Episode #77: How to Make Your Work Meetings More Effective and Efficient

In today's episode, I'm sharing several tips to make your meetings more effective and efficient.

I have grouped them into the five critical instances where I suggest focusing your attention: 

1.   Before the meeting,

2.   At the beginning of the meeting,

3.   During the meeting,

4.   At the end of the meeting, and

5.   After the meeting.

Contact me thru email, LinkedIn or WhatsApp if you wish to receive a PDF with these tips.

Transcript

Episode #77: How to Make Your Work Meetings More Effective and Efficient

Welcome to "The Career Accelerator," the podcast where corporate managers will find tips and tools to deliver results through others.

 Hello, I’m your host, Percy Cannon. Today, I will address a topic that can make or break your daily workflow: work meetings.

In our last episode, I shared the results of a LinkedIn poll, where I asked which of the four steps to make an organization healthy, outlined by Patrick Lencioni in his book “The Advantage”, is the top concern in the workplace today.

The results showed that the top concern was step #1: building a cohesive leadership team. This is a topic that I have previously covered in several episodes.

If you’re a leader or aspiring to be one, you should also pay attention to the next three steps that make an organization healthy: 

·      Step #2: creating clarity

·      Step #3: overcommunicating that clarity, and

·      Step #4: embedding that clarity in your organizational processes and meetings.

These four steps could be the game-changing decision your organization needs. A healthy environment leads to higher morale and lower turnover rates, a win-win for everyone.

Moving to today's topic, we’ve all been in meetings that seemed to drag on without purpose, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ll share five critical steps to make your meetings more effective and efficient.

The first one is to define what needs to happen before the meeting. Preparation is key. Here are some considerations:

·      Set a Clear Purpose. Define what you want to accomplish during the meeting. Is it a brainstorming session, is it a project update, or is it a decision-making meeting? Be specific.

·      Create an Agenda. Distribute a detailed agenda well in advance. This helps attendees be prepared and stay focused.

·      Invite the Right People. The fewer, the better. This may mean having to say no to some folks, but it keeps the conversation streamlined.

·      Define Ground Rules. Agree on basic protocols, such as how to manage topics that are not part of the agenda, how to address disagreements, and how to handle questions and interruptions, among others.

·      Check Technology. If it’s a virtual meeting, make sure your software is working correctly. 

·      Disclaimer: My next pre-meeting tip has been a bit controversial with some of the teams I have worked with…  Aim for full in-person attendance. However, if it is not feasible, aim for full remote. Avoid the hybrid approach. Why? Because the in-person participants tend to monopolize the discussion, whereas the remote ones tend to be less engaged and more prone to turn off their video and multitask.

Taking these six tips sets the stage for a productive meeting, so don’t rush through this part!

The second critical step is to decide what should happen at the beginning of the meeting. This can, and will, set the tone for the entire session.

·      Start on Time. Respect everyone’s schedule. This builds trust and credibility.

·      Welcome Participants. A quick, warm greeting can foster a comfortable atmosphere. 

·      Review the Agenda. This ensures everyone is aligned and knows what to expect.

·      Remind Participants of the Ground Rules. If it is a virtual meeting, you may need to share some basic protocols, such as how and when to use the chat and mute features and whether they need to keep their video on.

·      Review of the Action Items from the Previous Meeting. This promotes accountability.

The third step is to determine what should happen during the meeting. This part is crucial for maintaining engagement and productivity.

·      Stick to the Agenda. Make sure to keep discussions relevant to the items on the agenda. If new topics arise, save them for future meetings.

·      Promote Constructive Debate. Moderate the discussion. Make sure there is a healthy and constructive debate on the ideas being discussed. Focus on discussing the different alternatives being presented and provide your opinion. Disagreements should be welcomed, as long as they are focused on the various ideas and not on the person supporting them.

·      Encourage Participation. Engage everyone in the room. If there are participants who have not spoken, gently encourage them to share their views. Different perspectives can enhance problem-solving and win commitment from your participants, because they will feel that their suggestions and perspectives were considered.

·      Take Notes. Designate someone to capture the various agreements.

·      Monitor Time. 

So far, we have covered tips to take into account before the meeting, at the start of the meeting, and during the meeting. 

The fourth step is to define how to close the meeting. A strong conclusion can solidify the agreements reached and generate commitment to them.

·      Summarize Key Points & Clarify Action Items. Recap who will do what and by when. Verbally validate each action-item owner’s full understanding and commitment to deliver what they need to do and by when. Clarity and accountability are crucial!

·      Ask for Feedback. Was the agenda helpful? Was there too much talk about certain topics? This helps improve future meetings.

·      End on Time. This respects your participants' time and helps create goodwill for future meetings.

Finally, we arrive at the last crucial step: what should happen after the meeting. The follow-up is just as important as the meeting itself.

·      Distribute Meeting Minutes within the following 24 hours. I prefer a simple three-column table detailing the actions to be taken, by whom, and by when. 

·      Follow Up on Action Items. As you get closer to the deadline, check in with team members on their assigned tasks. Tracking progress drives accountability.

·      Celebrate Wins. Take a moment to acknowledge that success in the next meeting or through team channels.

Summarizing, I have shared many tips regarding what needs to happen at five key instances in your meetings, which can make them much more effective and efficient:

1.   Before the meeting,

2.   At the beginning of the meeting,

3.   During the meeting,

4.   At the end of the meeting, and

5.   After the meeting.

Apply only those suggestions which make the most sense to your teams. 

Contact me thru email, LinkedIn or WhatsApp if you wish to receive a PDF with these tips.

Thank you for joining me in this episode of THE CAREER ACCELERATOR. If you found today’s discussion helpful, please rate, subscribe, and share this podcast with your colleagues and friends. Together, we can inspire impactful leadership across organizations.

This is Percy Cannon, working to help you make the rest of your life…the best of your life®.