5 Rules for Better Meetings

Meetings are a necessary part of the work week, but the time we spend in meetings is often inefficient, leading to wasted time, a bored team, and people leaving with no clear sense of what to do next or what was accomplished. Here are five basic rules to lead better meetings:

1. Start and stop on time

Don't punish those who arrive on time by waiting for everyone else. Start when you say you're going to start. Also, don't keep people beyond what you say. People can handle long and short meetings as long as they know what they are getting into beforehand.

For more tips on starting and stopping on time, Click Here

2. No Agenda = No Meeting

People need to know what the meeting is about before they attend. Longer meetings (over a half hour) should have a more detailed agenda, but if it is less than a half hour, simple keywords like "project update," "check-in," or "status update." The agenda should be presented before the meeting (ideally a few days before). An agenda presented at the beginning of a meeting doesn't cut it.

For more tips on creating an agenda, Click Here

3. Get the right people in the room

Ensure that the people who need to be in the meeting are in the meeting. If they can't attend, reschedule the meeting. Along the same lines of thinking, if people don't need to attend the meeting, don't require them.

For more tips on getting the right people in the room, Click Here

4. Encourage participation

Once you've ensured that the right people are in the room and they have seen the agenda well before the meeting starts, the people in attendance should have something to say. Make sure that everyone has the opportunity to participate. As the leader, this means encouraging dialogue (don't lecture). It can also mean slowing down or stopping the person who likes to think out loud or making sure that the quiet, more introverted person has a chance to share. Being a good leader means noting who has shared and who hasn't shared and ensuring everyone has a chance.

For more tips on encouraging participation, Click Here

5. Send out a meeting recap

Sometimes, people don't need to be involved in the meeting, but they still want to know what the meeting was about and what was decided. Often, this can be leadership or people without a high stake in the outcome. A good recap includes:

--What was discussed

--What next steps are being taken

--Who is responsible for what parts of the project

--When will we check in, and if needed, when will we meet again?

For more tips on sending out a meeting recap, Click Here

If we start by creating a few basic rules for meetings, hopefully, they will feel more efficient and will be beneficial to everyone.