4 Steps to More Productive Team Meetings

Office meetings are notoriously unproductive. Conducting meetings for a single team is often better because it can predominantly cover only matters that specifically relate to them (along with company topics of note too).

Given how precious the time is to get work done, meetings should target efficiency to expediently complete the agenda and end the meeting. This ensures attendees’ minds don’t drift and that everyone can get back to work sooner.

Here are 4 steps to move towards team meetings that hit the mark.

Don’t Use a Mixed Meeting Agenda

An unfocused agenda that includes a bit of everything is less successful than one that sticks to a single main thread of conversation. So, you’ll want to create short meetings around different topics. For example:

Safety Meeting

Either when there are new safety requirements for companies or there has been a spate of recent injuries on the job, it’s useful to call a meeting about this. These are sometimes called a safety time-out or a safety meeting.

Team Adjustments & Improvements

Team meetings that detail adjustments to the existing team and changing responsibilities are useful to cover in a group setting. Also, any improvements based on employee feedback can be covered there too.

Performance Reviews

A discussion about upcoming performance reviews, clarification of the process, and what’s expected or required from participating employees can be covered here.

Know the Purpose of the Meeting

Meetings should only be held when their purpose is clear. If there’s no clear purpose, then it will meander around without coming to any meaningful conclusions.

The person leading the meeting must know precisely what they wish to discuss, confirm, and decide. Be mindful that everyone is being taken away from their tasks, so the total time used in a 20-minute meeting with six staff members is two work hours. Also, no one likes to have their time wasted and it can impact morale when doing so.

Change the Setting

For meetings where proprietary information won’t be discussed, taking a meeting in a different setting can mix things up and shake things loose. Just escaping the office, taking in some fresh air, and attending a meeting elsewhere can reinvigorate even the most jaded.

Also, you may want to add in some refreshments or nibbles for meetings that are scheduled over a reasonable duration. Don’t leave people feeling parched or with tummies rumbling, and this can cause them to be distracted. Plan ahead and let attendees know these are coming at a certain time, so they know that there will be a break.

Plan for Contingencies

It’s Murphy’s Law that when everything needs to go right, that’s exactly the time when it fails on you. Any technology that you’ll be using during the meetings needs to be checked. Then a Plan B must be devised to effectively work around any failure of that equipment.

For instance, if the projector fails, what’s the plan to get around that? People will become impatient while you try to fix it. Instead, have paper copies ready to distribute the slides that you planned to show, just in case. Work out other contingencies to avoid a meeting failure. For example, if you are unable to take the meeting for any reason, can it be postponed, or would it be better to brief someone else and have them take it for you? Always plan ahead.

By being ready to hold a meeting, whatever happens, being clear on why the meeting is taking place, and avoiding mixed agendas, it’s possible to have a highly productive meeting.

We hope you enjoyed this promoted post as much as we did!