that it's a part of a different project, and that it will be addressed by other people in the project.

Having a decider

The best meetings are always those that have a clear purpose, and a decider is critical for that. Before a meeting begins, it is crucial that everyone present understand who is the decider and what they are responsible for. When selecting a decider, consider who you want to serve as decider and who is best suited for this role. It may be you, or it may be someone else.

John Chambers's Consult approach was used at Intel to double-check decisions made by the team. It involves assigning a Decider to each meeting, and the person in the meeting who is most likely to benefit from the final decision is the one to do so. The Decider should have the highest stake in the meeting's outcome. By taking this approach, you can ensure that the process of decision-making moves quickly and that the intended outcome is achieved.

Redesigning meetings

Creating efficient meetings starts with designing the structure of meetings. You can modify the meeting structure to suit the purpose and participants to make them more productive. To run meetings more effectively, start by defining the purpose of each meeting. Once the purpose is clear, challenge stakeholders to stay on time. Also, define reasons for the meeting's end and ask participants to rate it. If your meeting ends on time, you will appear more confident.

The next step in creating an efficient meeting is to make it inclusive. This can be done by making the meeting physically and psychologically accessible for all participants. For example, wait seven seconds for participants to respond and use everyone's name. People engage in different ways, and this can be achieved by incorporating strategies such as having multiple viewpoints and involving diverse groups of employees. For instance, only 35% of people feel fully included and have an opportunity to contribute during meetings.

If possible, try running fewer meetings with a smaller number of participants. A small group of people will allow more members to contribute, and the meeting will move faster. You'll also be able to hear everyone's voice and get buy-in from everyone. For instance, when you have a decision maker from the engineering, design, or product lead, it's easier to delegate and redirect energy.